I'm getting long in the tooth and my shore to ship dinghy is a very old, very thick fibreglass and very heavy. and I find hauling it up the ramp is getting harder, so I decided to make it easier by purchasing a six foot tinnie, but, do you reckon I can find one, no way. Are these things still available?. I've searched all the google sites and get offered 14 foot half cabs. What do you reckon?.

Longer than you want, but would be pretty light. Getting down to 2 MERS, maybe a hard floor inflatable would be an option - more stable than a pram style tender.
www.ebay.com.au/itm/144488931720?hash=item21a4362188:g:4zkAAOSwisNiJAYH

I sold my soft floor inflatable and purchased a 10ft porta bote, tough as goats knees, very very stable, rows well, planes with a 3.5hp (1 person), weighs in at under 40kgs. Can get ramp wheels for them. Can transport on the roof of a car.

I have an old 8ft aluminium dingy chained to a tree, not used for several years as I mostly go out on my 8ft 5in SUP it's 7kg.
My Aluminium is about 25kg I think, I could consider giving it to you if you get stuck. I live 10k south of Swansea NSW.

r13 said..
Smallest I could initially find is 2.6m as here so 0.8m longer than 6ft.

www.huntsmarine.com.au/products/tender-aluminium

This one less spendy but too far away

www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/beauty-point/tinnies-dinghies/boat-tender-dinghy/1293048919

This one 2.1m but in SA - they could deliver or have a local agent?

www.seatrailsa.com.au/catalogue/aluminium-boats/mini-tinny

1 left here;

waves.com.au/collections/aluminium-boats/products/seacraft-minitinny-210

Have to be careful of those sharp corners but could probably slit Bunnings two dollar noodles longitudinaly and and zip tie them on with material over for uv protection. I have an extremely light aluminium dinghy which I have had for 35 years. It is made from very thin aluminium little bracing but is beautifully light even though I have had to patch a small hole with epoxy over the years. I don't use it at the moment but it's a good thing and I plan to keep it.

samsturdy said..

warwickl said..
I have an old 8ft aluminium dingy chained to a tree, not used for several years as I mostly go out on my 8ft 5in SUP it's 7kg.
My Aluminium is about 25kg I think, I could consider giving it to you if you get stuck. I live 10k south of Swansea NSW.

Thanks waricki, nice offer, but the idea behind the six footer was to be able to put it in the back of the SUV however further investigation has shown that even a small one is just a shade too big. If I put a tinnie on my dinghy storage rack on the reserve then it will fall prey to the battery operated angle grinder mob, as MB will testify. So it looks like I'm stuck with what I've got. But, thanks mate, and everyone else.

Previously I had a stitch and glue Praam that I built that fitted nicely in the back of an EL Falcon station wagon. It had two stringers on the outside as "keels" and at the stern inline with the stringers I had two fixed wheels [150mm diam]that protruded about 60mm below the transom that aided in directional stability while rowing. On the bow I had a large handle half way down that I could use two hands and use the dinghy as a wheelbarrow.
I built the dinghy in one afternoon and the next day glued on the gunwales. I used 7mm exterior ply but if I was going to do it again would use a lightweight marine ply about 4mm.

samsturdy said..
I'm getting long in the tooth and my shore to ship dinghy is a very old, very thick fibreglass and very heavy. and I find hauling it up the ramp is getting harder, so I decided to make it easier by purchasing a six foot tinnie, but, do you reckon I can find one, no way. Are these things still available?. I've searched all the google sites and get offered 14 foot half cabs. What do you reckon?.

hi Samsturdy
I have a 3 met aluminium punt in good condition that came with my yacht that I'm replacing with a inflatable.
Let me know if you are still looking and I'll send some photos.
Cheers
Rukim