Inflatable dinghy as tender for Baycruiser

[Peter Taylor]

Before I bought my BC20 I looked for something to use as a tender (e.g. for getting ashore from a mooring, or laying the kedge anchor). I bought the Excel SL200 which was the smallest, lightest "proper inflatable" I could find (photo attached). Soon afterwards, the larger Excel SL230 featured as PBO's best buy.  However despite its small size, with oars, pump etc it weighs over 20kg and is an awkward object to get out of the forepeak and inflate/deflate in the cockpit.  So awkward I haven't used it yet and it's a needless weight in the bow of Seatern.

However I want to have some form of dinghy available when sailing so I've bought an Intex Seahawk 2 which with outboard bracket cost less than £75, and weighs 10kg (including motor mount, oars and pump), and takes up much less space in Seatern. I attach a photo, and a comparison of the two dinghies packed where the Intex is in the red  bag provided by me. OK, sitting in it I feel like (I imagine) a ditched fighter pilot in an emergency life-raft. However it can be rowed (using better oars than those supplied - the ones in the photo are from the Excel), and the Torqeedo will drive it at low power settings (with the battery detached to balance the weight distribution. Question is, how long will it last if I actually use it?!  I'm wondering what other SB owners have used as tenders? (I guess it's more likely to be BC20/BC23 owners who may have one).

For anyone interested there's a (caught on security camera) video of me inflating the Intex on my "Seatern" blog under September!!! And, yes I do have better things to do!

Peter

[Julian Swindell]

Hi Peter
I have been through all of these. I had a Seyvalor "toy" inflatable. A pig to row, but comfortable for lounging in when sun bathing. You are always sitting in a puddle, and although I never had any trouble with it, I never felt secure and worried that it would blow away. Then I bought an unbranded, proper inflatable which was remarkably narrow for just 2m long. Fine for one person but almost impossible for two. Also a great weight in the boat.  I ended up up generally towing it rather than carrying it on board. Now I have built a proper wooden dinghy which I tow if I want it, or leave behind if I don't. I am planning to get an Anchor Buddy, which I saw at the English Raid, to use for getting to shore, but anchoring off, which will get rid of the need for a dinghy for most of my sailing, except that I do like to row around an anchorage in the evening...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Xcite-Sports-Anchor-Buddy/dp/B00AN5MELU

[Julian Swindell]

This was the toy inflatable. Knew I had a photo of it somewhere, behind my old boat. Looking at it I can remember one real problem was getting out of it into the boat. Everything bends.

[Julian Swindell]

And finally, I never used an outboard on any dinghy. I wouldn't be happy leaving it unattended, which would obviate any reason for going ashore (usually for a walk or to go and have a cream tea somewhere.) Touch wood, I have never had an unattended dinghy interfered with, even on public beaches. I don't think thieves like the thought of rowing and the outboard would be just another weight to carry around on board. I like rowing, and my new, solid dinghy rows, and tows,  beautifully.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/julianswindell/14613772167/in/set-72157644444873208

[Graham W]

Julian,

Hilariously, your video is tagged as being of adult content, requiring a sign-in to Yahoo to view.  Perhaps it's the way your dinghy waggles suggestively from side to side?

I've got one of these http://www.seamarknunn.com/acatalog/3D-Tender-230-Superlight-Twin-Air-Inflatable-Boat-SEASL230.html which fits in a BR20 locker and rows and tows really well.  They claim it weighs 14kg, which is an underestimate.  The first one I bought had to go back because of a manufacturing fault but I've had no trouble since.

[Peter Taylor]

Graham, your dinghy specs and construction are very much like the Excel SL230 - possibly just different branding? I bought mine to keep in the BC20 locker but I seem to have filled the locker up with other things - at least to the extent it won't hold the Excel dinghy. The Excel would be good if I saw myself using it a lot and I'm going to hang on to it for now in case my sailing habits evolve.

Julian (having been shocked by your video!*) - I don't want to tow a dinghy, solid or inflatable.  The outboard would be used for deploying the kedge or even trying to tow Seatern out of shallow water (with the dinghy going backwards it might work). Having it on board Seatern is an insurance against the Tohatsu not starting, but if I get to trust the latter I'll probably decide the Torqeedo is not worth its weight and banish it to use on my Seafly.  I agree that to go ashore one needs to row anyway.  The anchor buddy looks rather interesting although having the boat on a long piece of elastic conjures up all sorts of images! I'll wait to see how you get on with one. I didn't find the Intex too wobbly but I agree you need water proof trousers or tolerate a wet behind.

*Oddly enough it had occurred to me that the way Seatern bounced about on video as I used the foot pump was reminiscent of Ford transits and the like parked in "Lovers Lane" in my youth - not that I did such a thing! However YouTube didn't x-rate my video so it can't be that suggestive.

[Graham W]

On the subject of anchor buddies, I read about the Archimedes method of anchoring, particularly suited to the Med.  Anchor off, very close to shore and have a long warp on shore.  When you're off the boat, walk the long warp along the shore and once the angle is big (or small) enough to move the boat away from the shallows, make fast to something suitable. When you want to retrieve the boat, reverse the process.

[Graham W]

It wasn't Archimedes but Pythagoras.  Close enough.

The method was described in Roger Barnes's 'Dinghy Cruising Companion'.

[Julian Swindell]

Sorry about the racy video. No idea how that was rated.

[Tony]

I, too, could really use some form of tender but suffer from lack of locker space for a "proper "  inflatable.
At Seafair Milford Haven this year  the skipper of a Welsford Houdini (which has even less space) solved the problem by using an inflatable rubber ring about a metre in diameter.  Progress was made by kneeling on the floor and paddling with what looked like two table tennis bats.  Getting in and out required more agility (and faith in the absence of powerboat wash)  than I currently possess and you had to put up with wet knees - but it worked!
I considered putting my drysuit on over my elegant shore-going clobber and swimming ashore (Well, it was good enough for James Bond! ) but didn't have the guts to try it as I still haven't solved the other problem of getting back aboard after a swim. 
Anchoring off has a great appeal in the upper reaches of an estuary  but wading through knee deep mud when the tide's out does not, so I  prefer a nice floating pontoon every time when I want to go to the pub.

On the subject of anchoring off, Graham, I've tried the "hypotenuse"  method you describe as a quick fix for getting the boat out into deeper water .  I only use it on deserted beaches (which can still be found by small boat sailors in the Ionian) as you need to walk  your  shore line about 20 feet sideways to get the boat 5 feet from the shore. Not always possible.
My preference is to use an anchor "angel" – a couple of dive weights and a large snap hook on the end of a bit of string.
Four or five boat lengths from shore I chuck the anchor over the stern and let the rode run through my hand as I approach. When close enough  I make off the anchor rode and motor against it to dig the anchor in. Two shore lines at about 45 degrees are set running, I then clip the angel to the anchor rode and let it down about 4 feet or until it's just off  the bottom.  As it slides down the anchor rode it pulls the boat away from the quay. Obviously, the deeper the angel goes the further it can pull you out. Secure the shore lines and you're done! Phew! 
To go ashore, pull yourself towards the quay with a shore line, stretching the anchor rode straight, and step off the boat. Drop the shore line and watch the angel gently sink, pulling the boat away from the hard stuff and laying the anchor rode flat on the seabed, away from other people's props.  An offshore wind is catered for by the two shore lines and although an onshore or side-on wind might stretch the anchor line out, lifting the angel, you won't touch the quayside. Between gusts, the angel will pull you back into position.  Using a heavy anchor chain, like the cruising yachts, has much the same effect but the angel puts the weight where it does most good and won't saw lumps off the gunnels.   

[Graham W]

Cunning!

[Tony]

Cunning?
Normal for North Notts!

The 30' bungee anchor  line probably does it better but I've not seen one in action yet. I might just splash out and try it myself.
Still have to solve the swimming problem, though. Are these little tenders stable enough to climb into from the sea? I'm thinking they could act as a halfway house between the ocean and the cockpit of tippy little boats like mine.
How much of a drag is towing your tender Julian? I can't really afford to lose a knot to windward, but I can't always find a pontoon at every port of call. A tender would be useful at the Morbihan, for example. See photo below for Larmor Barden sea taxi. Everyone got wet!


Just remembered that the first photograph on my Blog "Sailing-in-Circles" is of "Four Sisters" being moored the hypotenuse way off Glyfada Beach on the Island of Paxos in the Ionian. Note the stretched out stern anchor rode. There's a nice shot of a Storm 17 doing the same thing on the rolling header at the top of this page, too.

[Julian Swindell]

Hard to say say how much effort it takes to tow a dinghy. Generally I don't notice it, but with a flat bottomed dinghy, like an inflatable, you need to get the noise of it up, otherwise it sucks down into the water and really does drag.
I can get into the inflatable from the water, but not with dignity and certainly not in a dinner jacket! Haven't tried to get into the hard dinghy yet.
Regarding anchoring off the beach. I used the "islanders "technique in Ireland many times. Balance a large weight on the bow of the boat. Attach it to the boat by a rope length about twice the depth of the water. Attach a second, much longer rope to the weight. Hold onto the end of the long bit and give the boat a shove. When it is out as far as the long rope, give the rope a tug and all being well, the weight will drop overboard and anchor the boat. To retrieve the boat, just drag the weight and boat back to the shore with the long rope.  If the weight catches on something, just wade in and get wet. It's what we all have to do sooner or later.

[Tony]

Hi, Julian.
Thanks for the dinghy towing tip.

All these anchoring ideas! Perhaps we should start a new Library entry?

[David Hudson]

I was hoping to get away without having a tender when my Raider Expedition arrives.

I had an 3D Airdeck 270 with my last boat until it flew away in strong winds: my faulty knot! It was still fairly bulky when deflated

I have read various posts both here and elsewhere about folding tenders and stowing them in lockers. Has anyone successfully deflated, folded up and stowed an inflatable of any size in a Cruiser or Raider locker?