www.iFourWinns.com

I wouldd never buy a used inflatable ever again. I bought a 1997 zodiak from a dealer that never should have been sold!!! Lower end zodiak are hand glued from the factory and eventually all seams become unglued and they are not really worth the money to fix. I got 1 season out of mine then it started leaking water in the floor. The more I looked the worse it got.
Do yourself a favour don't cheap out, you get what you pay for in the inflatable market. If you buy a $600 dollar inflatable by the time you rough it up and the outside do there part it will be garbage in 5yrs.
Just my opinion hopefully someone can learn from my mistake

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2001 328 Vista "Nauta Dream 2"
AB Inflatable 10AL "Little Dreamer"
2000 248 Vista
1997 225 Sundowner


Mike

I know nothing about dinghys (here to learn), but $120 per year for almost anything boat related seems like a steal!

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2004 Horizon 230
Volvo/Penta 5.7 DuoProp

It is hard to tell for sure, but that Mercury 2.2hp outboard engine looks like a long shaft outboard to me. I think you'll find you will want a short shaft outboard engine for inflatables in the size you are looking for.

Mike.

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Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

The Fishing guys generally have a bank of batteries and an outboard motor. So it not there main source to get around. When I first starting boating, I had used a trolling motor. As soon as I could I bought a 3.5 gas motor. YES, gas & battery motors have there places.

My buddy is going to give me a 3.5 hp sea king. I guess it is an antique but its free and it works! He said it even looks nice for its age. Still thinking about going cheaper on the boat itself. I am with Rich A. on the idea of the per year cost. I am not even sure how much use i will end up getting out of it or if I will end up just selling it because we dont use it enough. Either way, if it is a piece of junk, it comes with a two year warranty. It may be worth it, and might not. The Baltik looks nice as does the Zodiac. The Zodiac says it is glued seams (thank you for that information, babbot1!!). I will keep looking for the right one.

Is the best price for mounting hardware going to be in the $400 range?? Does anyone have experience with mounting the hardware to the swim platform? I am nervous about doing that and might want to have a shop take care of it unless someone says it is worth the shot.

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2006 Vista 278
First Boat:
2005 Sundowner 205
Columbus, OH

I would suggest if you do buy a inflatable that you don't worry about spending the money on hardware for mounting the inflatable until you determine you will use the inflatable enough to justify the mounting hardware expense. You can pull the inflatable up onto your swim platform and use boat fenders or pool noodles along with dock lines to secure your inflatable for travelling for one season and then determine if you like it enough for hardware. Google inflatable davits, there are many types and price ranges of hardware available. I have used the weaver davits on two different boats and now the Burke davits on our 328. I like the Burke davits better, but probably not so on a smaller inflatable.

I'm not suggesting this, but if you think the $600.00 inflatable linked above would work for you, offer him $550.00. You could probably sell the engine that comes with it for $300.00 or so (provided the engine is decent) and then use your buddies engine, then you really have an inexpensive inflatable with a bunch of accessories to boot.

Mike.

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Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

I am building davits this year. I am basically copying a C davit system my friend has so its not a big deal. Just like you I am afraid of drilling into the swim platform. If you don't feel comfortable have a professional do it. I may have someone install the davits once I finish more for the fact that I don't think I can physically reach the spot in the engine compartment for a backing plate.

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--2002 3880 Regal Flybridge | Twin Merc 8.1HO **Seven**
--2003 AB 13 VST Console Inflatable | Tohatsu 40hp TLDI **Phish'n ski**
--310 Mercury Inflatable | 1982 9.9 Johnson

I am no longer considering the Craigslist boat. It is too old and I would rather buy a new one now that I know I have a motor. Very good points about the mounting hardware. I should at least wait a season before spending that money. I am thinking of putting seadek on my swim platform, and I was wondering if that will have to be removed where the davits would mount? I need to know if that means I have to hold off on the seadek also?

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2006 Vista 278
First Boat:
2005 Sundowner 205
Columbus, OH

There is always a deal to be had, but boats are not cheap. Usually, you are gonna get what you pay for.

Pick up that defender sale, or one of the boats on ebay. 600 bucks for a decent tender is super cheap. Trying to save a little exposes you to some risk. Fixing leaking dinghy's is a pain in the butt, and can be expensive.

Find a nicely used 2 stroke on Craigslist as they are lighter, cheaper, and can be stored in any direction.

If you are going to take my it home all the time, just tie it off on the step and/or tow it.

If you want to keep it on the boat all year long, you have some options. Nutley will let you store the boat horizontally. Weavers will store it vertically.

There are a bunch of other rodeo options, but none will work as well. (Just my opinion).

Skip the sea dek until you have the tender mount situation figured out. Heck, skip the sea dek and put it towards the tender. Way better investment (again, my opinion).

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

FYI
If your still looking.
The West Marine 9' wood floor boat is going on sale this Thrusday.

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2004 248 Vista "Amante"
MC 5.0MPI/B3

I did see the ad for the 4 day sale! It is a great price, but there are 5 of us in my family with the kids now. I actually bought the Aqua Marina one. It is very well built and rated for 5 or 1100lbs. It has welded seams and aluminum floor panels, and received great reviews with a warranty. I will use the 3hp Sea King motor that my buddy gave me for now. If it is too loud or smelly/slow, i will upgrade at some point. My hope is that we use the heck out of it this year, and then I will invest in some mounting hardware for it. For the time being, it will have to be inflated/deflated with every use. it only takes about 10 minutes to inflate it with the foot pump. I was pretty surprised by how fast that was. It takes 2 minutes to completely deflate it and then another 5 minutes to fold it up and put it back in the bag. I want to store it on the bow, like Bliss stores his, but I think it will obstruct my vision too much from the helm. Any other suggestions on storage locations? I might still give the bow a try, but I wont be able to store it there when we go to Erie for sure.

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2006 Vista 278
First Boat:
2005 Sundowner 205
Columbus, OH

I might add, that I would not have bought the one I did without all of the helpful info from you guys! Knowing about the different types of seams and thinking about the ownership cost were extremely important factors in my decision. I may have spent less on a dinghy than some would have, but I did do the research in advance to make it less of a gamble.

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2006 Vista 278
First Boat:
2005 Sundowner 205
Columbus, OH

Glad to hear you are happy with your purchase.
I was also inflating and deflating on my 258 bow. Its a little tight but its doable. I found inflating the boat perpendicular to the bow gave me enough leg room to work. I fold my inflatable up and lie it on the port side bow then tie it to the rail. It does not obstruct my view in most conditions. Only maybe in tight docking would it be in the way but I dock on the starboard side. Push it up close to the windshield and it should be out of your view. If you dock port side when you throw your fender out just slide the inflatable out of your line of sight.

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--2002 3880 Regal Flybridge | Twin Merc 8.1HO **Seven**
--2003 AB 13 VST Console Inflatable | Tohatsu 40hp TLDI **Phish'n ski**
--310 Mercury Inflatable | 1982 9.9 Johnson

Dinghy's are so so much fun! I see a 9.9 or 15hp in your future.... (I started with a 2.5hp, then a 2 stroke 9.9hp, now have a 4 stroke 15hp)
For more than one season, I simply dragged the dinghy onto the swim platform from the side, even with the 9.9 on the back. Just lift the bow up as high as it will go and walk backwards. A few lines tied to cleats and it worked well - the only downside was having no access to the platform while it was on there. I've now built my own detachable davits out of starboard, so I have 12-14" of platform open for walking with the dinghy loaded up.

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1969 Chris Craft Commander 47
1999 Four Winns 328 Vista - SOLD

I like the idea of a 2 stroke for maintaining, but I worry about it smoking or smelling. The Sea King is a 2 stroke. I definitely know that I will want more HP eventually. This dinghy has a 15 hp max.

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2006 Vista 278
First Boat:
2005 Sundowner 205
Columbus, OH