Fittster
Member
During lockdown I’ve been whiling away the time watching dinghy cruising videos on YouTube. The formula for many of these is a chap quickly launches and rigs a large dinghy, has a leisurely sale in an estuary where larger yachts can’t go, spends a relaxing night in a cockpit tent, gets woken by the sounds of nature and then sails back to the launching spot where the boat is recovered in a stress free manner.
As idyllic as this sounds, I do wonder how realistic this is. Let’s say I clutter up my drive with something like a Bayraider, which would seem ideal for dinghy cruising, being relatively light on land but large enough to be comfortable to cruise in and stable thanks to water ballast.
First thing is it needs to be towed to a slip way, now we are probably looking at around 1000Kgs of weight to tow, which should be possible in your average 2.0 litre family saloon but when you get to a slip way are you going to regret not having a 4WD car as your family car is slipping on sand / seaweed as you reverse the boat to the water?
Are they actually many slip ways in the UK where you can launch a large dinghy, with a pontoon where you can tie the boat up while you park the car / trailer?
If you are going to camp overnight in the boat where do you park a car and trailer (I suspect these are thief magnets)?
Once you have the boat in the water can something like a Bayraider/Wanderer/Drascombe (i.e. not something really large) be rigged and be ready to go within a hour if you are on your own?
Is the towing, launching, rigging, recovery actually such a hassle you might as well leave a boat on a mooring?
As idyllic as this sounds, I do wonder how realistic this is. Let’s say I clutter up my drive with something like a Bayraider, which would seem ideal for dinghy cruising, being relatively light on land but large enough to be comfortable to cruise in and stable thanks to water ballast.
First thing is it needs to be towed to a slip way, now we are probably looking at around 1000Kgs of weight to tow, which should be possible in your average 2.0 litre family saloon but when you get to a slip way are you going to regret not having a 4WD car as your family car is slipping on sand / seaweed as you reverse the boat to the water?
Are they actually many slip ways in the UK where you can launch a large dinghy, with a pontoon where you can tie the boat up while you park the car / trailer?
If you are going to camp overnight in the boat where do you park a car and trailer (I suspect these are thief magnets)?
Once you have the boat in the water can something like a Bayraider/Wanderer/Drascombe (i.e. not something really large) be rigged and be ready to go within a hour if you are on your own?
Is the towing, launching, rigging, recovery actually such a hassle you might as well leave a boat on a mooring?