Why is there so few people towing a solid dinghy? (rather than rolled up inflatabubbles)

[Refueler]

No marina I have been in has ever done so. Perhaps it's different dahn sarf.

Pal of mine terminated his marina agreement and moved because when they measured his boat - he had his anchor stowed over the bow roller .... guys included that in the LOA and bumped him into next price range.
When he got the bill - he queried the measurement ... and showed absolutely the correct LOA .... marina refused to back down.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Pal of mine terminated his marina agreement and moved because when they measured his boat - he had his anchor stowed over the bow roller .... guys included that in the LOA and bumped him into next price range.
When he got the bill - he queried the measurement ... and showed absolutely the correct LOA .... marina refused to back down.

Most marina contracts seem to say something like "including all fittings and protuberances" so they were probably within their rights but it does seem a bit petty. I suppose that with the dinghy one can always tie it alongside and claim to have unchanged length but an extra 1.5m beam. A couple of places have asked that the dinghy stay at the bow end, next to the pontoon, but that's what I do for more than a brief stay anyway as leaving it by the stern is a bit option-limiting for anyone using the adjacent berth.

 

[Star-Lord]

Pal of mine terminated his marina agreement and moved because when they measured his boat - he had his anchor stowed over the bow roller .... guys included that in the LOA and bumped him into next price range.
When he got the bill - he queried the measurement ... and showed absolutely the correct LOA .... marina refused to back down.

Was that Brighton?

 

[Babylon]

I'd be stuffed then if I were a marina resident - got a hoofing great Monitor self-steering structure hanging off the transom! - but never been charged anywhere for longer than 27ft/8.23m when just a visitor.

 

[Kukri]

She's absolutely beautiful -- hate the outboard though

I really think this design - Nalcolm Goodwin’s ‘Nutshell’ - is the best all round tender. Malcolm sold them as kits and after he retired Barrowboats took them up but they seem to have shut up shop now. A couple of hundred were made and they are very repairable - mine is more than thirty years old, so I know...

 

[Refueler]

Was that Brighton?

No but same company in the Solent.

 

[Refueler]

I'd be stuffed then if I were a marina resident - got a hoofing great Monitor self-steering structure hanging off the transom! - but never been charged anywhere for longer than 27ft/8.23m when just a visitor.

When you are a visitor = they usually accept your word of what the boat is and its length overall .. they don't go and measure. But if you were to say you had a Centaur and said it was 23ft ..... they would know you were telling a porky ...

 

[lw395]

It's annoying when someone's anchor sticks out of their paid for space into someone else's or the main pontoon.

 

[FlyingGoose]

It's annoying when someone's anchor sticks out of their paid for space into someone else's or the main pontoon.

In situations like this I merely walk around such nuisance items Humming Yankee doodle dandy and think my life and time on this earth is so more important than to worry about such things ?

 

[DownWest]

I really think this design - Nalcolm Goodwin’s ‘Nutshell’ - is the best all round tender. Malcolm sold them as kits and after he retired Barrowboats took them up but they seem to have shut up shop now. A couple of hundred were made and they are very repairable - mine is more than thirty years old, so I know...

Interestingly, The Joel White tender is also named Nutshell 7'7" Nutshell Pram
I know a couple of people who have built them. Quite light, but very nice to row.

 

[Ruffles]

You do need to block up the centerboard slot when you're towing. There's nothing quite like hanging off the transom with one foot in the dinghy to bail it out.

 

[Ruffles]

... it probably slows us down a wee bit some of the time....

Excellent point. A perfect excuse for being overtaken.

 

[Dan Tribe]

Another downside of hard dinghies is that, at anchor, at some time in the night the tide will turn and the dinghy will start donking on the side. This always seems to be about 3 am or when it is raining.

 

[LittleSister]

Another downside of hard dinghies is that, at anchor, at some time in the night the tide will turn and the dinghy will start donking on the side. This always seems to be about 3 am or when it is raining.

Which is when the sailing kit comes into its own - remove the rag you'd put in the centreboard case for towing, and drop the centreboard/daggerboard so that the dinghy lies to the tide like the yacht, rather than just the wind.

 

[michael_w]

Bucket on the painter is the traditional method.

 

[Kukri]

Repeat of post 17:

My old friend:



The Malcolm Goodwin designed and often built Nutshell is as good as you will get imho; she rows and tows extremely well and motors and sails pretty well.

To tow any dinghy you must (damhikt)

1. Either take the oars and anything moveable out or lash them in (wedging the oars under the thwart is not good enough - they will work loose).
2. Have a really strong eye low down on the stem or bow transom.
3. If she has a dagger board slot, close it off or stuff a rag into it.
4. Two painters are a good idea but they must be long. Tow short going to windward and tow long off wind.
5. Have a stern drag painter in the boat which you can flick over with a boat hook if conditions get bumpy and the dinghy wants to overtake you.

And once you have anchored or picked up a mooring...

6. Tie a bucket on a short line at the bow (NOT the stern) to keep the dinghy off your topsides.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Excellent point. A perfect excuse for being overtaken.

My boat is 26' long, weighs four tons and has a long keel and fixed blade prop. We don't need more excuses, so we cope by not worrying about it and enjoying life at our own speed. I commend it to you. Worrying about being overtaken all the time sounds terribly wearing.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Another downside of hard dinghies is that, at anchor, at some time in the night the tide will turn and the dinghy will start donking on the side. This always seems to be about 3 am or when it is raining.

And this doesn't happen with rubber dinks because ... ?

 

[Dan Tribe]

And this doesn't happen with rubber dinks because ... ?

.
They are soft and don't make a hard clonk. You may get an annoying squeak occasionally

 

[doug748]

Pulling the stem of the rubber dinghy up onto the transom of the boat generally solves it.

I would like a Rib designed for rowing please, longish and thin with a doughnut rear end for passengers. Four chambers, so the fwd and aft, can be deflated for stowage on deck. Such an item would also happily tow alongside, secured hard at the leeward quarter