Kathryn’s Voyage Blog

Publish Date: Sunday, February 1, 2009
Location: Red Shanks Cays, near Great Exuma Island, Exumas, Bahamas
Coordinates: 23° 25.071′ N 75° 26.960′ W

Our dingy is the convertible minivan of our boat. The longer we are on our boat the more we anchor out versus pull into a marina. We all much prefer to anchor out, and this is made possible by having a competent dingy. Much of cruising life depends on the dingy. You use it for the everyday chores like taking the trash out, getting provisions, or going ashore for laundry; it’s also the shuttle used to get to a friends boat, take kids to the beach or bring visitors aboard; and of course, it’s the ultimate exploration vehicle for exploring the shallow waters around your anchorage, or getting to the coolest local bar/restaurant. The key to remember is that you need to be able to do this in just about any type of weather,

and in the dark too. We have a 10.5 foot AB inflatable dingy with a hard bottom, and a 15 horsepower engine. So far it’s been able to handle just about everything we’ve thrown at it, but occasionally we’ve used our friends dingy that is larger with a 25 horsepower engine (Dave calls it the suburban of dingys).

Unbeknownst to me, before this journey, there are a variety of ways to ride in the dingy given the weather, waves and objective of the dingy ride. There is the traditional way of sitting on the sides and just cruising along. This works well in calmer waters, exploring shallow areas and anytime you don’t mind getting wet (this can range from a splash to downright soaked). Because of the amount of wind and wave action we’ve had here in the Bahamas, we often ride standing up. Dave created an extension for our tiller with some PVC pipe so he can drive while standing. He stands at the back holding onto a line with one hand and the tiller with the other. I am usually in the middle and Ayla is toward the front. The key is having a wide stance and good hold on your line for stability, plus riding with your knees flexed so you can move easily with the waves and not pitch forward, or out of the boat. In our dingy, this approach keeps you much drier which is nice when going out for the evening in nicer clothes (of course, I still tuck my dress up as much as possible under my windbreaker). 🙂

When our friend Bobby O arrived for his visit. It was blowing 30 knots and the easiest place for the cab driver to drop him off was on a beach near our anchorage. This adventure seemed a bit beyond our dingys capabilities, so once again our fearless dingy driving friend Brian came to our assistance. Dave and Brian spent an hour and a half on the morning of Bobby’s arrival scoping out the best route, since the pick up was going to be in the dark. They then departed just before sunset so they could beach the dingy with some light. Dave dressed in his bathing suit and brought an extra one for Bobby along with garbage bags to protect his suitcase and briefcase from getting wet. The rendez-vous went as planned, and they had an exhilarating ride back to the boat (which wasn’t that easy to find in the dark, even with all our lights on). Bobby arrived soaked but laughing….welcome to our new life.

Our cruising friends all agree…buy the biggest dingy with the largest engine you can fit on your

boat. One caveat to this is, remember who will be handling the dingy. Often times when beaching the dingy or exploring shallow waters, you need to be able to lift the engine out of the water quickly as it gets shallow or rocky. Ayla and I can’t life a 25 horsepower engine easily by ourselves. One other important consideration is how may people will you usually be transporting. Our dingy is perfect for the three of us, with one other adult passenger, much more than that and it’s hard to get it up on plane.

I love the dingy! I still have a ways to go in mastering command of this small vessel, but I’m confident I will get there. 🙂