# Portland Pudgy



## janders (Dec 18, 2007)

Has anyone had any experience with one of these dinghys? The idea of a dinghy/life raft is pretty appealing and an unsinkable/non-puncturing tender is pretty cool. I'm pretty interested in it but also concerned about how the plastic would fare after being bombarded with UV's for a couple years. I ran across this boat in another thread on tenders but it didn't seem like anyone had firsthand experience.

If it's relevant, our intended use is primarily a dinghy for gunkholing through Mexico and Central America and secondarily a liferaft for the passage down from Seattle and perhaps over to the South Pacific. I'm looking for something we can mostly row. I'd really like to avoid an outboard engine if at all possible. I like the idea of adding a sail kit to it but the sailing kit looks a bit dodgy to me.

(Since I can't post links or images until after 10 posts, you'll have to decipher the web page from my cleverly altered URL below)

www dot portlandpudgy dot com


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## chucklesR (Sep 17, 2007)

The pudgy was recently mentioned in my Gemini Yahoo group and several of the owners stepped forward and fess'd up to owning one.
All of them reported very favorably, rowing and sailing (tho it's not a 420 so don't expect it to sail like one- none had a motor on it and two of them were out and about where you intend to go.

The only negative was wait time from order to delivery. The company makes them in small batches, not continous builds.


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## gtod25 (Aug 5, 2000)

*Saw one at a boat show and liked it....*

as I subscribe to the Pardeys' concept of a liferaft that can be sailed/rowed.

It is however a little heavy. 

The basic dinghy weighs about 128 lbs. With all accessories and equipment (exposure canopy, sailing rig, sea anchor, etc.), it weighs about 168 lb.

Except for that its on my short list next time.

As its made of polyethylene I think it may outlive most of us.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

The UV degradation of the plastic would be my biggest concern for it. You might want to consider a stitch-and-glue wood dinghy. There are quite a few that have excellent rowing characteristics, and might be better suited for what you're doing. 

When you say you're going to be gunkholing, what is the mothership vessel going to be??? That may determine what will work best for you. A Nichols NN10 might also be a good, albeit expensive, choice.


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

*Sd..*



sailingdog said:


> The UV degradation of the plastic would be my biggest concern for it. You might want to consider a stitch-and-glue wood dinghy. There are quite a few that have excellent rowing characteristics, and might be better suited for what you're doing.
> 
> When you say you're going to be gunkholing, what is the mothership vessel going to be??? That may determine what will work best for you. A Nichols NN10 might also be a good, albeit expensive, choice.


SD.. I own a Walker Bay dinghy that I have left sitting on the beach in front of our house since I purchased it back in 1998. It's been there 365 days per year for almost ten straight years and it's no worse for the wear.

A few weeks ago my neighbor came over and mentioned that it had been flipped over by one of the moon tides and was full of frozen ice. I went down to the beach with him and flipped it back over with his help. Even crashing down onto the beach, full of ice, in 15 degree weather & after 9+ straight years of UV, did not crack or damage this dinghy.

While I've never been a fan of my Walker Bay, I think it's a very poor design stability wise, I do use it as my "drag" dinghy to drag over the rocks and into the water at my home mooring. I have beat the crap out of this thing and could really care less about it seeing as I only paid $385.00 for it brand new when they first hit the market and the thing keeps on going.

That being said I have yet to find a fiberglass or inflatable that can handle the abuse my plastic Walker Bay has taken. I wore the bottom off my Puffin dinghy in two seasons dragging git up and down the beach and needed to re-glass and fair it over. On the other hand I have yet to actually have an inflatable actually last me ten years and I DO take very, very good care of them. Currently my AB 8VL is going on 4 years and actually doing quite well but time will tell.

My brother actually owns one of the first Perception Sea Lion sea kayaks to be made of roto-molded plastic and that thing is still going strong too and is about 16 years old or so & is showing no signs of age. It was on the beach with my fiberglass kayaks during the big Nor Easter and was mashed against trees by waves and had the rudder broken off but it survived! I wish I could say that for my fiberglass kayaks... The only two boats to survive that storm on our beach were my Walker Bay and his Sea Lion...

By the way the "yellow kayak" or the one pictured upside down was kevlar!!









I have actually spent a good deal of time talking with David, the owner of Portland Pudgy, due to the fct that our booths at the Maine Boat Builders show were next to each other and it's a very, very cool and impressive design. During the show there were more owners of Pudgy's hanging around the booth and doing the selling for David that he barely had to speak. these things sell themselves and in a three day show I never once heard an owner complain about the Pudgy.

And here's a picture I just took 5 minutes ago, in the snow storm, of my Walker Bay sitting where she has been since 1998 year round!!

In short I would not worry one iota about the longevity of the plastic!


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Good to know...


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## janders (Dec 18, 2007)

That's a great endorsement for plastic, thanks. I'm hoping they're gonna be at the Seattle boat show next week. 

As for the mothership question, well that's a whole other thread. The short story is - we're actively shopping for her at the moment. The NN10 looks super interesting for sure. If above decks dingy storage is tighter than I expect, we may take a long hard look at the NN10. But my first choice would be to knock out the life raft and dinghy with the same stone.

Thanks all!


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Well that makes me wish i hadnt sold my Walker Bay.


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

SVDistantStar said:


> Well that makes me wish i hadnt sold my Walker Bay.


No be happy you did! Other than how durable the thing is it is a big POS from a design stand point and borderline safe. The Walker Bay has stability that is barely a notch above my 22 inch wide kayaks! Durable yes, a good dinghy, not so much..


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Thats the reason i sold it. The thing almost dumped me in the river when getting into it from my P-36. It really didnt row that well and motoring sucked. I just got home from looking at a little fibreglass dingy and im going to buy it. It was a plug to make a mold from so its a bare hull. Ive got to build seats into it. Its perfect for Lola since its only 6-1/2'.


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## Mirari (Sep 13, 2006)

The dinghy/lifeboat does have some desirable features however please consider a few points:
I assume you would store the Portland Pudgy on deck. If your boat got rolled over do you think it would still be there? I'm a big fan of storing a proper inflatable life raft in a locker or on the cockpit sole. I will never store a raft up on deck for the reason stated. I survived a roll in mid atlantic (boat did sink) and I'm sure if a dinghy was stored on deck that it would have been ripped off during the roll. I like the idea of the Pudgy but I would certainly advise also having an inflatable on board.

In horrendous conditions the Portland pudgy would easily get rolled over. A proper offshore liferaft has ballast pockets to help prevent getting flipped.

The few dollars saved on having a dual purpose dinghy/liferaft is poor economy in my opinion.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Of course, no one should ever step down into a life raft... too many examples of boats that survived just fine still afloat, even after abandoned by the captain and crew months earlier.


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## janders (Dec 18, 2007)

Mirari said:


> The few dollars saved on having a dual purpose dinghy/liferaft is poor economy in my opinion.


I agree. My interest in dual purpose is more an economy of space and simplicity (less gear onboard is less gear to maintain) than dollars. But your point about surviving a roll is well taken.



When that happened to you, where was the liferaft located?


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## Mirari (Sep 13, 2006)

It was strapped to the cockpit sole. Fortunately it was protected and was still there after the roll.


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## snider (Jun 26, 2006)

*Hard Dinghy*

I realize this is and old thread. The previous post was questioning the safety of storing a hard dinghy/liferaft on deck. Just curios what other people think. It seems if you attached a long rode to the dink with a snubber in case it does get washed away you would be able to retrieve it. I guess in a perfect world you would have both, but cost vrs space I like the idea od a hard dinghy/liferaft combo.

Any more experience with the portland pudgy? 
Brandon, freezing in CO


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## edwmama (Jun 15, 2008)

The Portland pudgy is a step in the right direction.
Only wished that they made a slightly larger model like a 9.5 foot long
Since if you have 4 large size adults they literally would be packed like
Sardines if the had to board the pudgy in an emergency.
The larger space would allow for more emergency gears and provisions


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## scgator2001 (Sep 25, 2008)

Did you get one?


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## karlheinz (May 28, 2000)

Well, I just ordered one with plans for delivery in the spring 2013 - I'm going to start the "Great Loop" in the spring of 2013 starting off from Elkton, Md. - my home marina is just a mile north of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and then it will be off to points north. The home ship is a 26' Nimble Kodiak yawl - diesel powered motorsailer and I will be towing the Pudgy as my tender. On a previous trip from NYC to Key West via the ICW (36' Moody Halberdier homeship) I really learned that a stable, well built dinghy is a priority item. I'll let everyone know how it looks in person in the spring.


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## daginjo (Jan 3, 2007)

How do you like it.


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## TQA (Apr 4, 2009)

What shaft length of OB do you need with todays Pudgy?

I met someone grumbling that he had had to go and buy a new longshaft a few years ago.


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