What qualities make for a good crusing dink?

"cavalamb himself" wrote in message
...

What qualities make for a good crusing dink?


1) it should be easy to row.
2) you should be able to row out the bower, kedge and a shot of chain even
in rough seas.
3) you should be able to get it aboard and stowed lashed amidships under the
boom.
4) it should be made out of GRP and have positive flotation.
5) inflatables are a joke if only because you can't row them and sooner or
later that reliable motor will die.
6) if you have to ask here then you aren't doing enough reading of good
cruising books.

Wilbur Hubbard

On Feb 21, 5:41*pm, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:
"cavalamb himself" wrote in message

...



What qualities make for a good crusing dink?

1) it should be easy to row.
2) you should be able to row out the bower, kedge and a shot of chain even
in rough seas.
3) you should be able to get it aboard and stowed lashed amidships under the
boom.
4) it should be made out of GRP and have positive flotation.
5) inflatables are a joke if only because you can't row them and sooner or
later that reliable motor will die.
6) if you have to ask here then you aren't doing enough reading of good
cruising books.

Wilbur Hubbard

When you look at what a lot of cruisers are using, RIB's are very
popular. We chose not to go that route and went with a porta-bote
instead. It rows decent, it has positive floatation, it's lighter
than RIB's, it doesn't require a dinghy davit, it's more tolerant to
abuse and it's cheaper. The last quality is that it's so ugly no one
will want to steal it. It meets most of Wilbur's criterial, although
it's not GRP and it stows even better than a hard dinghy.

On 2008-02-21 21:34:10 -0500, said:

When you look at what a lot of cruisers are using, RIB's are very
popular. We chose not to go that route and went with a porta-bote
instead. It rows decent, it has positive floatation, it's lighter than
RIB's, it doesn't require a dinghy davit, it's more tolerant to abuse
and it's cheaper. The last quality is that it's so ugly no one will
want to steal it. It meets most of Wilbur's criterial, although it's
not GRP and it stows even better than a hard dinghy.

I second this viewpoint, particularly the "ugly" safeguard. It looks
and "feels" too flimsy to last, but ours is probably a dozen seasons
old now, and still is the rendezvous "taxi" when people need to ferry
about. Only the 55-56 foot powerboats have dinks that can ferry 5
adults at once -- and keep them dry.

And as a backup to the "rows decently": In many anchorages, most
PortBote folks don't hassle with the outboard, but just row around.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

wrote in message
...
On Fri, 22 Feb 2008 03:27:27 GMT, Jere Lull wrote:

On 2008-02-21 21:34:10 -0500, said:

When you look at what a lot of cruisers are using, RIB's are very
popular. We chose not to go that route and went with a porta-bote
instead. It rows decent, it has positive floatation, it's lighter than
RIB's, it doesn't require a dinghy davit, it's more tolerant to abuse
and it's cheaper. The last quality is that it's so ugly no one will
want to steal it. It meets most of Wilbur's criterial, although it's
not GRP and it stows even better than a hard dinghy.

I second this viewpoint, particularly the "ugly" safeguard. It looks
and "feels" too flimsy to last, but ours is probably a dozen seasons
old now, and still is the rendezvous "taxi" when people need to ferry
about. Only the 55-56 foot powerboats have dinks that can ferry 5
adults at once -- and keep them dry.

And as a backup to the "rows decently": In many anchorages, most
PortBote folks don't hassle with the outboard, but just row around.

I'd add my vote as a happy porta-bote owner. I was on the fence before
ordering
a Pota-bote rather than yet another RIB. I would not be on the fence if I
had to
make the choice agin. I doubt I'll ever need to make that choice has the
Port-Bote gives every indication that it will outlive me.




Not if you stay out of the mosh pit... LOL


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:41:51 -0500, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:


"cavalamb himself" wrote in message
...

What qualities make for a good crusing dink?


1) it should be easy to row.

Why not use an engine? Even the lifeboats carried on ships no longer
have oars. A properly maintained engine fails about as frequently as
an oar breaks.

2) you should be able to row out the bower, kedge and a shot of chain even
in rough seas.

Anyone that has to set a second anchor in rough seas is not paying
attention. Given the availability of radio weather reports in this day
and age anyone who doesn't know what the weather is doing isn't
listening.
The time to set a second anchor is before the wind gets up.

3) you should be able to get it aboard and stowed lashed amidships under the
boom.

Bad! Behind the mast interferes with the vang and main sheet. Forward
of the mast!

4) it should be made out of GRP and have positive flotation.

Wooden boats are no longer usable I guess. Or perhaps Willie doesn't
know about wood boats.

5) inflatables are a joke if only because you can't row them and sooner or
later that reliable motor will die.

Just flat wrong! Perhaps you can't row a rubber duck into the wind but
I can. It is just a matter of technique. As for a motor "dying", just
maintain it and it won't.

6) if you have to ask here then you aren't doing enough reading of good
cruising books.

Right! Don't bother to go sailing; just read a book about it!

Wilbur Hubbard


Willie-boy, I really feel sorry for you - a guy that spends all his
time reading sailing magazines and books rather then going sailing -
and thinks it makes him a sailor. Pitiful!


Bruce-in-Bangkok
(Note:remove underscores
from address for reply)

Bruce in Bangkok wrote:

Anyone that has to set a second anchor in rough seas is not paying
attention. Given the availability of radio weather reports in this day
and age anyone who doesn't know what the weather is doing isn't
listening. The time to set a second anchor is before the wind gets up.

I guess I am going to have to study up. I have had one or more (probably
more) instances of having to take out gear in the dink for security or
weather reasons. Maybe I have just been in places where the weather
reports, such as they were, weren't too reliable.

I have both hard and soft little boats, but in the cases I recall where
anchor and chain had to be set from the boat, the hard boat with oars was
the one actually used. I probably would have been a little intimidated
about having to toss a patent-style anchor into a rubber boat in the dark,
or with a sea making up. No such fears about the hard boat, and in fact the
rig performed quite well.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare

Bruce in Bangkok wrote:
Anyone that has to set a second anchor in rough seas is not paying
attention. Given the availability of radio weather reports in this day
and age anyone who doesn't know what the weather is doing isn't
listening. The time to set a second anchor is before the wind gets up.

Agreed, but there are more reasons than ignorance of the weather to
set an anchor vie dinghy.

"Armond Perretta" wrote:
I guess I am going to have to study up. I have had one or more (probably
more) instances of having to take out gear in the dink for security or
weather reasons. Maybe I have just been in places where the weather
reports, such as they were, weren't too reliable.


I've used a dinghy to set an anchor in a place that the big boat
couldn't have gotten to... and it worked out wonderfully, holding the
big boat closer in to a place that was secure. I've also used a dinghy
to set a security anchor to hold us off a dock. Then there is setting
a kedge to pull off from a grounding, although most people probably
think it's easier to just call Sea Tow.


I have both hard and soft little boats, but in the cases I recall where
anchor and chain had to be set from the boat, the hard boat with oars was
the one actually used. I probably would have been a little intimidated
about having to toss a patent-style anchor into a rubber boat in the dark,
or with a sea making up. No such fears about the hard boat, and in fact the
rig performed quite well.


I have never liked outboard motors, a RIB was out of the question. We
have a dinghy that I designed & built, and consider it as close to
perfect for our uses as could be: it is very easy to row, stable, and
looks like a classic lapstrake pulling boat.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

On Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:49:43 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Bruce in Bangkok wrote:
Anyone that has to set a second anchor in rough seas is not paying
attention. Given the availability of radio weather reports in this day
and age anyone who doesn't know what the weather is doing isn't
listening. The time to set a second anchor is before the wind gets up.

Agreed, but there are more reasons than ignorance of the weather to
set an anchor vie dinghy.

True. I don't usually park in places where there isn't room to swing
so I don't bother with a second anchor but I can see that it might be
necessary from time to time, but he seemed to be talking about rowing
out a second anchor in the teeth of a roaring gale.

"Armond Perretta" wrote:
I guess I am going to have to study up. I have had one or more (probably
more) instances of having to take out gear in the dink for security or
weather reasons. Maybe I have just been in places where the weather
reports, such as they were, weren't too reliable.

I've used a dinghy to set an anchor in a place that the big boat
couldn't have gotten to... and it worked out wonderfully, holding the
big boat closer in to a place that was secure. I've also used a dinghy
to set a security anchor to hold us off a dock. Then there is setting
a kedge to pull off from a grounding, although most people probably
think it's easier to just call Sea Tow.

True, I did run a line ashore when I was parked near a coral outcrop
but it really wasn't a "got to do it" situation. I was bound I was
going to anchor between another boat and a coral 'ledge" and didn't
want to swing.

I have both hard and soft little boats, but in the cases I recall where
anchor and chain had to be set from the boat, the hard boat with oars was
the one actually used. I probably would have been a little intimidated
about having to toss a patent-style anchor into a rubber boat in the dark,
or with a sea making up. No such fears about the hard boat, and in fact the
rig performed quite well.

One of my money earning hobbies is building dinghies. I designed and
built several 8 ft glass over plywood boats that will carry three
adults (well, skinny ones) quite safely in any weather I want to be
out in a dinghy. They aren't as light as a rubber duck but they are
light enough that I can pick one up by my self. Local made rubber
dinghies are running a bit over $1,000 here and I can build glass over
plywood boat for about a third of that.

I have never liked outboard motors, a RIB was out of the question. We
have a dinghy that I designed & built, and consider it as close to
perfect for our uses as could be: it is very easy to row, stable, and
looks like a classic lapstrake pulling boat.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Bruce-in-Bangkok
(Note:remove underscores
from address for reply)

wrote:
Bruce in Bangkok wrote:


I've also used a dinghy
to set a security anchor to hold us off a dock.

I can attest to that, after all it was my dock!



We
have a dinghy that I designed & built, and consider it as close to
perfect for our uses as could be: it is very easy to row, stable, and
looks like a classic lapstrake pulling boat.

It is a great dink, and don't forget Hank looks great in it!
Unfortunatly the Crapton wouldn't like it, it's not made of GRP, I guess
he hasn't heard of carbon fiber yet.

Cheers
Marty