Tiny, folding dinghy?

[Ken_Potts]

Frank,

Oops! I just referred you to a link that you referred me to. If I'm not careful I'll get us into an infinite loop

[Frank Hagan]

Frank' date='

Oops! I just referred you to a link that you referred me to. If I'm not careful I'll get us into an infinite loop [/quote']

I've been in those before, so at least I would recognize where I was!

That concept sounds easier than what the guys go through with the aluminum-frame-inside-a-tube guys do. Too bad there are no pictures of those (I'll keep looking).

[Ken_Potts]

Frank,

Here's a folding kayak that looks quite portable. It's quite a bit different from the russian design.

Actually you might already be familiar with it. I see that the designer has a link to the B and B website.

http://www.rtpnet.org/robroy/boats/PakYak/setup.html

[Frank Hagan]

I found the picture of the Finnish military folding boat (complete with dogs!)

[attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

[Ken_Potts]

I like the look of the military boat. The diagonals on the transom suggest that the whole thing folds as one piece when the seat is removed.

I still haven't found any more info on the russian folding kayak and at this point I've put it on my list to design something similar. I think I can put together a design that's light, compact and takes only a minute or two to set up. Unfortunately my list is pretty long right now so it'll probably be a year or two before I do anything with it.

Have you decided on which way to go for your dinghy?

[Frank Hagan]

I'm thinking along the lines of the "Handy Andy" folding row boat, but cut in two like a nesting dinghy. That will give me two folded sections 5' long, but a 10' boat with a 42" beam.

I was initially thinking of using a continuous piece of marine grade vinyl, which has a mesh backing, that would form the bottom and sides of the boat, with ply panels for stiffness glued to the inside. Sort of like the folding kayaks. Push the sides up, put in the seats, and the boat is made. But the material is typically 52" or 59" wide, and that's not big enough to do that size boat ... 42" across the bottom and 12 - 14" up the sides is what you need.

The "Handy Andy" uses waterproof canvas as hinges, so I'm back to that idea. But thinking of better materials than the canvas.

[Stump]

I built a whole kayak using the thicker PVC material over a wood frame. I glued and tacked the thing together. 15 years later it is still gong strong. The great thing about it is if you do skuff a leak in it you can fix it by applying a patch of duct tape for the short and glue a patch for a stronger cover. Still supple after all these years. Of course I do try to keep it out of the direct sun for long periods of time. :wink:

[Ken_Potts]

My current kayak is a wood frame covered by 1000 denier Cordura (Cordura is typically used in backpacks and stuff where high-strength and abrasion resistance are needed). I've beat that boat up a lot and although the wood frame has suffered, the Cordura is still doing great. It has a waterproof coating on one side. I put the coated side of the material on the inside of the boat and painted the outside with oil-based porch and deck paint for good measure.

I think cordura would be a good substitute for canvas hinges. I haven't had any exposure to the heavy PVC so I can't say which would be better. Maybe I'll use the PVC next time...

Oh yeah - I've tried the duct-tape repair on cordura and I can say for sure that it doesn't work so it sounds like PVC is more easily repaired.

[capt jake]

Frank, in an older WoodenBoat I found plans for a 10' folding dingy. If this would work for your needs, let me know and I will scan it or send it to you.

[Guest]

Frank' date=' in an older WoodenBoat I found plans for a 10' folding dingy. If this would work for your needs, let me know and I will scan it or send it to you.[/quote']

Which one Capt?

[capt jake]

I shudda posted it to begin with, huh!

#123 March/April 1995

I have a hole bunch of these old mags (given to me) There is a wealth of great information in these older editions (as compared to the newer ones).

[Frank Hagan]

Jake, does it fold flat? How big is it when it is folded?

I might be interested in seeing that!

[Guest]

Sandwich Tern is the name. He states he has a total of 650 American dollars in it. The aritcle has a side note that discusses designing your own folding dinghy, pg. 78 for you information. Here will be a litlle tidbit for your viewing pleasure, too,

http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-bin/Building/Archive30.pl/noframes/read/31578

http://www.seahopper.co.uk/

[capt jake]

Yes, it folds flat. It looks like a portaboat in the pictures, thogh made of plywood and epoxy with neoprene hinges.

Overall size 11'x22"; folds to 4" wide and can handle a 2hp outboard if needed.

[Frank Hagan]

Jake, I'd like to see the article ... can you scan it and send it to "frankhagan @ ev1.net" (remove the quotes and spaces of course)? That's not my usual email address, but since I'm on a lousy dial up connection, I need to set aside time to download anything of any size!

Thanks for the link to the folding boats in the UK, Mike. I'm following several of the links through looking at designs; they have an interesting one that uses a flat bottomed, rectangular hull with an inflatable collar around it for extra flotation. Interesting design!

[capt jake]

I'm having a h*** of a time with scanning and sending. I finally have the article scanned, but now (even after zipping it) I can't get it to go out. One page is 7.8 meg (zipped) in a TIF format.

Am I doing something wrong (probably)??? :oops: Somebody throw me a lifeline:) ;)

I may have to copy it an mail it to you.

Edited to add:

Forget it; they are too big to e-mail. I have them burnt to a CD. Frank please send me your snail mail address and I will send you an early Christmas present!

[Frank Hagan]

Thanks, I'll email you the address!

[Frank Hagan]

Got the article today! Thanks, Jake.

I was interested in his hinge design, and it looks like he just glues 1/32" neoprene-nylon on with 3M 5200!

[capt jake]

No problem; I hope this was of help. Keep us posted.

[Garry]

Frank,

What ever came of the folding dinghy ideas?

One idea that I don't think was mentioned in this thread is using the inflatable kayaks. The row (paddle) well and don't require an outboard like a typical inflatable tender. The drawback is capacity and stability, but, hey, you can't have everything!