[Rhodes22-list] Dinghy Selection Complete and other notes

[Stephen Staum]

FYI (even though you already made your purchase),

I use a 10' Port-A-Boat.  It folds flat (4" thick), sits against the wall in 
the garage, straps easily on the roof rack and tows nicely behind the 
Rhodes.  The important features to me were:  it rows very nicely - just like 
a solid row boat - yet stores and travels easily, the hard chines make it 
quite stable and the installed flotation make it safer than an inflatable. 
I had an inflatable deflate while enroute to my mooring and it is a lousy 
feeling.  They do make a sail kit but I assume that it is not a great 
sailboat.  It does motor very well - I have used the 4 or 5 hp outboards 
from the Carol Lee and it would plane at about 15 knots with just me on 
board.  It will carry 3-4 people and lots of gear.  On extended open water 
trips, I have strapped it folded to the starboard lifelines with the seats 
and transom below the port cockpit seats.  While assembly on board would be 
challenging (w boat across the cockpit) I can usually find a float to tie to 
in order to assemble it easily.

Stephen Staum
sv Carol Lee 2
Needham, MA

-----Original Message----- 
From: Jay Curry
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 1:09 PM
To: rhodes List
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Dinghy Selection Complete and other notes

Thanks for the feedback folks. I was looking at sea eagle models. Knowing
others had used them successfully made the choice easy. We have a model 370
package on the way.

I loved the idea of just beaching the boat, but in the Great Lakes for
example the beaches are often very rocky and some serious rocks are often
hidden just under the sand. In addition, exploring small islands is often
much easier from the shore line than on rough trails inland. You often need
the option of a stowable dinghy to get around. Shore waters can often be
rough and you need a stable maneuverable boat to stay safe.

In my experience, most of my fellow boaters at anchor on lake superior, used
their dinghy's solely for trips to shore for their dogs. They would get up
at dawn, haul what often seemed like a Great Dane size mutt off of
everything from small fishing boats to large sail boats and dinghy it to
shore for a walk. Of course this had to be done in any weather and in in any
conditions. I kept waiting for someone to just hold the dog over the side on
a really bad day. I love dogs, but not on a small boat with two people
already competing for space.

In October 2010, I took a transit on the Lady Washington from Westport, WA
to San Francisco. The Lady Washington is an authentic wooden replica of the
1787 Brig of the same name. She was instrumental in opening up the west
coast to trade and exploration. The replica is now the official WA State
ship. It is also the ship that Captain Jack Sparrow commandeered in the
first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It was fitted with a wheel for the
movie. Ours had the original tiller back in place. We spent 7 days in rough
seas with no showers and until the last two days, it was all under sail day
and night. We crossed the Westport bar once at night and the Columbia River
bar twice. The captain had a dog on board with its own life jacket and
beacon.

Since the dog could not go to shore, they set a litter box on deck after we
left the Columbia River for San Francisco. The dog refused to use it. The
Captain did his best to walk the dog all over the ship and kept stopping at
the box. The dog would just wag his tail and look up at the captain and keep
motioning toward the area where he knew the gang plank was always set up. By
the second day, you could see the dog crossing his legs and walking funny.
He was bound and determined not to use that box. Toward the end of the
second day, The dog was wandering the deck between walks around the litter
box and came to visit me. It decided to let go right next to me while my
attention was elsewhere. The crew saw what was happening and warned me in
time, but I still nearly fell over board trying to get away.

Moving on deck was tricky, you had to time your steps with the motion of the
boat. If you guessed wrong, you went for a tumble. I went for a tumble. On a
trip to the head from my bunk one night, I misjudged my reach to the steps
from my bunk, got caught by a violent swing to one side and got slammed into
the stair rail. It left a mark. One of the other passengers misjudged his
exit to from the hold in a similar manner and banged his head hard enough on
the hold cover to cut his scalp. He refused any help and spent the next
couple of days with a napkin on top of his balding head held down at each
corner with Mickey Mouse band-aids. At least most of the time it was under
his rain cap. It was an interesting trip.

Anyway, during the rest of that night and the next morning the crew on each
watch spent a good deal of time throwing buckets over the side and hauling
up water to wash down the deck. This was sometimes for the dog and other
times for those on the crew who were sea sick. The dog seemed to now have a
constant smile and the litter box stayed unused. I decided long ago, that if
we ever had kept a dog on the boat, it would have to be trained to blow up
the dinghy and then get to shore and back on its own.

I love cats too, but I am really confused by those who keep cats on board.
The cat we kept for 18 years could peel the pain off of the wall for 10 feet
around the litter box after a night out chasing critters. Imagining that in
the small confines of a sail boat is nightmarish. I would bet our cat could
have softened the fiberglass. Maybe cat owners with boats have found some
feeding routine that helps like a full vegetarian diet mixed with carpet
fresh.

Thanks again for the feed back. Take care.

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