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What's the best dinghy for cruising and why?
Have a look at these dinghies =
http://www.activewatersports.com.au/...cts/boats.html "DS King" wrote in message ... Bob wrote: Have a Westsail 32 and need good recommendations about which is the best dinghy to use on a cruise starting out in the Caribbean and maybe beyond. Past experience with other boats always was with a hard dink but for snorkeling its too hard to get back in to without swamping. If you have cruised on a small boat and have a strong recommendation I want to hear from you. Tired of reading all the ads in catalogs. Also mention the size and make of engine you found successful. IMHO "best dinghy" and "outboard" are mutually exclusive. "J. Amgine Neilson" wrote: I've cruised on small and very small boats. For the dinghy I generally prefer a hard one, but you're right about them being less than ideal for snorkeling. We swim from our sailboat, but there's no skindiving in our current waters. Right. Another thought along those lines, if it's too difficult to get into the water / back aboard the main cruising boat for swimming/snorkeling, how in the world are you ever going to cope with a crew overboard? How do you get in and out of the dinghy from the deck? From what I've observed, most people would rather have clumsy unworkable arrangements, waste lots of time & effort fiddling with cantankerous outboards, and have the hazard & smell & mess ofoutboard mix, so that they can buzz around the harbor in a thief-bait inflatable. But then, if common sense were really common, the world would be a different place. The most innovative design I've seen for snorkeling was a boat in the PNW. They had a teak cockpit grate which they would throw overboard with fenders under it, making their own floating dock. The dinghy was always tied to this, rather than trailing behind. And, of course, it made a great swim raft, floating only a couple inches out of the water. On the other hand, I don't think too many people could be on it before it started swamping. That's a great idea, thanks Amgine! Fresh Breezes- Doug King |
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