Favorite Pram less than 8 feet

[Rigadog]

What are the candidates for the best 8 ft and under pram, to be used as a tender? I need something to stow on the foredeck of my Sea Bright 33

[Thad]

John Gardner has one that is excellent for a plywood pram.

[wizbang 13]

El Toro. ..It may be an inch or two over or under.
We've carried the same one since 1984.


Here she is , full of rainwater


Sculls very well

[stromborg]

I'll be following along. I built an Iain Oughtred Feather Pram a few years ago, it's in the "okay" category, very small, very round and very tender feeling.

Not much deck space to work with!

[wizbang 13]

One could build a nesting SnG skiff, but split it fore n aft.
I made several just copying basic dimentions of our Toro.(not nesters).
This one was 7'...it was occoume, so very light, but termites killed it after 6 years stored on land in the Caribbean

[Rigadog]

I'll be following along. I built an Iain Oughtred Feather Pram a few years ago, it's in the "okay" category, very small, very round and very tender feeling.

Not much deck space to work with!

I may shorten the cabin, otherwise the bow can be lashed to the rails and mooring bit.

[Rigadog]

This is a nice one


Reader David Whitehead send along this photo of his Carl Stambaugh-designed Baby Dink pram, built by Tieman Roe.

[cluttonfred]

I like John Welsford's designs and his 7' 3" Tender Behind is worth a look. His 9' Sherpa (inspired by the previous boat) is great but too big for your purposes.

http://www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz/plans...hind/index.htm

[Rigadog]

I like John Welsford's designs and his 7' 3" Tender Behind is worth a look. His 9' Sherpa (inspired by the previous boat) is great but too big for your purposes.

http://www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz/plans...hind/index.htm

Yes, that is high on my list, love Sherpa too but it's a bit large

[TerryLL]

Another vote for the El Toro. Best 8' sailing tender that's ever been.

[johngsandusky]

SeaHopper, it folds and carries a lot for an 8' pram.
http://www.seahopperfoldingboats.com/

[Liberty53]

https://duckworks.com/portage-pram/

I love my Portage Pram, at 37 lbs it's easy to lift around. 6'8", my wife and I fit just fine.


There is also a sail/foil kit.



-Derek

[David G]

Lots of good candidates. Narrowing it down would take more specifics from you.

Here's one I've always wanted to convince a client to build - the Tree Frog --

http://www.applegateboatworks.com/treefrog.html




Ross Lillistone is a reliably good designer --

https://duckworks.com/alby/


If you like rounder shapes, and are willing to trade a bit of initial stability for it, here's one from Atkin --

http://www.atkinboatplans.com/Dinks/PeteyDinkCm.html

[Jeremy Burnett]

Apple Pie.

[Dave Hadfield]

Bolger -- Elegant Punt.

[Scrib]

Nutshell pram 7' 7". Rows great, carries a good load, great little sailboat too.

[stromborg]

Interesting collection of prams we have going here. I note that they range in weight from a low of 37 (Portage Pram) to a high of 104 (Bolger Punt, weight from a Duckworks article). That is a pretty big spread. In the OP there was mention of storing the pram on the foredeck, looks a little tight to me, but I don't have a good sense of just how much other stuff might be going on up there. The question I have for those who have tenders stored on deck is, just how do you get them in and out of the water and how do you secure them to a sub 35 foot sailboat without having them eternally in the way of everything else?

[cluttonfred]

If somebody built a Bolger Elegant Punt that weighed 104 lb, they were *not* building to plans, or that is the total weight with spars, sail, daggerboard, oars, the works. Plans say a hull weight of about 50 lb, so even with oarlocks and the seat it shouldn't weigh much more than about 60 lb set up as rowing tender.

See https://www.instantboats.com/product...unt-7-9-x-3-7/

[Jamie Orr]

+1 on the Elegant Punt. Mine is 23 years old, showing wear now but still holding up. Weight when new was 50 pounds.

A buddy and I are building two Geodesic Airolite prams, the Blackfly. No experience with them yet, obviously, but we borrowed building moulds from someone who has been using his for 10 years, still looks good. Blackfly is supposed to be 28 pounds when done, according to the website. The one hull we have finished is very light, so I think that is a reasonable figure - that might make it a good choice for hauling on deck without having to mess with halyards or some other way to lift it.

Jamie

[Nicholas Scheuer]

We love our 7'-9" CLC Eastport Pram.

[JimConlin]

Nutshell, if plywood construction fits the style of the boat.

If you get points for brutal simplicity, Bolger’s Rubens Nymph.

[gilberj]

There has been a bunch of good prams mentioned. One of the best that I have used a lot (2 of them) is the Al Mason "Pootzy" at 6'6" . Despite its small size it carries a pretty good load safely and dryly. It was described in the Rudder Magazine as the best small dinghy in captivity. I am not entirely sure where you get the plans now though. Someplace I have the lofting.

[Dave Wright]

There has been a bunch of good prams mentioned. One of the best that I have used a lot (2 of them) is the Al Mason "Pootzy" at 6'6" . Despite its small size it carries a pretty good load safely and dryly. It was described in the Rudder Magazine as the best small dinghy in captivity. I am not entirely sure where you get the plans now though. Someplace I have the lofting.

I worry about anything under 7 feet, but I think it could work.

Plans $3.50 here:

http://shellbackslibrary.dngoodchild...roduct_id=1135

[Etdbob]

Heh, for little or no reason I've been making models of several small tenders this winter ( among other designs ).

I was quite taken with the Bolger Elegant Punt. I don't think you can go wrong with this design and it certainly is easy to build.
She is said to row well and to tow well. I'm sure I'd be towing her often, hauling her up only for passages.





I find that the external chine logs on small boats do indeed offer good protection to the sides when man handling them about -

My Summer Breeze gets stowed in my hay loft for the winter, and it's handy to be able to skid the boat sideways through the doorway on the gunwale and chine log. Works great, and maybe this sort of thing would be also handy on a dingy that's getting hauled about on deck.

SAM_8846.jpg



I was also very impressed with the Bolger Nymph -
This is also a boat made from just two sheets of plywood. It isn't a "Stitch and Glue" project but rather a simple "Tack and Tape" job.
I don't like making models of stitch and glue boats because you can't actually stitch the model together like you can the real thing, so you have to fumple along with tape and such like.

The Bolger Nymph is built over permanent plywood frames and you don't need to stitch the panels together at all. Judging from the model of it that I finished just last night, it's a very easy boat to build, but of course still several times the work of the Elegant Punt.
I could not believe that she comes from just two sheets of plywood, frames and all!








She is only just two feet wide on bottom in center, so she rows quite well with a light load, yet is quite burdensome and I'm sure she'd take at least three people with ease. The multi-chine shape should also work much better in a chop than most tenders.

You can see one in action here, and later on in the video she has two people in her. -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=792ueM8M1iY


But, because of that narrow bottom many find her just to durn tender. It's a trade off. If you have to row an sub-eight-foot boat very far, this little boat might be the best bet. If you routinely tie up at a crowded float and have to jump out - And back in later on - Over the bow, you might want something more stable.

She has a sister ship, the Rubens Nymph, which is essentially the same only a foot wider ( and heavier!) which takes care of the tender complaint.

Anyway, here is an old thread of some interest, discussing these two tenders and a few others.


http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?112691-Bolger-Nymph

I'm not sure how happy I'd be trying to stash an eight foot boat on that fore deck. I kinda think I'd go all the way down to the six and a half foot Bolger Tortoise. Not much boat, but they do work, and it's the only boat I'd enjoy hauling up and stashing on deck. -

[cluttonfred]

Great post, Etdbob! On the Tortoise, you're absolutely right that it's fast and easy to build and light to handle if built to spec. I suspect that a lot of people build a Tortoise as a stop-gap until they get around the building a nice clinker or lapstrake boat, and then the fancy boat never gets built because the Tortoise does the job better than expected.

I'm not sure how happy I'd be trying to stash an eight foot boat on that fore deck. I kinda think I'd go all the way down to the six and a half foot Bolger Tortoise. Not much boat, but they do work, and it's the only boat I'd enjoy hauling up and stashing on deck.

[Edward Pearson]

For those not lacking in ambition...and if you revel in a yacht finish...it has fully glued construction without an inch of plywood for on deck storage: Gartside No. 195. It'll be a terrific sailer.

[cyclone]

Another Elegant Punt, this time with a wheelbarrow setup.

[Dave Hadfield]

We used an Elegant Punt for years until the kids grew. Then I designed a 10 ft punt which we still use. But the EP is fine and simple.

You can build one while you're still collecting materials for the fancier designs.

I found that ours needed a skeg to row in a straight line, and also that skeg was very handy when man-handling the boat upside down because I cut a hand-hold into it.

Ours weighed about 45 lbs. I could pull it up onto the lifelines, then onto the deck, with no problem.

Here it is on Drake's cabin roof.





It's noisy to tow, or if it's tied up beside you when at anchor, because of the pure pram bow. When I designed my 10 ft-er, I gave the bow some deadrise to reduce this. But I wouldn't do it on the EG -- I'd just build it straight as per the plans.

Dave

[amish rob]

Another Elegant Punt, this time with a wheelbarrow setup.

Now, that’s the type little boat my FIL needs for pond fishing. I think he’d get an extra kick out of the wheelbarrow part.

[Chris249]

My brother has a Nymph that he's used for years, including time when the family was cruising full time. It works well. He's got a 37' strip-planked cat, so no shortage of deck space, so he cut it in the middle and lengthened it.

From experience with my 28'er, which is probably similar in beam and foredeck space to the 33, I'd be cautious about doing significant offshore work with a pram on the foredeck. If you need to go to the bow when it's getting breezy, you really don't want to be clambering over a boat that takes up almost all the space. I'd much prefer it aft of the mast, where a cunningly-designed dinghy can shelter the companionway.


PS - is the centrecase on the Parker really at table height, and if so how does one get from port to starboard inside the cabin?

[Small boats rock]

dinghy_afloat.jpg
This started out as an Apple Pie. I did some 'cutting and pasting' with jig saw, epoxy, and some off cuts of ply ready to hand. The result was a three part nester of about 6'3" overall length when all the parts are bolted together. She still carries a decent load (me with lots of gear) or two adults of average size. My only complaint is that she is noisy while tied astern even in very gentle conditions.

[cluttonfred]

Small boats rock, it looks like you only use single oar sculling with that pram, could you elaborate? Got any pics of your setup?

[Small boats rock]

Actually I've been using a double paddle. Haven't made my sculling oar yet, but the paddle works fine for now.

[Thorne]

I've rowed and sailed my hand-me-down CLC Eastport Pram for a year or so and like it quite a bit, but my experience with prams is limited and I
can only compare it to a Sabot and small dory.

[Rigadog]

The Eastport is a nice pram. Did you build from plans or a kit? Are there full sized patterns available?