Small boat tender perfection? Dinghying with ePropulsion, Scanstrut, and West Marine

Ben Stein

Ben Stein

Publisher of Panbo.com, passionate marine electronics enthusiast, 100-ton USCG master.

5 Responses

  1. Kevin Williams says:

    Great summary – sounds like a great option.

  2. John Midlige says:

    Very well thought out and executed. This should be a big deal in the coming years as more and more cruisers transition away from gasoline.

  3. Butch Davis says:

    The setup would be particularly useful on diesel cruisers by eliminating the need to have gasoline aboard. The inflatable could easily be boarding platform mounted while inflated needing only infrequent topping up with air.

    • Ted R. Bost, Jr. says:

      Ben,
      Great summary with plenty of detail for potential purchaser.
      My wife and I are doing the Loop piecemeal. Our latest section was South from Jacksonville, FL down to Okeechobee, across and North to St. Petersburg. We alternated between anchoring out and staying in marinas. We inflated our Avon dinghy at a public landing in Jacksonville and pulled it the entire way. I’ve spliced a decent tow bridle. We’re powering the dinghy with a 3hp Yamaha two stroke. Inflating the dinghy and deflating at endpoint is a bit of a chore. We put our pickup and trailer in storage in Jacksonville and drove a rental back to pick up rig and retrieve in St. Pete.
      We’re traveling on a 1977 Albin 25 foot trawler with 35 hp Kubota. As you can tell, we’re trying to lowball costs. Dinghy also doubles as lifeboat which I hope we never need. It also can act as reserve motor if reliable Kubota quit. Under hip tow Albin will travel at 3 knots with Yamaha at 3/4 throttle.

  4. Dan Boccia says:

    Interesting to see a review of the PRU-3! I’ve used my current PRU-3 for 5 seasons in Alaska, stored inflated on the roof of my 28 ft stitch-n-glue cabin-cruiser (Great Alaskan design) from March through October. It is the lightest tender with its specifications/price I have found. The light weight is critical for hand-hauling it up onto my roof, and because the Great Alaskan is a planing boat so weight is critical. I have to clean the UV gunk off it annually, which takes 3-4 hours using a polisher with a stiff bristle-brush pad and Starbrite Inflatable Boat Cleaner, followed by 303 UV protectant. Even with the annual cleaning, pretty heavy use, dragging across rocky shorelines, and 20-hr UV exposure due to our long days, it is still in excellent condition. I can highly recommend carrying Tear-Aid Type B patch tape – best way to patch PVC in the field. As for the motor, well, I’ve been very happy rowing mine, even fighting 2-3 ft chop getting back to the boat on the more adventurous days. There are also many very compact 12V hand-held pumps with alligator clips to connect to a battery that work great, though they’re loud. I carry a foot pump to top off and when going ashore (with the Tear-Aid) in case of bears, rock punctures, etc. Enjoy!

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