Pearl has had a nice little dingy/outboard combo for a while — a Honda 5hp outboard with a West Marine PVC inflatable with a slatted floor. It’a a great combo if you are just trying to get to the dock or to go ashore for the evening, sort of thing. It doesn’t work so well if you’d like to take longer fishing trips or go exploring without moving Pearl.
Enter “Zipply” an AMI (Advanced Marine Inflatables) catamaran inflatable which I picked up while in Portland earlier this year. AMI is a Chinese built catamaran/tunnel hull style dinghy. Paired with a 20hp Yamaha outboard, she just about flies. Check out the video below.
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As you can see, this isn’t your grandma’s tender. At some point, I will explain the rationale for why I picked this combination, along with more tech details (for those who care).