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Dinghy thoughts?


martysgone

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I wanted some opinions on the practicality of towing a dinghy half the size of the mother ship. To be more specific, I have decided I am going to build a Belhaven. I wanted a boat that would get me back in the San Juan/Gulf Islands, but also be convenient enough to sail local lakes.

We had a 26' Macgregor and found it just wasn't worth the hassle to take it out on anything but long trips. I would sail my little 15' phoenixIII weekly, but finally sold the big one because it was under-utilized. The wife misses it. And the San Juans.

The Belhaven seems the perfect choice. Easily rigged, coastal capable. But it's hard to travel there without a dinghy. We used our Walker bay plastic fantastic to death. It's also hard to see myself enjoying a boat as small as a mini-paw. If I am to have a dinghy, I would like it to be able to sail so that I can use it to go for quick local weekend sails. Something to tag along camping trips. Something that can transit a dog and a couple of friends in safety. That means 8 feet. Am I ridiculous to want to tow an 8 foot pram with a 19 foot boat? Opinions please.

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The San Juans do not have forgiving beaches, mostly rocky pebbles or worse. A dinghy almost becomes a necessity.

We have also had some crazy experiences with dinghies in big water and definitely learned to lengthen the painter. Our Great Salt Lake can kick up some scary conditions. Worse than I've been in on the ocean. I have only camp cruised Georgian Bay, but it reminds me of tales I here on the great lakes.

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There may be a folding dinghy that would work.  Or (although I don't personally like them) an inflatable.

I can't offer much advice about towing in bad weather but I would be willing to tow our 12' dinghy with our 20' sailboat in good weather.  It is a keelboat, though, so I wouldn't be moving as fast as you.

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I wanted some opinions on the practicality of towing a dinghy half the size of the mother ship. To be more specific, I have decided I am going to build a Belhaven. I wanted a boat that would get me back in the San Juan/Gulf Islands, but also be convenient enough to sail local lakes.

We had a 26' Macgregor and found it just wasn't worth the hassle to take it out on anything but long trips. I would sail my little 15' phoenixIII weekly, but finally sold the big one because it was under-utilized. The wife misses it. And the San Juans.

The Belhaven seems the perfect choice. Easily rigged, coastal capable. But it's hard to travel there without a dinghy. We used our Walker bay plastic fantastic to death. It's also hard to see myself enjoying a boat as small as a mini-paw. If I am to have a dinghy, I would like it to be able to sail so that I can use it to go for quick local weekend sails. Something to tag along camping trips. Something that can transit a dog and a couple of friends in safety. That means 8 feet. Am I ridiculous to want to tow an 8 foot pram with a 19 foot boat? Opinions please.

 

Just out of curiosity, why did you choose the Bellhaven over the CS20?  

 

As for the dinghy, why not build a nesting pram and carry it with some sort of stern davit? 

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Walt,my wife (and I) really like the cabin of the Belhaven. I considered a nesting dinghy just for the convenience of transporting it when I am not using it as a tender, but the size limitations of a ≤20' boat really only leaves towing it behind the boat as an option when cruising. As far as davits go, would not want to hang that much weight of the back of a 20 foot boat.

Ken, part of the dilemma is wanting to kill two birds with one boat. I built a lovely little pdr some years ago and used to throw it in the back of my camper van. We got a lot of milage out of the little box. If I am to build a tender, it's most frequent use would be for camping.

I also can't under exaggerate how much satisfaction you get while cruising when you have a decent dinghy. Hassling with folding and storing or trying to drag an inflatable is not worth it to me. Rather have a boat I will enjoy.

I guess I will just have to build said dinghy and if it doesn't work out, I still have my little play boat.

Thanks for the comments. It helps distill down the decision process.

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I also can't under exaggerate how much satisfaction you get while cruising when you have a decent dinghy. Hassling with folding and storing or trying to drag an inflatable is not worth it to me. Rather have a boat I will enjoy.

I totally agree.  I built my Spindrift specifically for this purpose.  As stated in a thread long ago: I find anchoring in a harbor, rigging my Spindrift, making a rum drink, then sailing around the harbor looking at the other boats one of my greatest pleasures cruising.  

 

I can't speak from experience as to how well a Belhaven or a Core Sound will tow a dinghy.  But I would choose the design that can tow with the least drag.  I bet a Spindrift tows better than any pram with its transom bow and serious rocker.  In a following sea I always used a long painter as my Spindrift would sometimes catch a wave and try to surf past me.  I would also store something aft in the dinghy to help is squat and resist surfing when the weather warranted.  In light winds and seas I would leave it empty to keep drag a minimum.  The dinghy is a great place to store trash between ports too

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I wanted a dink to tow behind my Princess 22 Sharpie, but never had one. I'm sure it would have towed GREAT. It would have been fun to poke around the gunkholes. I used to build production fiberglass dinks for a living. Many were used on small pocket cruisers.

 

A comment or two on towing. Install the towing eye WAY low on the bow to lift the bow. Under normal conditions, I like to tow up close with the dink riding the crest of the stern wave. In less than good conditions, let-er-back on a LONG painter. These silly dinks just LOVE to climb aboard the "mother ship" to get out of the rough water. Also, be sure the dagger board slot (trunk) has a plug or cap on it.. Otherwise, water will "squirt" in while towing. At least stuff a sponge or rag in there. And, keep an eye on the dink to be sure he (she) doesn't fill with water that sprays, sloshes, or otherwise gets aboard. Nothing quite so fun as towing a "submerged". dink!

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I've had a Belhaven 19 for about two seasons. While I beach the boat often a dingy would be nice once you've got the anchor out and have settled in.  My thought is to build a very inexpensive dingy that I wouldn't feel badly about if I had to cut it loose in rough weather.  Most likely it will be so ugly that I'll want to cut it loose.

I also wonder if there is a unsinkable self bailing dingy design that would be less worry.

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I have towed the Spindrift 10n I built behind my Montgomery 17.

 

 

Very little drag or other problems, other than it did fill about half full during a heavy downpour. I did not install self bailers, which would be good to have. For a nesting boat, you need two, as the nesting boats are really two boats bolted together, so you have to bail them both.

 

Having the boat half full of water slowed me down a lot.

 

For a long painter, I used the type of tow rope used for towing tubes and other such water toys behind ski boats. Pretty strong, stretchy to absorb and shock and it floats.

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