Inflatable for Grady Gulfstream and power

[IanC]

I have a 2005 Grady Gulfstream and have purchased a 7 1/2 foot inflatable as a tender. I was thinking of putting it on the hardtop and wonder if anyone has experience with this or any other suggestions of best way to transport it?
Also looking at powering it and looking at a Yamaha 2.5 hp and looking for any advice on this as well.

 

[Fishtales]

It is tough. You only have a few options. Tie down on bow, tied down on hardtop, put in cockpit, tow behind or inflate on boat and toss overboard when you plan to do it.
I tried all 4 with my Marlin and didn't find any of them acceptable. Maybe you will have better luck on the hardtop, but I have antennas, radar, lights, radar mount and outriggers up there. Just too much stuff to work around. I don't do it a lot because I find most options too much bother.

On the engine, the lighter the better. I have an early 70s 2 stroke Evinrude that weights about 35lbs.

 

[DennisG01]

Something to consider with the outboard: Torqeedo electric. Roughly 30lbs, and 10lbs of that is the easily removable (just clicks in place) battery. I have an older one of these and it's fantastic as I can just throw the whole thing down below to store it with no worries of gas and oil dripping out. https://www.torqeedo.com/us/en-us/products/outboards/travel

You might consider strapping the boat across the stern and tieing it down there. Of just get a really good/fast inflator.

 

[DSC]

Storage for the inflatable is definitely a problem, but I second the torqeedo. It is light weight, breaks down into smallish easy to store pieces, that can lay flat. Not super powerful, but better than rowing. I bought a spare battery for mine which between the two will give a nice range.

 

[phishead]

I like the Suzuki 2.5. It’s much lighter than the Yamaha and easier to handle. I made a custom mount for the motor that snaps into the Burnwiin mount so I don’t have to lay it on the deck. As for the inflatable, I stored it on the hardtop on my Pursuit. Haven’t tried it on the Marlin yet but thinking of adding a couple of rails up there to easily slide it up and down. Wondering if anyone has experience towing behind their Grady. Don’t normally see folks towing tenders behind outboards.

 

[DennisG01]

Wondering if anyone has experience towing behind their Grady. Don’t normally see folks towing tenders behind outboards.

Sure. No reason a tender can't be towed behind. The tender doesn't care what type of boat is in front of it nor the propulsion. Probably why you don't see it as often is simply due to the way "most" people use their Grady as opposed to something like a Sea Ray Sundancer.

 

[Fishtales]

I towed a few times. I had a pretty decent wake and let out a decent amount of line as I didn't like the way the tender was getting pushed around. Can be done.

 

[drbatts]

Small inflatables are fairly easy to tow. I currently tow a 10 ft rib to the local islands etc. these trips are usually only a couple of miles from the dock and I usually go slow. On my previous 265 I would tow a small 7 ft roll up inflatable. I had a small 3.5 hp which I could easily take off and keep in the boat. I would use a towing setup and rope for a tow behind tube and could easily go planning speeds. The dingy would ride like a tube behind the boat in the middle of the wake. This was also only done on nice and calm days.