tinny or inflatable?

dbish replied:

Hi Keith I use a 10Ft tinny weighs 40Kg so is easy to load on to roof racks, Out board is an air cooled Tohatsu 5Hp & is lighter than watercooled O/B of same HP Pushes boat @12Knots with one on board. I find this quite managable even with a crook back. Cheers Daryl ( would post pictures but cant on this forum) Thumbs UpThanks 0

Member - mervyn p (VIC) replied:

Hi stumbly1 have you thought about a fold up boat, i have a plastic fold up boat 12'.6" with an 8hp outboard and i can get up onthe plain,they are reputed to be more stable than a tinny 2 people can stand and flick lures from one side, there is one better if you look on youtube at insta boat it is aluminium fold up and it all folds up like a surf board 10' long 4'' thick and about 20" wide, im sure you would be surprised cheers uptotenyearsroundoz. Thumbs UpThanks 0

time waster replied:

Hi Keith,

Are you in Adelaide as we have a Bermuda 3.1m 50kg roof topper with a Mercury 8hp that we are looking at selling and getting a larger tinny as it's getting a bit cramped with four of us on there now the kids are getting bigger, it gets on the plane with two adults with no troubles at all, when we first bought the boat package the dealer recommended the 5hp but with several goes it would only get one person on the plane and use to vibrate the boat like mad being a single cylinder engine so for a few extra dollars he gave us the 8hp and what a fantastic motor with the forward and reverse on the tiller makes easy boating.

Christian

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Wild Pa replied:

Hey Keith

I have a Zodiac inflatable 3.4m with a high pressure inflatable floor, with a 15hp Yamaha. It flies with 1 person and gets along ok with 4.

I have had car toppers before, and I think the inflatable is lighter and easier to handle. folded up its about 1m x 0.6m x 0.3m and takes up about half of the back of the 4by. It takes about 15 minutes to unfold and pump up with a foot pump, and i can also put it on the roof racks when inflated and carry it like a tinny.

The motor is on the van draw bar and a fold up trailer on the van rear bar , very convenient, light and easy to use .

waza Thumbs UpThanks 0

kwk56pt replied:

Check out aluminium style 10 foot roof toppers. I was sceptical but surprised by the relatively dry soft ride and incredible stability. I haven't owned a inflatable but reports of fish spines and they are sharp putting small holes in inflatable put me off them but as I say no first hand experience other than the ocean craft. Worth checking out immensely more sea worthy than a tinny. Thumbs UpThanks 0

AdrianLR (VIC) replied:

As another alternative, have a look at the Hobie Mirage drive kayaks. These are "peddle powered".

We've had a 5m runabout, then a 3.3m inflatable with a 15hp Merc. All good fun but lots of hassle and overhead (both financial and having to carry big, bulky, smelly bits of gear. There were lots of folds and corners in the inflatable where fishing hooks could hide although we never had a problem.

We now have a Hobie Outfitter tandem yak set up for fishing. Has worked out best for us.

Regards,

Adrian
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PradOz replied:

Hi Keith

I dont own either, but my brother does. We just returned from our Christmas hols with him and his family. He brings his inflatable with fold up trailer and 25HP in and on his Corimal camper van. It certainly gets around very easily and into some areas where with a tinny could be difficult. Its very stable and I have a spine problem (disc replacement and fusion surgery 18 months ago) and went out on it many times with no troubles.

They are virtually unsinkable excepting a major problem. His is an old one used by the LifeSavers. He has had small issues with leaks but he easily and quickly solves these problems when they arise. He actually can still go out with a leak and not need to worry about sinking. It was really funny at Christmas, we were out fishing when we noticed water inside the bottom of the boat was worse than normal (he had a small leak he had been leaving until later on to fix) I found a seam between the large outside inflatable section and the bottom had separated. We later found this gap to be big enough to slide your hand in. The funny bit was when he dropped a small fish in the bottom and it swam around inside the boat amongst our feet. I thought we were supposed to be fishing outside the boat not inside it!

Anyway we didnt sink or even get any lower in the water. He always carries a large storage box with gear to keep dry and one of those really large hand pumps. To remove any water in the bottom just meant going for a quick run to wash it out the back. No problems with fishing hooks or fish spines since he has had it (3 or 4 years now) His few issues were due to the age of the boat which he fixed in about an hour while we were away. He has swapped motors around a bit and now is very happy with his 25HP Yamaha. It is one of the larger zodiac boats and easily fits 4 of us with all our gear, rods etc and his large black storage box too. He took it out jumping waves for a bit of fun and it performed very well with no issues at all.

He folds it all up to carry and it pumps up very quickly and its a large boat. The tinnies are noisier, bounce you around harder too and you would probably have issues with wind, fuel? with it on the roof of your vehicle. Keep in mind you probably wont use yours as often as you now think, so carrying it up on top all the time for the few times you use it my not be worth it if it can be stowed away all folded up (especially if its as small as you suggest) Good luck with it.... Thumbs UpThanks 0

stumbly1 replied:

Thanks everyone,

Lots of info there to work with - the performance of the portabotes sounds good and I will look into them, but the inflatable idea still sounds good aswell. comfort,stability and bouyancy could be useful if I want to take a couple more people up a river for a look.

Thanks again, Keith Thumbs UpThanks 0

Gnomey replied:

G'day Keith
Finally a topic on which I feel qualified to offer some experience and opinion! First, I own a 10' inflatable with a hard floor and 15hp motor. I also drive it with an electric motor. I chose it as a fly fishing boat for it's stealth, stability and seaworthiness - but NOT for it's convenience as a 'travel' boat. For my needs it is the best solution by a clear margin. For long (fishing) trips I stow it and all its stuff in a 6x4 trailer with a simple, lockable box top I made to bolt on. When I'm fishing frequently it remains inflated and inverted on top of the box. Like this it is not much trouble to launch and recover and any extra time it takes over a small trailered tinny is overwhelmed by its performance (for my purposes).

I'm not sure what I would advise to go with because I don't know exactly what you mean by 'travel',including how long the stays will be and how big the trip will be and how rough the ride will be. Also I don't know how keen on fishing you are . Is it the main game or an occasional pastime? From your description I would guess it's probably more the latter.

I assume you aren't talking day trips but at the other extreme - ie a lap around the block - I would be concerned about the amount of room it would take to stow my boat, its 2 motors, fuel tank, bag with anchor & safety gear, battery and leads etc. So ok even if you take away the extras, you are still left with a fair chunk of space and as others have mentioned - the smelly bits. For a big trip and/or a rough ride, and not towing anything, you would have to want that boat a lot - whether it was on the roof or in the back. Hence people mentioning kayaks and you might also look at pontoon boats - the ones with oars IMHO.

All that said, in your position and if I had the room, I would choose an inflatable over a tinny but I would also look at the portaboat, especially a second hand one. The final decision would likely come down to what boat packed up and stored best and the cost - as opposed to performance on the water.

BTW I wouldn't worry about hooks or hull failures with inflatables. These things are low pressure and surprisingly tough.

Cheers
Mark Thumbs UpThanks 0

Member - Vince M (NSW) replied:

as the largest inflatable supplier to surf life saving of Australia & one of the few australian inflatable manufactures (30 years) a few things i would like to point out in regards to inflatables

do your home work there is a lot of crap out there

if you buy one don't even think of a cheapy

the material should be Hypalon

all our craft are commercial models & do not make any in the size you would like/need and our smallest is a 3.75 & that's a rigid hull, most are in the 5.7mtr to 8.5 mtr range so if you would like to ask any inflatable questions feel free to give me a members message i will answer without bias

regards Vince Thumbs UpThanks 0

Member - Vince M (NSW) replied:

Keith your sevylor was PVC Not hypalon, if your not going to buy a quality one do not buy a inflatable
a quality one will last (quality ones come with a 10year warranty) & will last 20years most surf clubs get 7-10years of service & than sell them & they normally go on for another 10years
feel free to member message & you can call me
regards Vince Thumbs UpThanks 0