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