# "Take apart" dinghy ...



## wind_magic (Jun 6, 2006)

I was reading about this tender called a "Passagemaker dinghy" and it says that it comes in a "take apart" version for "nesting". Sounds like you an divide the boat in half, approximately, and put one end in the other for stowing it on deck. Question I have in my mind is, how is this possible ? I mean how do you take a boat in half, put it back together, and still keep the water out ? 

Edit - Okay, reading more on a different site I think what happens is it has two new bulkheads where the "cut" is, and somehow they are fastened together ? Sort of two boats in one I think ...


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## SVPrairieRose (Oct 10, 2009)

You got it. Generally the two halves are identical or similar, and the bulkhead is twined, so the two bulkheads bolt together and Viola, a boat.


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## chucklesR (Sep 17, 2007)

It's quite simple actually, just takes a sliding clamp. Most of the ones I've seen have self aligning stainless ball and joint type.

You can even build your own, there are a number of plan sets available, or kits.
A sliding dovetail with a knock in wedge would hold it for rowing, for much more than that you have to go with a 'real' mechanical fastener.

As long as the interior bulkhead is higher than the waterline it stays dry.


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

there are also spindrift 11 plans available for a nesting dink.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

One of the users here has the NN10 nesting dinghy...as well as a Porta-bote folding dinghy IIRC.


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## funjohnson (Aug 20, 2008)

I built a Spindrift 9n folding dinghy last year. It cost a heck of a lot more than I thought it would, but I would do it again.


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## Bene505 (Jul 31, 2008)

Are there any decent nesting sailing dinks? Once we get to our destination, it would be great for the kids to have something to sail. (And our RIB just doesn't do the trick.)

Regards,
Brad


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## funjohnson (Aug 20, 2008)

the spindrift is a great sailing dinghy too!










Here is the one I made going into the water for the first time.


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## wind_magic (Jun 6, 2006)

Bene505 said:


> Are there any decent nesting sailing dinks? Once we get to our destination, it would be great for the kids to have something to sail. (And our RIB just doesn't do the trick.)
> 
> Regards,
> Brad


Brad, here is the Passagemaker, a design/kit by CLC Boats, it is one I like. The mast is two parts so that the pieces don't take up as much space, even though it is not that easy see in this picture. It can be built as a "nester", in that configuration it takes up 7 foot 9 inches of deck space.


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## CrazyRu (May 10, 2007)

Spindrift page with photos of nesting version
spindrift


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## wind_magic (Jun 6, 2006)

Funjohnson,

That must have been scary as hell cutting that boat in half after you put so much work into it! How was that done, power saw, or some other way ? Beautiful boat, by the way, and I'm amazed how little space that boat takes up as a nesting boat, wow! You must have some kind of gasket in between the pieces when you bolt them together, how did you make that ?


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## captbillc (Jul 31, 2008)

i typed in Porta-Bote on firefox & got the specs. they make 8'6"  10'8" 12'6" & 14' boats the 10'8"" has a 60" beam & folds to 4" thick and 24" wide . it looks like i could stow it along the lifelines. they say the material is practically indestructible. have any of you seen one or know someone who has one?


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## JohnRPollard (Mar 26, 2007)

wind_magic said:


> Funjohnson,
> 
> That must have been scary as hell cutting that boat in half after you put so much work into it! How was that done, power saw, or some other way ? Beautiful boat, by the way, and I'm amazed how little space that boat takes up as a nesting boat, wow! You must have some kind of gasket in between the pieces when you bolt them together, how did you make that ?


Hey Windy,

My kids and I built a CLC Passagemaker Take-Apart Sailing Dinghy a few years ago. I highly recommend it!!


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## scottyt (Jul 19, 2008)

john you put a roller furler on a dinghy 

thats a little over board for a sail with 15 square feet

all i want is a dinghy that fits 2 people, that i can store on my boat. i dont like hard dingy's, or more like the wife does not. they are not very stable when getting in them


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## JohnRPollard (Mar 26, 2007)

scottyt said:


> john you put a roller furler on a dinghy
> 
> thats a little over board for a sail with 15 square feet
> 
> all i want is a dinghy that fits 2 people, that i can store on my boat. i dont like hard dingy's, or more like the wife does not. they are not very stable when getting in them


Not really. That's my kids' sailing dinghy, and the roller furler allows them to manage the boat much more easily. With the furler in place, they can take a reef easily (the first reef is dousing the jib), which is not an option otherwise because this jib is set "on the fly" and simultaneously serves as the forestay. By pulling one little furling line, they can quickly reduce sail area by about 25% and press on home as the wind builds without getting overpowered.

Here's an example where my son was bringing the boat back in some heavy stuff:










P.S. Some hard dinghies are not very stable, others are extremely stable -- it depends on the design. I can walk around in that Passagemaker without the slightest worry of it tipping. I would take it over any comparable sized inflatable.


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## wind_magic (Jun 6, 2006)

John,

I'm totally impressed, that is a great dinghy. I have a few questions if you don't mind. Could you describe the actual nesting mechanism, how you take the boat apart, put it back together, etc, is it a tight fit, any chance of leaks, how did you actually make the cut to make it take-apart (tools, etc..) ? Also will the boat still float if it is swamped ?

I think it is a great looking design, it must have been a lot of fun to build. It also looks like a lot of fun to sail too. Do you find the boat sails well, is it pretty well balanced with the location of the board ?


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## JohnRPollard (Mar 26, 2007)

wind_magic said:


> John,
> 
> I'm totally impressed, that is a great dinghy. I have a few questions if you don't mind. Could you describe the actual nesting mechanism, how you take the boat apart, put it back together, etc, is it a tight fit, any chance of leaks, how did you actually make the cut to make it take-apart (tools, etc..) ? Also will the boat still float if it is swamped ?
> 
> I think it is a great looking design, it must have been a lot of fun to build. It also looks like a lot of fun to sail too. Do you find the boat sails well, is it pretty well balanced with the location of the board ?


Windy,

Thanks for the compliments.

There is a double bulkhead between the fore and aft sections of the boat. The boat comes apart and goes together very easily, using 4 quick-turn knobs threaded to carriage bolts. The bolt heads are recessed and embedded into "cleats" on the forward side of the forward bulkhead. They protrude and stick aft through holes that are drilled through the bulkhead to which they're attached as well as the matching bulkhead in the aft section.

Just to be clear, this is a "take-apart" design, not a "nesting" design. In other words, it's designed to be taken apart and stored in a smaller space than would be possible if it was in one piece. However, the two sections do not nest together all that well or compactly.

The design has a rubber gasket between the two sections, but it's not really necessary since all four bolts are well above the waterline (in fact, we never bothered to install the gasket on ours.) Both sections can float separately. There is loads of buoyancy in both sections. The boat is so stable that we have never even come close to swamping it. It can carry a massive payload.

She is an able sailor, too. She is not the most weatherly design (tacking through 90-100 degrees), but she is nicely balanced and can ghost along smartly in light air. She can also creep through the shallows (and by that I mean mere inches) under oar OR sail, with her kick-up rudder and sliding daggerboard.

Yes, it was a lot of fun building her. For us it was a family project, so we took our time and didn't rush. The scariest part was "The Cut", performed with a simple carpenter's saw. Once you get up the nerve, it's not too bad :










This is not a sight you see too often:


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Beautiful job John! Very nice indeed.

I remain convinced that having a sailing dinghy for our son was instrumental in his remaining a sailor as an adult, and started him on the road to independant sailing.


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## SecondWindNC (Dec 29, 2008)

John, that looks beautiful. Nice work! Must have been a bit of a gut check moment to build a perfectly good boat by hand and then saw it in half!


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## JohnRPollard (Mar 26, 2007)

funjohnson said:


> the spindrift is a great sailing dinghy too!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


FJ,

That is a nice looking dinghy. Well done!


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## wind_magic (Jun 6, 2006)

John,

"The cut" is part of what concerns me, to go to all of that trouble and then have it come down to lining up a cut with a carpenter's saw through the center of a piece of wood. I am not even that good at doing that with a band saw.


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## IslanderGuy (Apr 26, 2008)

I really like the look of the Passagemaker, and what a great job John did.
The Spindrift fit our particular needs better, so my girls and I (7 - 9) built a Spindrift 11 Nesting dingy last winter. I have built a few boats before for other people and was amazed how much help the girls could actually be. And what pride of ownership they have now!

The sailing rig is not done yet, but the boat is set up for it. Hopefully it will be done by next summer.










Both halves will float independently, I can even be in them, and assemble or disassemble them in the water.










And here's the girls, enjoying the fruits of our hard labor...










Funjohnson, that's a great looking spindrift you have there. Good job!

Oh yeah, and the cutting it in half took quite a bit of psyching up, and few beers when it was over. Felt like I needed one before, but I did NOT want to mess it up! I just figured hey, if I goof it up, I can always build another one


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## IslanderGuy (Apr 26, 2008)

wind_magic said:


> John,
> 
> "The cut" is part of what concerns me, to go to all of that trouble and then have it come down to lining up a cut with a carpenter's saw through the center of a piece of wood. I am not even that good at doing that with a band saw.


At least with the one I built, both bulkheads where already installed, with small pieces of cardboard as spacers between when glassing them in place. With a hand saw, the blade just goes between the bulkheads and guides itself, more or less.

Still hard to do mentally, very nerve wracking. But oh the joys of telling all your friends you just cut your new boat in half! :laugher


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## wind_magic (Jun 6, 2006)

IslanderGuy said:


> At least with the one I built, both bulkheads where already installed, with small pieces of cardboard as spacers between when glassing them in place. With a hand saw, the blade just goes between the bulkheads and guides itself, more or less.
> 
> Still hard to do mentally, very nerve wracking. But oh the joys of telling all your friends you just cut your new boat in half! :laugher


Okay, hey, if that is the case and the saw is guiding itself, I can do it, that makes me feel better. I wonder if the Passagemaker is done that same way ? I have had to make these cuts through a solid piece of wood using a bandsaw and they are not easy, but if there was cardboard in the middle, I can do that.


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## JohnRPollard (Mar 26, 2007)

wind_magic said:


> Okay, hey, if that is the case and the saw is guiding itself, I can do it, that makes me feel better. I wonder if the Passagemaker is done that same way ? I have had to make these cuts through a solid piece of wood using a bandsaw and they are not easy, but if there was cardboard in the middle, I can do that.


Yeah, it's done the same way on the Passagemaker: There is a piece of cardboard sandwiched between the two bulkheads. The thickness of the cardboard is much greater than the kerf of the saw blade. In theory, the blade is guided by the sandwich, the only tricky part being navigating around the carriage bolts, which are already in place. The cardboard gets peeled away after the cut, and then the edges get tidied up with thickened epoxy and sandpaper.

I say "in theory" above, because if you are a congenital knucklehead like me and get a late start or distracted such that it becomes dark before you've finished "the cut", it's still possible to muck it up.  Fortunately, this sort of boatbuilding is very forgiving of amateurs -- there's almost nothing that can't be repaired with epoxy, wood flour, and cab-o-sil.


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

can someone sell me their plans on the cheap? I was setting up to build a one off 11ft semi dory but really like the spindrift. Yes, I know I can buy the plans from B & B


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## IslanderGuy (Apr 26, 2008)

deniseO30 said:


> can someone sell me their plans on the cheap? I was setting up to build a one off 11ft semi dory but really like the spindrift. Yes, I know I can buy the plans from B & B


Actually, the plans are licensed for one boat only, so they should not be sold unless the previous owner never made the boat. With the work that goes into the plans, and the very small market for them, it is worth every penny to buy new plans. They are not much, the spindrift plans are only $56.


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## JohnRPollard (Mar 26, 2007)

IslanderGuy said:


> Actually, the plans are licensed for one boat only, so they should not be sold unless the previous owner never made the boat. With the work that goes into the plans, and the very small market for them, it is worth every penny to buy new plans. They are not much, the spindrift plans are only $56.


Hear, hear.

It's intellectual property. Reselling the plans after you've built the boat is no different than pirating/sharing software or other copyrighted material. Except that you're typically stealing from a little guy, not a big business.

But I'm sure Denise was looking for a set of plans that never got built. There ARE many of those around, where folks purchased them but never got around to building for whatever reason. My understanding in such cases is that the license is transferable. Craig's list, perhaps?


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## IslanderGuy (Apr 26, 2008)

Just a few more comment on building these boats for those interesting in doing so...

CLC's boats (Passagemaker) are well thought out, heavily tested, and the plans are drawn up with the first time builder in mind. I have built one of their kayaks, my first real boat building, and it went together well. I built that one from the plans only, purchasing all the materials and building from scratch. They have an excellent online forum on their website (CLC Boats) which their designers and builders spend time on as well as a huge builder community. They are very helpful.

I chose to build the first one from scratch, to learn as much as possible. I later built another one from a kit, so I could get it done sooner, and that worked out well as well. If you are not interested in learning all the little details of building, and just want to enjoy the build process, kits are a great way to go.

I enjoyed building the Spindrift from B&B Yacht Designs/ from plans. It is also designed for beginners, with lots of step by step instructions. There where a few places where I may have gotten lost had I not built before, but you get the phone number for the designer, and the freedom to call any time. While I never did have to call, my wife called them to order some of the hardware, and was very pleased with them. There is also a good B&B Builders forum with lots of helpful people who answered all my questions.

I think both of these companies offer a way for anyone to build a boat, all you need to add is LOTS of patience and a bit of work. It WILL take much longer then you think it will. You may make mistakes and have to redo something, but like was mentioned before, its hard to mess up so bad it can not be fixed. You do not need oodles of fancy tools, just basic hand tools will get you by, circular saw, hand saw, drill, sanders, etc. Of course, fancy tools can make it faster if you have them. I just learned the utter joy of a GOOD small block plane, the kind you can hold in one hand.

If you have a desire to build a dingy, go for it. Just remember it is like anything else in sailing, the trip needs to be enjoyed as much as the destination.

Bryan


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

Actually, I like to take the table of offsets from published works Like Gardner's or others. I can do some lofting on my own, although I probably will buy the B&B plans since I like the boat so much. On the other hand, pretty much any plywood boat can be cut in half. I'd like to work on a double ended type myself, dory or wherry type. The semi-dory I was going to build was more for an outboard and fishing boat then as a tender. I don't want anyone feeling guilty about selling off plans that the designer copyrighted though. If I had succeeded in becoming a small craft builder I'd feel the same way. Now of course Nooooo body would Evvvver build a boat for someone Else LOL!


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## wind_magic (Jun 6, 2006)

Thank you to everyone for the contributions to this thread, it is interesting and there are some really good posts here, it is much appreciated!

Another question, do you feel that the take-apart feature takes away from the structural integrity of the boat ? Is a big wave or crashing on to the beach through the surf going to fold it in half or something ? Or is the fact that the two bulkheads are sandwiched together with the four (?) bolts enough to make that stronger than the rest of the boat ?


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

one could indeed come apart at the seams if the boat is used in storm conditions or surfing. The bolts could pull through the Bkhds, or worse. but then, a seam on a lapstrake or other type of joint could pop too. 

I will say this, when I was in the wooden canoe hobby, building, restoring old etc. I saw a birch bark canoe running class 2 rapids! (2 is mild) My son and I spilt one of my wood strip canoes down the middle while going over a rock to avoid a rafter another time! (pine creek gorge in central pa)


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## funjohnson (Aug 20, 2008)

wind_magic said:


> Another question, do you feel that the take-apart feature takes away from the structural integrity of the boat ? Is a big wave or crashing on to the beach through the surf going to fold it in half or something ? Or is the fact that the two bulkheads are sandwiched together with the four (?) bolts enough to make that stronger than the rest of the boat ?


With as stiff as my dinghy is (two bulkheads, 5 1/4" bolts and thick case for the centerboard) I can't believe that cutting it in half really did much to weaken it. I dropped it from our dinghy ramp about 5 feet to the cement below.... it just laughed!

The Spindrift is very stable. Typically, I have my wife, Greyhound (70 pounds), 40 pounds of stuff and 3.3hp engine on the boat going to our mooring. It can get a bit wet in the bigger stuff, but I never felt we were going to flip over. I'm going back to my inflatable next season just because its doesn't hurt the sailboat when I smack it trying to get on our off. The hard dink is stronger built than my Hunter sailboat.


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## BlueSphere (Jul 29, 2012)

John,
My name is alex. I cruise internationally full time and want to build a nesting Passagemaker. However I want to build it out of solid glass. I'm pretty hard on my dinks and want to get a lifetime out of it. I'm planning on making 6-8 mil plywood sheet size sheets of fiberglass and following the normal stitch & glue directions, can you comment on my idea?

I have a 40' Cheoy Lee Midshipman ketch and it should fit nicely nested under my mizzen boom.

Cheers

Alex Dorsey



JohnRPollard said:


> Windy,
> 
> Thanks for the compliments.
> 
> ...


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## rackham the red (Jun 24, 2012)

That is absolutely beautiful. How long did it take you to make and how much does it 
weigh.

Rochelle


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## TQA (Apr 4, 2009)

Zombie thread


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