"Hard" Nesting Dinghy

[Dan VanWinkle]

Is anyone using a hard nesting dinghy (two piece) on their CD? After attempting to row an inflatble back to a boat in high winds at the Dry Tortugas, I'm wondering if a hard dinghy is the way to go. A two-piece might fit on my 25D. Anybody know a source of plans or kits?



vanwinkled@pt.cyanamid.com

[Larry Demers]

Yes, I have the Chameleon, by Danny Greene. This is a plywood boat, assembled from Dannys plans using the stitch and glue method. It is 4x9 ft. in size, and does have an optional sailing rig, which ours does not have. I love this dighy. It is supremely easy to row, almost planes off with a 2 hp motor and my heavy carcass aboard (~260 lbs). It IS a bear to take apart however. We have a CD30 (DeLaMer), and I have designed a wood framed carrier that fits on the coach roof between the mast and the dodger, but have not used it yet. We normally tow the dinghy around, and this has been in winds up to 50 kts.
In those high winds, we ended up pulling the dinghy through some large seas (>10 ft). and the strain was too great for her. The sides pulled partially free from the forward bulkhead. I spent all summer redesigning and rebuilding that part of the dinghy, to add some stiffeners and shearing force spreaders to the sides. I also added some fiberglassing at wear points inside and several s.s. rubbing strips to the bottom side, so that we could beach her carefully without damaging the nice paint job too much.

I doubt that the 25D has sufficient deck space to accomodate this boat, but if you are still interested, Danny Greene is living in Bermuda now. His address can be gotten from the Good Old Boat site (www.goodoldboat.com)
If you like rowing, this is a great boat for you.

Larry Demers
s/v DeLaMer
CD30 ~~~~~Sailing Lake Superior~~~~~~~

Is anyone using a hard nesting dinghy (two piece) on their CD? After attempting to row an inflatble back to a boat in high winds at the Dry Tortugas, I'm wondering if a hard dinghy is the way to go. A two-piece might fit on my 25D. Anybody know a source of plans or kits?

demers@sgi.com

[Bill S]

Daivd Gerr has a good two part design with a special s/s bolt set.
In addition several people have made two part dinks from the Nutshell Pram offered by Wooden Boat. I have the 9' 6" Nutshell which is the finest dink I have ever used. I am converting it to two part this winter using Dave Gerr's clamp mehtod. I have a set of Gerr's plans which include the clamps

Yes, I have the Chameleon, by Danny Greene. This is a plywood boat, assembled from Dannys plans using the stitch and glue method. It is 4x9 ft. in size, and does have an optional sailing rig, which ours does not have. I love this dighy. It is supremely easy to row, almost planes off with a 2 hp motor and my heavy carcass aboard (~260 lbs). It IS a bear to take apart however. We have a CD30 (DeLaMer), and I have designed a wood framed carrier that fits on the coach roof between the mast and the dodger, but have not used it yet. We normally tow the dinghy around, and this has been in winds up to 50 kts.
In those high winds, we ended up pulling the dinghy through some large seas (>10 ft). and the strain was too great for her. The sides pulled partially free from the forward bulkhead. I spent all summer redesigning and rebuilding that part of the dinghy, to add some stiffeners and shearing force spreaders to the sides. I also added some fiberglassing at wear points inside and several s.s. rubbing strips to the bottom side, so that we could beach her carefully without damaging the nice paint job too much.

I doubt that the 25D has sufficient deck space to accomodate this boat, but if you are still interested, Danny Greene is living in Bermuda now. His address can be gotten from the Good Old Boat site (www.goodoldboat.com)
If you like rowing, this is a great boat for you.

Larry Demers
s/v DeLaMer
CD30 ~~~~~Sailing Lake Superior~~~~~~~

Is anyone using a hard nesting dinghy (two piece) on their CD? After attempting to row an inflatble back to a boat in high winds at the Dry Tortugas, I'm wondering if a hard dinghy is the way to go. A two-piece might fit on my 25D. Anybody know a source of plans or kits?

wsandifer@cdicorp.com

[Jim Stull]

Is anyone using a hard nesting dinghy (two piece) on their CD? After attempting to row an inflatble back to a boat in high winds at the Dry Tortugas, I'm wondering if a hard dinghy is the way to go. A two-piece might fit on my 25D. Anybody know a source of plans or kits?

Hi Dan
Eric Spoonberg offers plans for the smallest nesting dinghy I have found. He calls it "Hafling". Spoonberg can be contacted at this web site: http://boatbuilding.com/cgibin/links/. His design looks to be more compact than the current Danny Greene offering. However, the design for the latch mechanism shown in Dave Gerr's book, "The Nature of Boats", looks easier to "make and break" while underway. The Gerr design looks like it could be adapted to the other designs.
Jim



jtstull@icubed.com