I lied

Well not exactly lied but I might have exaggerated a bit.  On our website we say Dinghy Dogs make "it as stable as an inflatable". The fact is that an inflatable has its tubes in the water all the time.  That's what keeps inflatables afloat and give them stability, but that's what makes them such poor rowing boats and such poor tow behinds.

The Dinghy Dogs tubes ride out of the water in an empty boat as seen in this side by side comparison.  

Dinghy Dogs  v  Inflatable

As passengers enter the dinghy, the tubes will drop but should still be out of the water. That's how boats with Dinghy Dogs can perform like a hard dinghy.  

Only if and when the boat tips too much, the tubes become active providing the buoyancy needed to prevent serious problems or even a capsize. 

So I guess they're not quite as stable as an inflatable but we believe the tradeoff is more than justified.

An ounce of prevention

I recently received a note from a customer telling me that a bladder in one tube apparently burst.  When I received the culprit I found that the bladder had indeed burst and had a huge hole adjacent to the valve.  The bladder material had clearly been subjected high heat since the material surrounding the valve was very thin and transparent.

Apparently the collar was not centered in the opening and the bladder material found its way out around the collar.  I suspect the hot sun increased the pressure on the tubes but since the bladder was not contained by the cover, it kept expanding until it burst.

I urge you to be sure the valve is centered whenever you inflate but especially if the dinghy will be unattended for any time and you might not notice a problem.  Since this is the first time we have encountered this it's probably an outlier but an ounce of prevention....

Our new Dinghy Dogs design has an improved valve arrangement making this problem nearly impossible as seen here:

Wishing us all a great New Year and sailing season.

Protect your Dinghy Dogs

There is an excellent article "RIB wrap",  in the September/October issue of Good Old Boat  that tells how someone made an inflatable boat cover for under $100. (A pdf will open and you need to scroll about half way down.) It should be easy to adapt to Dinghy Dogs, especially that spend lots of time under the tropical sun.

And won't you please "Like" us on Facebook?  It will really help us. Click the "Like" button below.  

Thanks.

Two styles of Dinghy Dogs

We've decided to offer Dinghy Dogs in both the new, tapered design as well as the original tried and true "hot dog" design. The price remains the same for both.  Take a look. http://dinghydogs.com and let us know what you think.

Rowing Tip Update

As you know, Dinghy Dogs add width to your dinghy and oars can rub their surface.  Here's a suggestion: pvc tubing.

Good Source of Information

Came across a good source of information for those who like to putter around for boat equipment and stuff:  http://www.billdietrich.me/BoatEquipment.html

Track Installation Questions

I've been asked some questions about installing the track and would like to clarify some issues.