Next message: Chuck Wistar: "Re: T&T: Erie Canal, Oswego Canal - MV Summer School @ Oswego, NY"
One more 2 cents worth.
On our Cal Cruising 46 we have always carried two dinghys. We have an old
Avon Redcrest in a deck box and a 4 HP two stroke. This is referred to as our
"surfing dinghy". In many anchorages on the Pacific refracted waves around
headlands create some interesting beaching challenges. With the old Redcrest and
the light weight 4 HP, we can surf a wave in, hop out at the critical
moment, pick up the dinghy and run like hell before the next breaker. Getting back
out is more of a challenge, but I was surfing on balsa wood boards back in
the mid-fifties, so you gotta catch the right chance.
Everywhere else our choice of a dinghy, since 1982, is a 12' aluminum vee
bow, (referred to as "Tinnys" by Brits), with a 15 HP two stroke outboard,
preferably a Yamaha as in my humble opinion the best. Those of you who have seen
the original Cal 46, know we have the pilot house forward of the mast and a
large deck aft of the cockpit. We have dinghy bunks in that space, use our aft
anchor windlass, boom and a snatch block hoisted almost to the spreaders to
lift the dinghy on board. The Admiral, steps on the windlass button, while I
control the dinghy as it is lifted and placed in the bunks.
We are on our third aluminum dinghy in 24 years. After a while banging off
square waves the rivets loosen and we buy another. We have used the old Grumman
"Car Topper", now made by Lowe, an OMC affiliate. Immediately on getting a
new tinny, we glue the fire hose looking, foam padded material from West
Marine on the gunwale with 5200 and I build a light weight plywood lockable locker
forward for anchor, rode and spares. This increases the weight to about 125
#, so the 15 HP Yamaha will plane out with four persons aboard. I believe we
paid about $700 for the last dinghy.
So, we need to place fenders overboard, big deal. The padded gunwale takes
out the potential for damage to topsides, but not all of the noise at night
time in a sloppy anchorage. An added advantage to a tinny is they are so ugly,
no one would steal them, but in questionable areas, like Venezuela, we put a
spinnaker pole off the beam and lift the dinghy out of the water and chain it
and the OB to Satori. We use high test chain as proof coil can be more easily
cut.
YMMV
Tom and Bobbie
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