[Closed] Buying a small boat advice

Just saving binners a job 🙂

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This story could run

Will the dingy blow off the roof of the car, or will it capsize and hora + jnr have to be rescued by the lifeguard

taps fingers.....

Man and boy dinghy

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I'm going to call it Dignity.

Can anyone spot the pop music reference?

Deacon blue.

Build a pram dinghy...

Is it for taking out in vi sea or vipond?

hora - Member
Can anyone spot the pop music reference?

I was in go outdoors the other day and they had quite a neat roof box that doubled up as boat/dinghy.

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Pond lakes. Not sea.

Downhill or XC?

Buying a small boat advice

Well probably don't ask on a bike forum!

However you'll need to narrow down your spec:

- sailing / rowing / motor
- experience you have
- area you'll be using it
- likely conditions you'll go out in
- age of child(ren) and how long you want it to last
- where you will store it when not in use
- the amount of maintenance you plan
- is this a starter boat with plans to move up, a plan to get into serious sailing, or just a way of passing the time on a nice day at the water.

Essentially what you have done is the equivalent of going onto a boating forum and ask, "I'm thinking of buying a bike - and suggestions"

Don't forget to buy appropriate lifejackets / bouyancy aids, and think about some training if you are new to the game.

Life jackets would be essential partly incase anything happened to me as hora junior cant swim yet.

Can I carry on Thule bars?

Yes, but there are weight limits for both the bars and the roof of the car, obviously the lower of the two applies.

Get a mirror, they'll go on most car roofs, and once you're inevitably bored of rowing, you can sail it.

Don't forget to buy appropriate lifejackets / bouyancy aids, and think about some training if you are new to the game.

+1

😀

Have you sobered up yet?

What a wonderful idea hora ! Swallows and Amazons and all that.

Getting a solid (ie wood GRP) dinghy onto the roof of a car is a two adult job. Are you intending on taking it home each time you use it ?

An inflatable is much more straightforward and easy to inflate with electric pump driven from car electrics. These can also take a small motor if you go that way. There are plenty of choices as these are typically used by yachtsmen to get to/from their boats. I actually have an unused one in the garage which I bought but was never needed, email in profile.

Sobered up? I was on the trails at 7am till 11 this morning..

Inflatable seems to be a good idea.

Initially I could visit the local boating club to learn/pick up.

My job is to show hora jnr many different hobbies for him to pick his own later on..

Give up on the idea of buying a dinghy that can go on a roof rack, it'll be small and crap
As above depends on experience, where you're planning to sail etc etc, but I'd be looking at gp14, wayfarer, albacore,

What tyres for the kraken?

Life jackets would be essential partly in case anything happened to me as hora junior cant swim yet.

I'd maybe wait till he can, they're a PITA to swim in even if you can swim, if you do at least take him swimming in a lake in it so he's used to being in cold water wearing it so he can learn to roll himself onto his back.

Go on some training though, it's like driving a car, but on the other side of the road, with the steering wheel reversed, no brakes, if you stop the throttle you lose steering and that's before anything goes wrong!

Getting a solid (ie wood GRP) dinghy onto the roof of a car is a two adult job.

There's a knack to it, boat behind car facing opposite direction, walk it up so it's resting against the rear roof rack (getting the distance behind the car right so that you don't actually touch the car), then just slide it forwards. I managed it for years as a paranoid teenager loading up my parents car!

Get an old Mirror Dinghy.
Thousands of them about, most were/are hand built, can carry a fat Dad and small child easily enough with minimal effort.
They are not fast, they are cheap, they float. They have sails and you can stick a Seagull Outboard on them if the transforms upto it.

Take a simple Dinghy lesson somewhere that will give you all the RYA essentials.

Learn to swim.

Be safe, think of others.

? inland - Canadian canoe - that's roofable or an old topper dinghy - roofable, unsinkable and you can get 10 people on em, see if sailing club has an open day - they do where I am [*there are probably more modern equivs now - pico? ? topaz ???]

re nipper - give em some water confidence/experience first

windsurfer is roughly equiv to mtb in terms of fun etc (imho)

Teach your boy to swim first.
Mirror dinghies are ace for what you want. Can be rowed, motored or sailed (the latter is what it is really designed for). My experience is they are not ace to row but ok. A ready to race boat will not have rowlock holes or an outboard patch so you would most likely want an older boat.

For goodness sake though please get some proper training before you take mini hora anywhere near the water. Even a small local 'puddle' can be incredibly dangerous if you dont know what you are doing.

Apologies if this seems a little direct but having survived a potentially fatal dinghy accident at 17 I have first hand experience of how quickly it can go very badly wrong.

Getting a boat onto a roof wont be a prob. Getting it on without dents and/or scratches would be impossible alone 😆

Noted swim/lessons first.

Not sure i would take yachting advice from at least one of those pop stars. Iirc there is a maxi that belonged to him/that he was involved in currently sitting at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

Iirc there is a maxi that belonged to him/that he was involved in currently sitting at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

Not heard that one, but it's lost it's keel in the Fastnet, hit a submarine and broke it's moorings in scotland during a storm a couple of years and ended up on rocks. There's bad luck then there's cursed!

Le Bon has done some pretty serious sailing. His yacht broke its keel in Fastnet and crew inc Le Bin were taken off by helicopter, you cannot blame the owner for a design/build flaw. He went on to compete the Whitbread round the world in the days wher eit was a mix of amateurs and pros.

@hora - this is the sort of thing I had in mind [url= http://www.force4.co.uk/7546/Windward-2-30m-Inflatable---Slatted-Floor.html ]Linky[/url] and by the way I think you have the absolute correct strategy in introducing him to as many things as you can and seeing what [b]he[/b] likes ... good luck

Spoon. Quite right i have confused Drum with another incident although it now escapes me what it was.

I have a 12ft portabote which is a folding boat which is around 4" thick when folded and easily fits on the roof of a car and can be handled by 1 person. They also do 8,10 and 14ft versions - very pleased with mine, will be selling my aluminium boat in due coarse which is a pain to store and launch.

His first trip on a boat. Hes hooked 😀

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Excellent !

Must agree that a mirror is a great idea with loads of options. We had one as kids - sailing near home all year round and then taken on holiday for general getting around/use as a trailer/ messing about stuff on the south coast of Cornwall.

A Mirror* on a roof rack? The gunnels are too wide for normal bars and the min weight is ~50kg! They are excellent for everything from racing to rowing though.

Honestly, if it's just a pootle on a river you want, go to your local yacht club and look for 2nd hand tenders.

*ex UK Team

weren't mirrors designed specifically to be car top-able? Maybe car tops have changed a lot over the years and our was always on a trailer.

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See!

Is that the Elephant Man sitting in the passenger seat?

I think you need one of these.

An Empacher 2x

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Set mini Hora on the path to Olympic success.

are they wooden bar extenders though oddjob? Also, where do you keep the oars / gaff / mast / foils etc while travelling. You want to get yourself a good combi 🙂

I think I'd go down the inflatable-jobby route. Those ^^ look seriously over-built/huge to transport etc.

Where are you planning on sailing said boat/blow up thing then Hora?

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Where are you planning on sailing said boat/blow up thing then Hora?

Lakes etc etc. Binners you could always join me at Sale Water Park with your two? You can hire various boats etc there and they run courses.

Sod that!! The scallies have torpedo's and depth charges round there' you know?

Maybe have a look at inflatable kayaks?

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Lots available at various prices, you can keep an eye on the boy whilst you're paddling and he can join in later on as he grows.

You would have to make the Hawaii 5-0 theme tune the whole time you were in it though. Even better break out into 'Da-Da-Da-Da-Daaa-Daaaa' everytime someone goes past.

Ooooo perfect 😀

Blatant plug, sorry, but I put this in the classifieds recently.
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http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-ot-sevylor-hudson-kcc360-2-plus1-person-inflatable-kayak-1

An inflatable kayak is one thing, but I strongly recommend going no where near one of the Toy inflatable boats linked above.

Even the 2.3m Seago linked above is not what you are looking for. That's coming from someone who uses a seago every week to get out to my boat's mooring as a tender and has one sat beside me right now.

They are miserable to row any further than a few hundred meters even with no waves / wind to contend with. Add in wind and a chop and you will get very tired, very quickly.

I would recommend seeking out a local sailing club, they almost all have open days where you can go along, chat to members, and get a shot of some boats.

It will provide you with a base knowledge from which you can decide where you want to take it. I too would recommend joining a sailing club. Many / most have boats you can use for a very small fee and will be, on the whole, well mantained. If you and the boy take to it then go get a mirror / Graduate / GP14 and only sailing it when there is rescue cover. At least for in initial year or two.

I have been sailing all my life and have been on and around boats since before I could walk. It's a great activity to do, with so many possibilities from pottering about of a Sunday morning, picnics on the beach, some friendly racing to even competitive top flight racing.

However if you don't know what your doing, things can go wrong very quickly and you will be putting your life in danger.

It is however great fun! Please don't let me put you off, you should definitely give it go, but please don't buy a toy boat and put yourself in danger.

Also..

shortcut the Coastguards phone number on yer phone..

[i]shortcut the Coastguards phone number on yer phone.. [/i]

I thought he only wanted to go out on the odd pond and canal on sunny afternoons?

A canadian canoe is a boat to progress into rather than out of. Easy to car top and will take you amazing places. You can even do a bit of sailing if you want.

scruff9252 duly noted and will ask etc when there later on.

Binners interested? We could recreate the Titanic love scene on the bow

Canal cruising, you say?

+1 for avoiding anything inflatable unless you plan on using it soley with a motor. Think about it in bike terms, they're like Downhill bikes, you can mash away at the pedals/oars, but the frame/boat just absorbs all the energy. You'd not take him on his first XC ride on a 224 and expect him to like it?

Sailing club open days are great, see if you actualy enjoy it. Then some evening classes to cover the basics (and capsise drills). Then introduce kids. Sailing is easy, learning to sail is easy, learning to sail well is something that never stops, you just get better. But things can and do go wrong very quickly, I'm speeking from experience having been pulled out the water blue in the face after the boat capsized and my head went between the mainsheet and the boom and I couldn't loosen it as it had jammed arround the lifejackets* collar. Completely fluke accident but happened on a summers day within 100m of the shore.

*important distinction, a lifejacket will keep you afloat and should hold your head up if unconcious. A bouyancy aid won't gaurentee you float (although you probably will unless wearing lead filled boots) and less likley to roll you over if uncocnious. The problem was the collar got caught.

It might be worth you looking at something like the [url= http://www.aquaglide.net/categories/multisport.cfm ]Aquaglide Multisport[/url]

Rubbish name, but as you have stated that you are looking to introduce as many sports as possible it ticks the box for dingy sailing, paddling, windsurfing and general mucking about (diving platform, sunbathing etc)

Obviously it is inflatable so will fit in the boot of most cars. This also means it is a compromise in terms of performance, but the ability to stick it in the boot, set it us in different ways as the mood takes you and everything you need is in 'one bag' means you may use it more than something dedicated to one activity

PS - You [u]may[/u] also be able to fit an [url= http://electric-outboard-motors.co.uk/minn-kota-endura.htm ]electric outboard like this[/url] to it