adwuk
Well-Known Member
Re: Live and don't learn
Maybe, but it seemed pretty stable in 25-30 knots of breeze the other week.
Maybe, but it seemed pretty stable in 25-30 knots of breeze the other week.
Towing a rigid dinghy
- Thread starter dylanwinter
- Start date
Seajet
...
Re: Live and don't learn
I sympathise - in those situations I have known people run a line across marinas and / or channels to warp the boat out - just as Francis Drake did against the Armada - sod any incomers, they can stand off - this made me cringe with embarassment but the owner may have been right; sometimes one has to put one's own boat first.
I could have done with a ready-to-use dinghy a few weeks ago.
I had to leave a marina berth in a to make way for its permanent user and there was a current from astern and a breeze from the port side. This, combined with prop kick to port soon had me sideways on to the sterns of some adjacent boats.
I should have run a kedge out astern and I did think of doing so, but being in a bit of a hurry and not wanting to spend time getting the inflatable out, I took a risk, and paid the inevitable price. Fortunately no damage, apart from a red face.
If I'd had a rigid dinghy handy I could have sculled out with the kedge in a few minutes and everything would have been alright.
I sympathise - in those situations I have known people run a line across marinas and / or channels to warp the boat out - just as Francis Drake did against the Armada - sod any incomers, they can stand off - this made me cringe with embarassment but the owner may have been right; sometimes one has to put one's own boat first.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Re: Live and don't learn
That's just how I got out of Port Bannatyne marina a couple of weeks ago. It helps to have a small, keen crew member in a rowing dinghy to take warps across and collect them afterwards. Last year I warped out of Ardfern once.
That's just how I got out of Port Bannatyne marina a couple of weeks ago. It helps to have a small, keen crew member in a rowing dinghy to take warps across and collect them afterwards. Last year I warped out of Ardfern once.
snowleopard
Well-Known Member
Re: Live and don't learn
I switched to a rigid dinghy a few years ago after an incident where the motor on the rubber duck lost its prop and I couldn't row to windward with the silly short oars. I don't have to tow it because I have room to lift an 11' dinghy on davits but on the occasions I have it is no problem. I have 2 bits of advice for anyone considering it:
a) have a stout towing eye bolted through to a substantial backing pad, low down on the stem or bow transom so as to lift the bow of the dinghy when the painter comes taut suddenly.
b) If the dinghy doesn't have a skeg, fit one. It reduces sheering about.
My Mirror-style dinghy doesn't have a skeg because I removed it to make room for a wheelbarrow wheel. If the wheel isn't in place it veers about like a saucer.
The one disadvantage of a rigid dinghy compared to a flubber is it's much harder to board when swimming.
I switched to a rigid dinghy a few years ago after an incident where the motor on the rubber duck lost its prop and I couldn't row to windward with the silly short oars. I don't have to tow it because I have room to lift an 11' dinghy on davits but on the occasions I have it is no problem. I have 2 bits of advice for anyone considering it:
a) have a stout towing eye bolted through to a substantial backing pad, low down on the stem or bow transom so as to lift the bow of the dinghy when the painter comes taut suddenly.
b) If the dinghy doesn't have a skeg, fit one. It reduces sheering about.
My Mirror-style dinghy doesn't have a skeg because I removed it to make room for a wheelbarrow wheel. If the wheel isn't in place it veers about like a saucer.
The one disadvantage of a rigid dinghy compared to a flubber is it's much harder to board when swimming.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
I'm going to have to eat my words on that. Yesterday, after coming through Sanda Sound, the Heyland Toad swamped. I got it alongside, where it capsized, so I couldn't empty it. Progress was restricted to a slow crawl, because at any significant speed the drag on that side had us going in circles.
Luckily the Campbeltown lifeboats (ALB and ILB) were on exercise in the area and they very kindly helped us. We cast the dinghy adrift and the ALB crew caught it, lifted and emptied it with their crane, and took it to Campbeltown, where we were headed. No damage, save some antifouling scuffed from yacht to dinghy and a lost praddle.
I'm going to modify my advice in future: towing a rigid dinghy is fine as long as it's the right dinghy. My usual one, the pram, has never taken more than a bailerful of water aboard, almost certainly because it sits much higher out of the water than the Heyland.
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Serin
Well-Known Member
I quite often tow an 8ft clinker pram. Have done for many years, with only one occasion when there was a bit of a problem. I usually leave the cover over the forward part of the dinghy to make sure she doesn't get too much spray on board. The daggerboard slot has to be blocked as well, or water splashes up inside it.
The really great thing is the sailing rig. A quiet row around the creek in the evening is good and a quiet sail is even better. Indeed, I have often used her as a sailing tender when going ashore - sailing on the reach or run and rowing when it's a headwind. Lovely.
