11-footer v. 13-footer as Dinghy

[MrWesson]

I am looking for a towable dinghy for my Mainship 34 for longer trips. Otherwise the boat will probably sit on a trailer, and I'll use it as a flats skiff occasionally.

The obvious answer would seem to be the 13-footer, but my boat has a 12-feet beam and having a boat I can tie to the swim platform in my slip would be nice --e.g. the 11-footer. I've come across a center console 11-footer that I like a lot for dirt cheap--$1,500 with half-running 25-HP.

The 13-footers are more common but it's a heavy and big 13-foot boat. I do not live aboard, and I use my Mainship as a home base for fishing or an apartment on the water.

I don't own a Boston Whaler, yet, but do own a Henry-O which I love. It's the less common 16-foot model and rides like a dream for its size. It's no Boston Whaler, but is foam filled and has some sort of "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon" ties to Whaler: A tough boat but lacks the Whaler finish and stability. My boat is a Taylor era boat. The only boat that could replace it would be another Henry-O. I have been eyeballing the 22' Henry.

[jimh]

I got into owning a Boston Whaler in a similar manner. We did a lot of sailing and thought we'd get a hard dingy. A 13-foot Boston Whaler seemed like the natural choice. Before I could find a 13-footer, I ran into a nice deal on a SPORT 15. It is a great boat but not as nice as a dinghy--too much a V-hull. After I bought the SPORT 15, five years later I was completely out of sailing and into a Boston Whaler with twin engines. So be careful if you buy a small Boston Whaler. You might see a big change in your boating.

The 13-footer is really the perfect really small boat in terms of load carrying and stability, and excels as a dinghy by all accounts.

As for the 11-footer, I can't offer much advice. There are some comments in the archives. See these search results:

LINK to SEARCH RESULTS

[mn car guy]

I have a 13 DAUNTLESS that I use as a dinghy with a Carver Mariner 350. It's a great boat and tows easily behind the Carver.

Is your slip that tight? Can you tie you boat so the platform is a little outside the dock fingers? I'm spoiled as I rent a floating PWC dock for a few hundred a year that is on the end of the dock.