Zodiac Inflatable vs No-Name Inflatable???

I got a flyer last week from West Marine and it had some dinks in it which in the ad's said "Zodiac". Are their dinks made by zodiac or are they just a "zodiac style" dink? They had decent prices and the 5 yr. warranty...
 
They are made by Zodiac for West Marine. I decided on the Aakronboats 9'6" and found a new, opened but never used mercury 6hp (only weighs 55lbs) at a great price and am good to go...
 
Well, I went out and got one of the West Marine 8'6" dinks and a 4hp merc. this should do me fine to get the dog to the beach. The dink looks to be pretty well made but we shall see.
 
Sorry to ask such a crass question, but do you mind sharing what you paid for the 8'6" dinghie with the 4HP merc? Trying to convince the whyff that this is what we need to have!
 
Sounds like a good set up similar to mine..I paid $900.00 for the 9'6, and found the 6hp out of the box but new never in the water for $850.00. Also bought the Nautley Davits to put on my swim platform from Ebay.
 
Barry, post some pitures. Looks like you got nice setup going there.
 
Thanks Alex,

Will take some this weekend...haven't put everything together yet...

Barry
 
Barry, you convinced me before to buy the Tohatsu! LOL. I talked to the Aakronboats guy you referred me to, but I also found a new Mercury Airdeck for nearly the same price. Too many choices and I have been to busy to finalize. I did find a great looking one year old Caribe RIB with Mercury 9.9, tested it, got a half mile out into the Chesapeake, and it totally died. After a while drifting out to the channel I gave up and rowed in. Rowing that far against the tide is no fun!

Have you installed the davits yet? Please do post some pics!
 
Tohatsu makes Mercury and Nissan, and if I hadn't come across this used but new 6hp, I would have gone with the Tohatsu. I wanted something light, so either way I probably would have stuck with a 6hp as it is only 55lbs and easy enough for me to move around myself, though the aakron is rated for up to a 10hp, so worse come to worse, if I don't like the way it rides with the Mercury; I can move the 6hp for what I paid for it and find a 10hp Tohatsu.


There are a lot of choices that's for sure..I'm happy with the Aakron, especially for the price and once I get to put the davits on, will take a photo of the whole set-up. I was hoping to do it this weekend, but most likely will be when I haul the boat out next week to work on and detail myself over the holiday weekend.

Barry
 
HavnFunYet? said:
Sorry to ask such a crass question, but do you mind sharing what you paid for the 8'6" dinghie with the 4HP merc? Trying to convince the whyff that this is what we need to have!
Click to expand...


I paid 799.00 for the dink and 1000.00 for the 4hp. merc. This is as big of a motor as the dink can take. I do like the 4hp. motor though, it has a fuel tank built in to the motor or you can use an external tank with it. I'm going to get it in the water tomorrow, so I'll give a report on performance when the weekend is over.

It took me a while to convince the wife we should get one too. But now that she's seen it she now agrees that this will be a more economical way to make ice runs and get the dog to the beach.
 
barryg said:
Sounds like a good set up similar to mine..I paid $900.00 for the 9'6, and found the 6hp out of the box but new never in the water for $850.00. Also bought the Nautley Davits to put on my swim platform from Ebay.
Click to expand...


WOW! Great price on the motor! I went the local bass pro shop to get my motor they had the best price locally. West Marine wanted 1200.00 for the same 4hp.
 
I was lucky...I was checking ebay and Craigs list and found it locally thru Craigs list. Otherwise I would have paid $1200.00.
 
Well, had the new dink out last weekend.... Worked out great! With just me onboard the little 4hp got it up on plane. Must have been doing 8-9 mph! The dink fit nicely on the swim platform although it seems to be as wide as the boat and I will have to be carefull backing into my slip. I will however need to find a good spot to stow the motor. Due to the fact that it's a 4 stroke you can only lay it on it's side(tiller side down) to keep the oil in the crankcase.

Anyone else with a 280DA that has a dink... Looking for ideas on motor storage, where do you stow yours?
 
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That's great..what dink did you finally go with? I hope to tool around in mine this weekend for the first time, and hopefully install the Nautley Davits on the swim platform.

Barry
 
RiverRat said:
I will however need to find a good spot to stow the motor. Due to the fact that it's a 4 stroke you can only lay it on it's side(tiller side down) to keep the oil in the crankcase. Anyone else with a 280DA that has a dink... Looking for ideas on motor storage, where do you stow yours?
Click to expand...

RiverRat,
Storing dinghy motor is a common question. If you keep the motor attached to your dinghy it's wider than the boat's beem, have you explored the option of turning the motor having the prop in the dink? I would assume that dementions wise you sould be fine and the only thing you'd need to figure out is what to use (a soft cover or a custom box) to protect the dink's floor from being damaged by the dink's prop. Just an idea.

Good luck,
Alex.
 
barryg said:
That's great..what dink did you finally go with? I hope to tool around in mine this weekend for the first time, and hopefully install the Nautley Davits on the swim platform.

Barry
Click to expand...


I went with the West Marine/Zodiac RU 260-slatted floor
 
Went with the Mercury 310 - which is 10'-2" Sport Model. I bought it for $899 - plus shipping. It is a leftover 07. I am looking for a motor now. Leaning toward the 6HP. Barry - how do you like the 6hp with 2 people in the boat?
 
The 6hp is pretty peppy with 2 people.. I bought the stingray jr hydrofoil stabilizer to put on as everyone tells me it helps get the dinghy up to plane faster, but I haven't had the time to put it on yet. The 6hp is light enough for me to take off and put on myself and fast enough to zip around.

Barry
 
Cool - Thanks - I PM'd you and forgot - I posted this on Friday.
 
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