{"id":260,"date":"2012-10-22T04:18:58","date_gmt":"2012-10-22T08:18:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/?p=260"},"modified":"2015-07-12T14:09:40","modified_gmt":"2015-07-12T18:09:40","slug":"the-ideal-dinghy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/the-ideal-dinghy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ideal Dinghy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
On the Brittany coast where tides can be 20 feet or more, French sailors equip their dinghies with wheels to cross the rocky shoreline.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First published in several Maryland newspapers, 11\/18\/88<\/span><\/p>\n

The ideal dinghy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u0004\u000e\u0003by \u0004\u000e\bTom Dove<\/span>
\n You have completed a day’s cruise and are anchored in a \u0004\u001cbeautiful cove a mile from an attractive small town. There was \u0004\u001cno marina space, but who cares? This spot is prettier, anyway.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

The kids meet their contemporaries from another boat and \u0004\u001cdiscover that a shopping mall is nearby. You note that you are \u0004\u001cout of milk and coffee for breakfast. Your spouse has a craving for \u0004\u001c\u001amushroom pizza for dinner.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

A good dinghy can be the vehicle to everybody’s satisfaction. \u0004\u001cIn other situations, it may even save your boat or your life by \u0004\u001cmaking it possible to set a storm anchor, get a line ashore or \u0004\u001c\u0013retrieve a swimmer.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

The ideal dinghy would be seaworthy and easily rowed, sailed \u0004\u001cor powered by a small outboard motor. It would be big enough to \u0004\u001ccarry the entire crew plus groceries. It would be tough enough to \u0005\u001cwithstand dragging over sand and rocks and to resist constant \u0004\u001csunlight and salt water exposure. It would collapse into a small, \u0004\u001clightweight package that could be stowed easily in a cockpit locker, \u0004\u001cbut could be set up and launched by one person in five minutes.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

The ideal dinghy will never be built, but some pretty good \u0004\u001ccompromises are already available.\u0004\u001c Most of us use inflatable dinghies. They are easy to stow and \u0004\u001cset up and they carry big loads, but they are hard to row and sail \u0004\u001cand ultraviolet light will rot them eventually. Only the expensive \u0004\u001cmodels can resist much chafing from hauling over beaches.\u0004\u001c Inflatables are stable and serve as wonderful big toys for the \u0004\u001cchildren while you are at anchor. They bob over rough water like \u0004\u001c\u0013little scaup ducks.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

The Chesapeake cruiser can generally make do with an \u0004\u001cinexpensive inflatable, replacing it every three or four years. \u0004\u001cAvailable from discount boat suppliers for less than $200, these \u0004\u001ccheapies row and power badly and do not sail at all, but most \u0004\u001canchorages on the Bay are protected and calm and shore is not far \u0004\u001c\u0005away.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

The open anchorages of New England call for a sturdier \u0004\u001cdinghy. In Nantucket or Block Island, for example, you must \u0004\u001canchor in a large, exposed harbor that can get quite rough and \u0004\u001cthen row a mile to town. On Long Island Sound, few coves are as \u0005\u001csmooth as a typical Chesapeake tributary.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

We are pleased with our Achilles inflatable. It rows \u0004\u001cacceptably for short distances and powers well with a tiny two-\u0004\u001chorsepower Mariner outboard. Avon and Zodiac boats are \u0004\u001cgenerally well-regarded by their owners, and the new Yukon \u0004\u001cinflatables seem well-made. Any of these vessels will cost $400 or \u0004\u001c\u0005more.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

If you want a boat that handles well under oars or sail, you \u0004\u001cneed a rigid-hulled dinghy. Some beautiful examples were shown \u0004\u001c\u001cat the boat shows this year.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

The two problems with rigid dinghies are stowage and \u0004\u001ccarrying capacity. Designers have invented some novel solutions.\u0004\u001c There are two-piece boats that nest together with the bow \u0004\u001chalf fitting into the stern half and there are folding boats that \u0004\u001ccollapse laterally into a space about the size of a surfboard. In \u0004\u001ceither case, you need enough deck space on your cruiser to hold the \u0004\u001cdinghy and still have room to move about.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

If your boat is large enough, you may be able to carry a full-\u0004\u001csized rigid dinghy aboard, using davits on the deck or on your \u0004\u001cboat’s stern platform. If you carry it on davits, be sure to leave \u0004\u001cits drain holes open so it does not fill with rainwater. I once saw a \u0004\u001cdeck ripped open by the weight of a water-filled dinghy on davits. \u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

Many sailors on the Bay simply tow their dinghies astern as \u0005\u001cthey travel. This reduces their speed noticeably and can cause \u0004\u001cserious problems in bad weather when wind catches the little boat \u0004\u001cand flips it over or when rain fills it with water and turns it into \u0004\u001c a sea anchor.\u0004\u001c If you must tow your dinghy, use either a very short or a \u0004\u001cvery long towline. In calm water, it can be towed at low speeds \u0004\u001cwith its bow nearly touching the transom, while larger waves call \u0004\u001cfor a towline long enough to put the dinghy far back in the wake \u0004\u001c\u0015of the mother vessel.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

The dinghy is much like the family car. Buying it is \u0004\u001cexpensive and finding a parking space for it is a nuisance, but it \u0004\u001c\u0012has no substitute.<\/span>
\n \u0001– The End —<\/span><\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First published in several Maryland newspapers, 11\/18\/88 The ideal dinghy \u0004\u000e\u0003by \u0004\u000e\bTom Dove You have completed a day’s cruise and are anchored in a \u0004\u001cbeautiful cove a mile from an attractive small town. There was \u0004\u001cno marina space, but who cares? This spot is prettier, anyway.\u0004\u001c The kids meet their contemporaries from another boat and Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":629,"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions\/629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}