In CY: Dinghies and Davits
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.
In 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.
Some 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.
