Inflatable and kayaks
Our boat came with a West Marine inflatable (actually manufactured by Zodiac) that is about 9' long and has a rollup wooden floor and an inflatable keel to help make it more rigid. Original power was a 4hp Merc, and performance was not great. The Merc died, so now we have an 8hp Yamaha, and the dinghy flies! It will easily plane with 2 people. One advantage to this type of dink is that it can be rolled up and stowed in the lazarette during ocean passages. Drawbacks are PVC construction, which does not hold up as well to UV as Hypalon; the wooden floor, which tends to abrade against the tubes while under way; and poor rowing characteristics, common to most inflatables. We have had several minor leaks due to wear and tear. When we replace this dink in a few years, we would like to go with something like the Avon RIB Lite, which has a rigid floor but a folding transom. It can be deflated and stowed on deck during passages, in a package the size of a sailboard.
Actually, when just two of us are on board, we hardly ever use our tender, but instead use 12' long collapsible kayaks that we found used on the Internet (pictures below). There are many models out there, but these Feathercraft K-Lites are among the best we have seen. They paddle just like regular full-size boats, are very durable, and can be carried on deck or folded up and stowed below for passages (35 lbs, about the size of a medium backpack).
) being the first to reply to my thread, but here I go.
