Adventures In The Portland Pudgy

A montage of excellent adventures in the Portland Pudgy! We love this dinghy. You can learn more about them at portlandpudgy.com
You can join us aboard Rocinante for a Morse Alpha Expedition… coastal or offshore sail training. We specialize in patience, communication, couples sailing, traditional navigation and maximizing fun while minimizing stress. We’ve been teaching people to sail for two decades. We are both USCG licensed captains with over 30 years of combined sail-training experience. We help people sail farther, safer and with more confidence. Our schedule can be found at MorseAlpha.com.
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[@felixcat9318]

Everything about this boat and the available components is so meticulously thought out and well executed! Unlike a deflatable, I believe that this is the liferaft that one could have complete confidence in if shipwrecked! With a manual desalinator, personal locator beacon, food and a comprehensive survival and fishing kit even in the most remote environment the crew will be in good condition. That apart, it makes for a lovely daily use workboat and pleasure craft.

[@DaBinChe]

Just took out my Portland Pudgy on it maiden voyage, first time sailing for me too. So fun!

[@mr.morgan5643]

Keep on shining y'all's light!! Awesome video....

[@mariusgrobler4235]

Fantastic love this little boat so versatile and tough!

[@mikefule]

Brilliant versatile little boat with a bit of character too. I love the little inflatable bow dodger!

[@twidapate]

Boy, if your video doesn't want to make someone buy a Portland Pudgy, nothing will. Well done!

[@MorseAlphaExpeditions]

Thanks. Do you own one?

[@twidapate]

@@MorseAlphaExpeditions Not yet, but I'm thinking I will get one when I get my next "big" boat. I sold my Westsail 43 recently (hoping to buy an Alajuela 33 to replace it in about 5 years), but still have my Montgomery 7-11 sailing dinghy. The Montgomery dinghy is pretty, but it is very heavy and I cringe when I haul it up on rocks. I think the Portland Pudgy will be better suited to PNW cruising.

[@svbarryduckworth628]

Such an infectious laugh. I can tell you were having a ball.

[@dad3533]

Looks like you guys were having a blast!!! Enjoy.

[@drakeParagon]

I really like how if you had to abandon ship into the Portland Pudgy as a liferft, then you could potentially sail it on to safety instead of just aimlessly drifting. I think Lin and Larry Pardey might approve. Awesome video. :)

[@svgitana2499]

DrakeParagon I’ve always been curious about these little dinghy’s. Always liked them but in the end I ended up buying your typical hard bottom 10’ dinghy. But I must say that, it really caught my attention the fact that you can use it as an abandon ship pod! That’s a game changer to me! Also the fact that you could sail it instead of aimlessly drifting while you wait for help to find you!! I’m thinking I might be buying one instead of a new regular dinghy!! 👍🏻👍🏻

[@hero2006]

I need that sail for my kayak. Humm... imagination running now. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

[@lifeislikesailing]

Looks like a great little dinghy!

[@john3Lee]

1:29 = best laugh ever :D

[@csteingraber]

You guys are awesome and doing amazing things! I wanted to ask if the pudgy meets legal requirements as a lifraft and if it is your only liferaft for offshore use. And would a fully inflated on deck typical tender meet the requirements? I beleive the USCG has such a requirement for offshore maybe specifically for passenger for hire situations. I know the Requirements for UPV do NOT require it but do prohibit the use of an expired liferaft. But I feel like somewhere else it was required (maybe just for inspected vessels). Thanks if you have time to give any details on that!!

[@ВикторДемченко-д9ь]

Удачна лодочка. Симпатичная команда. Счастливого плавания.

[@theislandpackrat]

That's nice!

[@guglielmodicarlo4139]

shes got great legs

[@sunlovesailing]

Hey Teresa and Ben :) We’re seriously considering a Portland Pudgy as a tender/life boat to our Crealock 37. Wondering how you feel about it to those ends after using one now for some time? Dig Y’alls style, I’ve been watching your vids for over a yr now, I would say we share the same Planetary ideals, wishes, actions and outcomes. Thanks :) Peace

[@MorseAlphaExpeditions]

We still love it! It’s a bullet proof little boat. She isn’t light, but that’s never been an issue. We just got an outboard for it. Looking forward to trying that. It’s a versatile boat.

[@curtisprincemusic]

Super cool! Do you guys have a life raft as well or she your life boat too? And thanks for getting back! Peace

[@MorseAlphaExpeditions]

We do have a life raft, but only because we take 5 students and 2 instructors offshore. So we need the additional capacity.

[@dwongu]

Looks like we have almost the exact same setup (except our sail is white). Great little boats, the Swiss Army knife of dinghies and F150 workhorse of tenders. I just wish it was about 6 inches longer inside for sailing with two people. (And, in a perfect world it would motor a little faster to keep up with some of our tidal currents.) Our dogs love it - indestructible!

[@Zed1776]

Would that be the first dinghy to be stolen at the dinghy dock or the last? I like to idea of a combined tender and lifeboat. Of course you'll need a lifeboat in the worst of conditions. Would you sail open water with this as your only lifeboat?

[@andrewparry1474]

Yes, this seems the ultimate, all round dinghy for every situation...until you take theft into account. Seeking peace of mind after experiencing such a thing...my thinking is that it's best you also have another lightweight, easily reconstructed piece of shit dinghy to leave on the beach! I have entertained the idea of using the pudgy hull as mold to create a second, fibreglass dinghy, which then nests over it for storage. When it goes missing, your mold is right there. Hmmm, but I don't know if it's quite that simple. The gasses from setting fibreglass resins probably don't do the pudgy any favours. And I've heard of a boat being left in a mold long-term, which developed blisters (apparently condensation gets between them, turns to steam in the heat, and steam does really nasty things that mere water doesn't). So I guess it'd need a gap to breathe a bit, which would also to leave room for some velcro to also attach seats etc. Maybe apply a 5/10/15mm something-or-other to the entire pudgy hull before glassing-up. No idea what that "something-or-other" might be, and am sceptical about the practicalities of carrying it with you - and I do like to carry EVERYTHING. But I still wonder about this from time to time. So if anyone can either explain why this is fundamentally flawed, or how one might best go about it, I'd be most grateful, thanks!

[@MorseAlphaExpeditions]

The Pudgy isn’t fiberglass.

[@felixcat9318]

@@andrewparry1474 I think that if you copy the Pudgy hull you'll be in a potentially legal quagmire!

[@andrewparry1474]

@@felixcat9318 to my understanding, we can copy patented things all we like, as long as we don't sell them. Ok, so it's the same shape. But I kinda doubt that this could be classed as a copy anyway. It's merely a fibreglass shell, which nests over a pudgy (or whatever dinghy one has), and can be rowed to shore!

[@JoelWelter]

Are you guys the couple that used to sail around on different boats? I think one of them was named "Dory".......

[@MorseAlphaExpeditions]

Yes perhaps. We had a cat named Dory and a sailboat named Daphne... Is that what you are thinking of?

[@JoelWelter]

Haha! Yes! It's been a couple of years since I watched her videos. I guess I got the names confused. Thanks!

[@alvessail4718]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@seabournewolf2298]

They’re kinda pricy for a plastic boat

[@DaBinChe]

Price is inline with all the other RotoMolded boats of similar weight/size like the LiteSkiff, SoloSkiff, or Hobbie, etc.