Dingy Wheels
In your discussion about the Unihelm you commented in dingy wheels.
I can confirm that if you plan on anchoring and using the dingy to go ashore
between Mexico and Panama, you'll need wheels unless you have a small dingy
that you can pick up and carry up the beach. They are even more useful in
launching as you can start with the motor down.
It is important that you get the wheels with the large inflatable tires.
The smaller plastic ones just sink in the sand. We used the Davis ones from
West Marine on our Avon 10.4 sport boat and were happy. A Google search
will find others. This is one product you want the best IMO.
RObby, Dolores E, San Francisco
Robby & Dolores shared: I can confirm that if you plan on anchoring and
using the dingy to go ashore
between Mexico and Panama, you'll need wheels unless you have a small dingy
that you can pick up and carry up the beach.
So let me ask this:
I have a 9' inflatable tender that is a spare. It's very, very light with a
plywood floor. It has NO motor. Would it be a reasonable substitute to use
the light tender when necessary, rather than clutter up the RIB with wheels?
In other words, are the instances where I need to haul the tender up the
beach infrequent enough that rowing ashore is a good alternative? Oh, the
tender inflates in 5 minutes, it's an Achilles, very good quality.
Oh, a note, a bit of history just passed by. Salvation II, just came
through the Ballard Locks on their way to watch the Seafair festivities no
doubt. Marian and I had the opportunity to meet Jim and Suzie Sink and sea
trial the boat a few years ago. It was a treat to meet the Sinks, they are
wonderful people. I hope the new owners get to accumulate as many wonderful
memories as the Sinks have. The boat looked almost new, bright and shiny,
obviously being very well cared for!
Scott Bulger, Alanui, N40II, Seattle WA
Sure as long as the two of you can pick it up and carry it ashore and back
again in the water. If you have a pretty good wave coming in, you'll find
when the dingy hits the beach the next wave comes over the transom and you
an everything in the boat gets wet -- kind of fun if you're in a bathing
suit and not carrying anything else that you want to keep dry. It is a
little harder getting out, since you have to power over incoming waves with
oars.
The advantage of wheels with a motor (on any size dingy) you can hit the
beach with the motor down and running, hop out, and with practice, hardly
get your feet wet or get any water in the dingy. When leaving you can walk
the dingy into the water, put the motor down and start it, then time your
departure. I'm assuming large inflatable tires, and a system that you can
swivel up and down.
A lot depends on whether you mostly anchor (as we did) or mostly use marinas
which are more abundant on the west coast of Mexico and Central America then
they were during our passage in 95 & 96. Also after we went through the
canal, we almost never used the wheels again during 4 years on the east
coast of North America and 4 years in Scotland and north.
I think having two inflatables, as you have, is a great idea and we do the
same thing now. In addition to the Avon, I have an 8 foot West Marine
roll-up that Dolores and I can pick up. I plan to purchase a small 2HP
Honda or the like, for the small boat.
Regards, Robby
Dolores E., San Francisco
----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Bulger" scottebulger@gmail.com
To: "'Robby & Dolores'" robbyr67@comcast.net; <>
Cc: "'Passagemaking'" passagemaking-under-power@lists.samurai.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 11:01 AM
Subject: RE: Dingy Wheels
Robby & Dolores shared: I can confirm that if you plan on anchoring and
using the dingy to go ashore
between Mexico and Panama, you'll need wheels unless you have a small
dingy
that you can pick up and carry up the beach.
So let me ask this:
I have a 9' inflatable tender that is a spare. It's very, very light with
a
plywood floor. It has NO motor. Would it be a reasonable substitute to
use
the light tender when necessary, rather than clutter up the RIB with
wheels?
In other words, are the instances where I need to haul the tender up the
beach infrequent enough that rowing ashore is a good alternative? Oh, the
tender inflates in 5 minutes, it's an Achilles, very good quality.
Oh, a note, a bit of history just passed by. Salvation II, just came
through the Ballard Locks on their way to watch the Seafair festivities no
doubt. Marian and I had the opportunity to meet Jim and Suzie Sink and
sea
trial the boat a few years ago. It was a treat to meet the Sinks, they
are
wonderful people. I hope the new owners get to accumulate as many
wonderful
memories as the Sinks have. The boat looked almost new, bright and shiny,
obviously being very well cared for!
Scott Bulger, Alanui, N40II, Seattle WA
Robby really got me thinking so let's phrase this discussion in the context
of Passagemaking, so it's topical to the list. There you are, anchored in a
remote cove, miles and miles from other people (if such a place still
exists?). What kind of assessments to you make when considering tendering
ashore? Certainly wave height must be one of the most important issues, as
well topography of the shore (sand vs rock). I also imagine you concern
yourself with the weather outlook for the duration of the stay, will you be
returning after dark or in a possible thunderstorm. Some other questions
a. do you lock the boat? Do you leave the main engine keys in the console?
b. How far are you willing to stray from your tender on the beach?
c. We all know a tender needs to be locked up at a tender dock, how about
on a remote beach?
d. What makes Mexico and C.A. any different than other places that justify
the large wheels? I can only assume it's the composition of the sand,
although it's hard to imagine it's any different than Florida?
e. Do you limit yourself to distances traveled from the ship? I hear
stories of people taking the tenders 20 miles or more from the boat. I can
only assume this is after building a great deal of trust in the tender. At
what point do you become nervous about being so far away?
I'm sure like everything else, experience breeds comfort and while I have a
fair amount of experience in small boats in coastal environments, I'm sure
the first 10 or 20 times we head away from Alanui at anchor we will be very,
very nervous. As a matter of fact, I remember the first time we did that
last year, it was harrowing, and this was simply to visit Butchart Gardens
in Canada :)
Less than 3 weeks from departure and really getting excited!
Scott Bulger, Alanui, N40II, Seattle WA
I have a 9' inflatable tender that is a spare. It's
very, very light with a plywood floor. It has
NO motor. Would it be a reasonable substitute
to use the light rather than clutter
up the RIB with wheels?
Some of the West Coast cruisers like Bob Austin could
better answer this, but my opinion is no - this isn't
a workable solution except for absolute budget
cruisers. The distance from anchorage to beach is
often long, afternoon winds strong enough to make
rowing difficult (especially in an inflatable), and
the beach-surf untenable without a motor.
I have to admit, I have never mastered the art of
surf-landing a dinghy. On San Miguel Island off Santa
Barbara CA, I watched a charter boat deliver
passengers via a large dinghy through 4-foot surf. The
"coxswain" waited for a favorable set, maneuevered
close to the beach, then quickly turned the boat
180-degrees so it was bow to the waves. He then put
the engine in reverse and gunned it into the beach,
killing and lifting the outboard at the last moment.
I've never seen that done before or since. I launched
from the beach a few minutes after he did with far
less eloquonce and a lot more wetness. It's one of
those things that seems like it would be easy....
I've been a hopeless addict of Latitude 38 since it
was first published in the mid 1970s. This San
Francisco based sailing magazine (and sponsor of the
Baja Ha Ha sailing event, the template for FUBAR)
features many cruiser stories. A common theme emerges:
big, fast dignhy with wheels. Those who substitute
lessor dinghies almost always upgrade. There are
exceptions - I met one fellow last year on a sailing
cat who carried a pedal-powered cat water-bike
contraption. He was quite happy with it.
Your spare dinghy may see some use, but probably not
much. Hopefully, you'll dawdle long enough that
launching a RIB is a small price to pay for days of
fast transportation. A word of caution thought:
outboard theft is sadly not uncommon. The temptation
is just too great in these anchorages near poor towns.
Speaking of which, does anyone have any better locking
solutions that the slide-bar and master lock which
tend to rust-freeze within a few months? Other theft
prevention measures? Painting the engine cowling so it
hides the size and makes it hard to hide?
Peter
W36 Sedan
San Francisco
I spray all my exterior locks with Sailcote dry lubricant once a quarter,
and have never had one (since) rust or lock up. This is the only stuff I've
found that will do this, and not gum up the lock or cause it to corrode.
Don't use WD-40, Corrosion Block, graphite (conductive), dino oils, or
anything else. I also use only bronze Master locks on the dink and dock box
(yes, they make them). My local locksmith turned me onto these a few years
ago.
Keith
"A man who is good enough to shed his blood for the country is good enough
to be given a square deal afterwards." - Theodore Roosevelt
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Pisciotta" peter@seaskills.com
Speaking of which, does anyone have any better locking
solutions that the slide-bar and master lock which
tend to rust-freeze within a few months?
To respond to Scott's questions:
a. do you lock the boat? Do you leave the main engine keys in the
console?
In Alaska & BC, we rarely locked the boat. In Mexico and Central America we
did lock it. On the East Coast up to Newfoundland and in Scotland we
usually didn't -- it certainly doesn't hurt to lock. Our current boat has
an emergency shutdown on the air-intake on the Detroit. I'd flip it closed
if I was concerned about someone powering off.
b. How far are you willing to stray from your tender on the beach?
We never considered that -- distance was a function of our energy level.
c. We all know a tender needs to be locked up at a tender dock, how about
on a remote beach?
We had a motor lock on the transom and a 15 foot wire cable which we'd lock
to a tree, post etc., on the beach. We had a new 8HP Nissan OB which we'd
painted the motor cover day-glow orange. It looked like hell, but was
visible a long way (safety) and hopefully discouraged would-be thieves. We
ALWAYS picked up the dingy EVERY night in Mexico & Central America.
d. What makes Mexico and C.A. any different than other places that
justify
the large wheels? I can only assume it's the composition of the sand,
although it's hard to imagine it's any different than Florida?
The prevailing wind/seas on the pacific coast come from the west or NW which
means you almost always have a little "bump" coming into the anchorages. I
didn't find this to be true on the East Coast. The goal with the wheels is
to be able to bring the dingy up or down the beach with the motor down.
e. Do you limit yourself to distances traveled from the ship? I hear
stories of people taking the tenders 20 miles or more from the boat. I
can
only assume this is after building a great deal of trust in the tender.
At
what point do you become nervous about being so far away?
We never went 20 miles, but did really enjoy some extensive dingy trips
particularily in Alaska, BC and Scotland. I remember one time in Scotland I
couldn't get the motor re-started about 5 miles from the boat. I tried
rowing but that was not realistic and finally got the engine running.
Dolores was not happy.
The foregoing was based on our travels aboard our sailboat "Rolling Stone".
I suspect most trawler owners will utilize marinas much more then we did.
In fact in Mexico to Panama we only stopped twice in a Marina (Cabo & PV).
We intend to follow the same pattern with our trawler (if we ever go
anywhere :>)). I guess I'm still a sailor at heart, except now I'm a warm
and dry sailor.
Robby,
Dolores E., San Francisco