Best Life Boat + Dinghy? [Show Us Your Dinghy] - Don's Portland Pudgy

[@nicholasbigney4143]

Have had a pudgy for years. Sailing rig, lifeboat, etc. It ends up a little bit heavier than an RIB, but it is a really good boat. It can sail, row, and be a dinghy. I don't ever see getting another kind of dinghy. We used to have an RIB. With a 3.5 Tohatsu long shaft, the Pudgy doesn't plane, but it gets there plenty fast and is dry. He didn't mention the wheel built into the keel, so you can roll it up ramps, the beach, etc. It is a beast.

[@yarpenzigrin1893]

Nice, how much does it weigh with all the gear in it? I suppose it's not very difficult to pull it onboard?

[@felixcat9318]

I particularly like that between the outer and inner hulls there is closed cell foam which makes the boat unsinkable and which provides excellent insulation against the cold water. It also significantly reinforces the hull and makes it even more impervious to damage. A detailed, close inspection of the Pudgy reveals many very clever design features, and I have never seen a compact boat that has such versatility and in which one could safely trust with their life. Steve Callahan would have loved this boat when he was cast Adrift!

[@antonditt1661]

I am trying to steal that idea of stowing a sail rig in the benches for the ply dinghy I'm building. Having a good plan b when the engine fails on you is priceless.

[@rorytennes8576]

I like that he called them " deflatable " " Not inflatable

[@mr.morgan5643]

Hello Captain Don, thank you fot the awesome tour of you Portland pudgy! I plan on buying one soon.....just perfect!! Fair winds Doug pa great song 😅

[@bobdillon1312]

I loved this ... best dingy in my opinion. Thanks, Ill definitely be ordering...

[@dawnhornsby7215]

I love this dingy series😍 cool vid😎

[@Allen-by6ci]

9:38... thank you Emily! I was about to get mad at everyone for not petting the dog! Cool dinghy tour! :)

[@zen.passion.adventure7765]

great vid! using it every day is a GREAT idea and increases saftey factor when you really need it. something sailors dont always think of. this dinghy is literally indestructable! wow. i like Roger Taylor's (from UK) idea too - making your actual sailboat your lifeboat and unsinkable. there are some awesome vids i binge out on of him building MingMing and MingMing II. ps - like the music in this vid too.

[@Clarks-Adventure]

Our friend Dale wrote it last summer. When we started this series, we knew it was the perfect song. Here's the music video we made for him as a thank-you for letting us use it in the series. (Warning: it gets a little dirty!) kzbin.info/www/bejne/apuTd4WPitx9f9E

[@karlheinzvansteen5748]

I have mine mounted on the stern swim platform with Weaver Davits - they are made specific to the Pudgy, have had mine on the boat for several years now,.

[@Kevin_Reems]

That thing looks amazing! This could be the one I end up getting

[@Clarks-Adventure]

I'll tell Don next time we meet up. He'll be happy to hear that.

[@las1147]

I believe its coastguard certified to carry 4 people and its self righting with the canopy on

[@devinholland2189]

We have one and love it.

[@JK50with10]

The problem with his “sit in the dingy and let the yacht sink under him” method, is that the biggest threat to a boat isn’t sinking, its fire. How does he get it in the water fast in case of fire? Inflatable mounted to the aft rail is about as fast as you can get.

[@bahamaman100]

Great review

[@MiQBohlin]

Aye m8's, stuff like this is really interesting and helpful, thnx for sharing!

[@Seafariireland]

Super tender!

[@MrEric_API]

10 year pudgy. Great ideas....

[@whileysea]

I got one. But the Floor is not solid enough buildt. It bubbles. Also the stern is cracking. I use a é.5 HP Outboard. But the corners should not crack. As a Rowboat is it excellent.

[@jamesbaldwin7676]

The outboard motor is wasted, since it is easily rowed at about the same speed (hull speed.) I routinely leave my motor ashore and get a little exercise instead. The boat will not plane no matter how many horses you have hanging off the stern. The outboard motor, is an expense, weight and hassel you don't need. The pudgy looks lightweight. IT IS NOT. Don't think you can easily pick it up and move it around. YOU CAN'T. It floats like a feather however, but on land, it's a beached whale. It's definitely not "car top" friendly. It's also not a good white-water river boat, since it has a long keel and a bit of draft to it. I love it though, because it really does do the things it was designed to do and do them well.

[@IcyMidnight]

That pudgy does look interesting! Clark mentioned that he'd want a more performant tender. Would he consider this as a secondary boat/lifeboat, I wonder.

[@Clarks-Adventure]

We are already loaded with small boats on Temptress. Emily just built her pram that fills much the same nitch. We have the new 12 foot skiff and we carry a high quality DBC life raft. We simply have no more room. But we do find it interesting as well. If it fits your needs it's a cool little boat. And it looks well made. If we needed something with it's capabilities I'd consider getting one. I am a fan of hard boats. Most people never deflate their inflatables anyway so why have one that inflates with all of its downsides? I agree with Don, as a cruiser gets more experienced they tend to go hard boat. Seldom do you hear of someone going back to deflatables. We have a few more in this series filmed and will publish them when the editing is done. We have an interesting inflatable that is similar as it's also a liferaft (the tinker) and the two best inflatables on the marker right now (though I'm not a fan of deflatables). We filmed a nutshell pram home built as well. Once those are done we will have to do a couple of videos on our own choices. Also we did a music video of the guy doing the title music. It's already up for patreon supporters but will eventually be generally published. It's a cute song he wrote in Georgetown. -C

[@IcyMidnight]

@@Clarks-Adventure 👍 I meant more in a theoretical sense, if Emily hadn't just built her little sailer.

[@Clarks-Adventure]

Yeah, if you didn't care about planing and wanted a store bought boat this is about the best I've seen. I'd get one if the price was right.

[@stevenootenboom1]

Hey Don. I havent seen you in almost 30 years. Howdy

[@IcyMidnight]

Thanks for fixing the link :)

[@Clarks-Adventure]

Thanks, fixed it

[@lithe.susurrous661]

Is it made out of HDPE ?

[@sv_doodlebug856]

I'd think a dinghy as fabulous as this appears to be would be a theft magnet and worthy of the time and effort to steal. From a big boat very risky, but when tied off at shore less risky. Do you think my supposition wrong?

[@jamesbaldwin7676]

Most dinghies are stolen for their outboard motors. Since the pudgy rows nearly as well as any outboard can push it, I don't use a motor. The pudgy by itself is way too heavy and too much work to steal. It requires three strong men just to pick it up and carry it away. I use the main halyard and winch, just to hoist it off the foredeck (it's too heavy to lift.) Anyway,..keep your dinghy by keeping the outboard motor off the transom.

[@someoneunknown3391]

Do you have a crane on your boats that you use to haul the dinghy out of the water?

[@Clarks-Adventure]

Sailboats are kinda like floating cranes. We have halyards for raising sails to the mast tip. They make great lines to lift stuff. We can always rig a boom if we need more control or to manouver a really heavy weight. I've changed engines twice on Temptress and just used the boats rigging and muscle power.

[@bryonensminger7462]

Do they make them any bigger

[@Clarks-Adventure]

Looks like they come in one standard size. It's rated for 4 adults, up to 557 total with gear and motor. Smaller than a lot of dinghies, but holds more than a longer inflatable, for instance. www.portlandpudgy.com/dinghy-specs/ www.portlandpudgy.com/dinghy-specs/

[@MrGentlebutfirm]

As a lifeboat, can you not fear that it easily tips over in large waves?

[@Clarks-Adventure]

I imagine it would flip a lot but hopefully right itself.

[@MrGentlebutfirm]

@@Clarks-Adventure What! Am I using the right words here.. Tip over = capsize. Or not? If capsized why would it right itself?

[@MrGentlebutfirm]

Ok, having seen what the producer has to say about it: "Capsize: What happens in the event of capsize? All boats and life rafts can capsize. When life rafts capsize, the occupants can be trapped under the floor of the raft. It is necessary for life raft passengers to exit the raft to turn it over. The Portland Pudgy is a solid boat that is heavier than its exposure canopy. The bottom-heaviness makes the Pudgy want to right itself, and in fact, the Pudgy with the inflated canopy is self-righting when empty. The CO2-inflated 6-inch tubes of the Pudgy act as roll bars in rough seas. If the Pudgy capsizes with two adults inside and the inflated exposure canopy in place, the added 400-plus pounds of buoyancy in the canopy make the Pudgy lie partially on its side; the passengers can right the boat by shifting their weight or waiting for wave action to right it. Even lying partially on its side, because of the deep rigid floor of the Pudgy, a large domed air chamber is formed inside the partially-capsized boat (unlike the fabric floor of an inflatable life raft, which can trap and suffocate passengers if capsized). By the way, even without the exposure canopy in place, the capsized Pudgy floats high in the water and is very easy to right using the handholds in the keel, and because of the thickness of the double-wall hull, it picks up little or no water (no sitting in a swamped boat). This can be life-saving. Hypothermia is a major cause of death in emergencies at sea. See Yacht Tender/Dinghy FAQs."

[@Clarks-Adventure]

The red canopy is rigid when inflated. Hull is much heavier so the boat flips back on it's bottom without much water getting in.

[@jbird6048]

I am SOLD!

[@momosworld7312]

Its weights as much a a raft and dingy and a buoy