Dinghies

Dinghy floors, from roll-up slats to a rigid hull:

they decide how a boat packs, how it rides and what engine it can take. The lightest tenders have a roll-up floor of slats or a high-pressure air deck, and fold into a bag that fits a car boot or a sailboat’s locker. Add an inflatable keel and plywood or aluminium floorboards and the boat tracks straighter and takes a bigger outboard, at the cost of a fiddlier assembly on the sand. A RIB puts the tubes on a rigid fibreglass or aluminium hull: drier and quicker onto the plane in a chop, but it never folds, so it lives on davits, a trailer or the beach. Two look-alikes catch buyers out. A vinyl beach raft sold as a toy has no real transom and should never carry an engine. A whitewater raft from the Pacuare or Sarapiquí runs has a self-bailing floor that drains straight through, right in a rapid and useless as a tender. Sailing dinghies sit with the sailboats.

PVC or Hypalon tubes under a tropical sun:

this choice sets both the price and the lifespan. PVC is lighter and cheaper, its seams often welded by machine, but heat and ultraviolet break it down: left on a mooring or a beach it fades, turns tacky and eventually lets go at the seams. Hypalon, also sold as CSM, is glued by hand and stands up to sun, fuel and abrasion far better, which is why people who live at anchor pay more for it. AB Inflatables, Achilles and Zodiac build in both fabrics, so the brand does not tell you which one you are looking at; the build plate does. Zodiac’s name also gets used for nearly any inflatable, so a “zodiac” may come from another maker entirely.

A dinghy’s price and the engine hung on it:

on a used one, the outboard is often worth more than the boat it is bolted to. A sun-tired PVC tender with a good four-stroke on the back is really an outboard with a free ride, while a sound Hypalon RIB from a known maker holds its value for years and is worth buying even bare. Before pairing the two, read the capacity plate for the maximum power and load, and match shaft length to transom height. A heavy four-stroke on a transom meant for a light kicker will crack it in time. Outboard engines are listed separately for a boat that comes bare.

Soapy water on the seams of a used inflatable:

pump the tubes hard first, then wipe it over every seam and valve, and a steady trail of bubbles finds a leak a squeeze will miss. Seams peeling near the transom are the classic failure, since that is where the engine pulls on the glue. Look underneath, where landing through the shore break wears the fabric thin, and count the patches: one neat repair is normal, a quilt of them is not. Sticky PVC is breaking down and will not hold a lasting repair, and PVC and Hypalon each need their own glue. Press the transom wood around the bolts for softness, and on a RIB check the hull’s keel for cracks from being dragged up the sand. Patch kits and valve tools are under boat maintenance.

An inflatable a buyer can judge from the photos:

say whether the tubes are PVC or Hypalon and who made them, give the length and floor type, and list every patch and where it sits. Photograph it fully inflated from above and below, with the build plate, the capacity plate and the seams at the transom. If an outboard goes with it, give its make, power and stroke, and mention oars, pump, launching wheels and covers. Say whether it lived on a mooring, on davits or in a garage, which tells a buyer more about the fabric than its age. Tenders often change hands with the yacht they served or the beach house in Nosara where they were kept, and whoever drives out from Tres Ríos will want it pumped up, engine on the transom, when they arrive.