I'm planning to purchase a new inflatable for my 2001 Coronet. I'm looking at a West Marine 275 sport boat. It is 9 feet, 90 lbs, and has a wood floor. We have rocky shorelines where I boat on lake mi so the soft bottom I believe is the way to go. My plan is to use Weaver snap davits.
For much of the season my boat will be on a mooring so the dingy will be used to go ashore and back.
I'm wondering what other owners of smaller Tiaras are using for inflatables? Is 9 ft too big? Anyone have experience with Weaver snap davits on the back of a Coronet?
Okay. Trying one more time to get some comments. After talking with a few boaters, I think maybe 9' is too big and so now more focused on Mercury Marine 240 which is 7'6". Any thoughts about size relative to 29 ft boat?
For a rocky shoreline I would not be looking at a inflatable bottom. The hard bottom would be the way to go. Weighs more, but certainly more durable than inflatable. 8ft or 8.5FT would be fine for 2 people plus a little gear. IMHO.
For a rocky shoreline I would not be looking at a inflatable bottom. The hard bottom would be the way to go. Weighs more, but certainly more durable than inflatable. 8ft or 8.5FT would be fine for 2 people plus a little gear. IMHO.
I believe an inflatable bottom may be ok, provided you are very careful not to hard beach it or walk inside the vessel while the vessel is beached. Fiberglass bottoms are going to have issues with beaching in rocky areas as well. The hulls tend to be thin fiberglass for weight saving purposes and it would be easy to crack or gouge the hull, at lease a soft bottom would contour if you were gentle and the rocks were not too sharp.
They do make hard rubber keel protectors for fiberglass hulls and they may even make them for the soft bottoms. I would definitely look into that for your set up.
Your Coronet is 11' 4" wide. A 9' tender should be ok, but may not aesthetically be the best. A smaller tender would be better looking and easier to handle, but will limit your load capacity and engine options.
Respectfully I disagree with Chris. Hard bottom inflatables are not as "tender" as he has indicated. That is if you buy one of decent quality. I have had four over the years and have never punctured the bottom. Does it get scrapped on the rocks? Yes....but never holed or seriously damaged. If you are located anywhere where there is any kind of tide...I would tell you to be VERY CAREFUL about beaching a inflatable bottom on a rocky shore. Rocks are one thing, but many of those rocks are loaded with barnacles. They will tear up the bottom of an inflatable like razor blades. On a 8 or 8 1/2 inflatable you will probably be limited to 4 to 6 HP. Check with specific manufacturers for limitations.
Anthem is correct if the rocks are sharp or covered in barnacles. We have rocky beach areas in SW Florida, but the rocks tend to smooth and mixed in with sand, not a real issue with either fiberglass or inflatable bottoms. In the end, an aluminum bottom would be best for hard sharp rocky shorelines, but I don't know of anyone that makes small aluminum bottom inflatables.
If you go with fiberglass, I would look into a keel protector.
Ended up with mercury marine 240 sport, which is a composite floor inflatable keel boat. 7'6". Also was able to find still in box 2005 2 cycle 4 HP mercury outboard. I think the size is good for a "little" tiara. Rocks in northern mi are smooth so I'm thinking soft bottom will work well. Thanks for the comments.
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