In CY: Dinghies and Davits

Dinghy and Motor

Jan 10, 2019

In your February edition you will find a brand new special feature to get you ready for the 2019 Cruising Season: Dinghies and Davits looks at everything you need to know on the topic. Here’s some of what author, Rob MacLeod who put the special together, says in his introduction:

I took my first sail at age 13 on a Folbot folding kayak with a lateen sail and leeboards. It was on this inaugural sail that I learned the tough lesson that it is easier to sail downstream with the wind than upstream against the wind. It would be another 12 years before I actually figured out how to do the latter. But that is another story.

Dinghys and DavitsIn researching this article, I was pleased to see that folding boats and dinghies still have a place in modern cruising boats alongside hard dinghies, sailing dinghies, Soft Inflatable Boats (SIBs), Rigid (Hulled) Inflatable Boats (RIBs/RHIBs), and inflatable kayaks. In addition, cruising sailors are carrying SUPs, rigid kayaks, kite boards, windsurfers, and PWCs.

Adamante 1 DavitsSome cruising boaters are looking for the minimum auxiliary craft required to be able to anchor out, explore the anchorage and surrounding area, and get to shore for provisions, while other boaters want the secondary water craft to be an extension of their experience. It is this ‘purpose’ or primary use of the dinghy and other floating objects that drives the search for the perfect vessel for each boater and their situation.

Related Articles

Video Gallery

Bennington 22 MSB

By Andy Adams

If you’ve already had firsthand experience with a pontoon, you will easily understand the appeal of the Bennington 22 MSB. But if you haven’t, let’s start by reviewing a few of the reasons why pontoon boats have become top sellers in markets across North America.

Pontoon boats began in the early 1950s as basically four steel drums lashed to a frame. They were not unlike the log rafts of ancient cultures and not much more sophisticated at first.

Read More

Destinations

The Best of Two Worlds

By Mathew Channer

Interior British Columbia might not be as famous for recreational boating as Canada’s Great Lakes, yet it is no less a world-class boat­ing destination. The mountains offer their own flavour of marine adventure with their series of long, deep ribbon lakes, and there is perhaps no area that embodies this more uniquely than the iconic Okanagan basin in southern B.C. One could be forgiven for assuming this valley was purpose-built for nautical fun, with a few delightful perks thrown in to make the area entirely irresistible (wine-tasting, anyone?).

Read More

Lifestyle