More on dink options on small boats

[mike ritenour]

The Dinghy tow thread got me to thinking that perhaps it might be a good idea to poll the board and find out what ideas have developed on what boats and have them all under one thread, so..............................

We sail "LaVida", a 33 CD Sloop.

On "LaVida", I keep the dink on the bow, upside down, held down by two rachet straps and run two lines forward to the pulpit to keep the sheets from fouling under the dink.

This method has worked for me under a variety of conditions, some of them bordering on insane, with no ill effects. In many thousands of offshore miles, we've only taken a couple of deck sweepers onboard and when we did the above mentioned method held securely.

In addition, if conditions got really bad, the inflated dink on the bow offers a more stable place to launch the dink and step up into. A bonus of the location is that I can use my spare halyard for launch and retreival.


As for towing or using a stern mounted system, I wouldn't do it for the following reasons:

1) restricted vision astern
2) good way to assist engine exhaust into cockpit
3) stern seas, breaking over it could wreck havoc
4) on a long ocean passage a windvane is the only practical steering unit for a small boat and having a mounting system or tow system would make the stern unusable for a windvane.

Having said all this, I still HATE carrying my dink on the bow, it totally destroys the sheer and beauty of my boat!

Rit

[Chris Reinke]

Mike - One more concern.

At a CD event a few years back we had our inflatable secured off our stern while at anchor in Watch Hill RI. During a strong blow the dinghy was lifted and flipped over....dropping the top of our aux motor into the drink as it was secured to the now upside-down dinghy transom. I am not sure if any other towing system would have prevented the capsize, but I now keep the dinghy deflated in my shower, and the new aux engine on the stern rail.

[mike ritenour]

I saw your very experience, while anchored in Chub Cay.

A stiff wind came up and as I was watching it flipped a dink on the boat anchored next to me and walla, everything belonged do Davey Jones.

Rit

[Russell]

Towing anything other then a RIB is indeed dangerous, it doesnt take much to flip a softbottom due to lightness or a hard dink due to instability.

[John Ring]

[img]http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x105 ... kIMAGE.jpg[/img]

I've also seen an inflatable dinghy with outboard (that was hanging on its painter tied off a stern cleat) turn turtle during a strong gust of wind. This ocured while the boat was on a mooring, and the owners ashore. The only thing I tow now is a self draining "sit on top" kayak. I agree with Mike, the best place for a dinghy is lashed to the foredeck, maybe deflated & rolled up for better visibility. The outboard goes on the stern rail.

John Ring
CD28 Tantalus

[mike ritenour]

John,

I usually carry my dink just before the mast, lashed up, thereby freeing the foredeck for my naked moonlight dances under sail. This activity only occurs far, far offshore

On LaVida, the dink is usually inflated upside down and if at anchor or in a calm sea we lift the dink bow up and use it as a windscoop for the fwd hatch.

Rit

[SPIBob]

Another option is a nesting dinghy carried on the cabin top. It works well for a dinghy/tender, but might be too slow to deploy to qualify for a survival craft. For that I use a positive-flotation, sit-on-top kayak carried on the side deck. A local sailor also uses a kayak for a survival craft, lashed to the outside of the stanchions. Here's a couple of pics of the nesting dinghy. These are older pics. I've since added two deck pad eyes forward of the dinghy for lashing.

[John Ring]

thereby freeing the foredeck for my naked moonlight dances under sail. This activity only occurs far, far offshore Rit

I thought that was you. For a moment there, I thought you were sailing a ketch!

John

[John Danicic]

As most of you know, I solved the dinghy problem for Mariah by building a nesting dinghy and carrying it atop the coach house, aft of the mast and over the saloon skylight. Here is a photo from a recent trip across Lake Superior in 4 to five foot waves and 25 knot head winds.

Brian Toss, in his book, The Complete Rigger's Apprentice, suggests trussing up your dink like I did in this picture.


Since the nesting dinghy is mounted on hard foam pads atop the cabin, this method kept the dink absolutely secure to the top without any side to side or fore and aft movement. Another plus of mounting it over the sky light is you can leave it open a bit for ventilation while at anchor or at dock and not get any rain in.

Sail on.

John Danicic
CD 36 - Mariah - #124
Lake Superior

[Joe CD MS 300]

During about 28 years, I have used and owned a variety of dinghy's both on my own boat and numerous charters. Right now I have a 9' Dyer Dhow /w a sailing and rowing rig; a 10' Avon RIB with a 4 HP Merc; and a 11'2" Avon RIB with a 25 HP Tohatsu. All of these, I feel are great for the purpose intended. None of my sailing is offshore, unless you consider the coast of Maine offshore. So I am only addressing near shore coastal cruising which I think is what most of us do.

Of all the dinghys that I have had or used, the ones that I really dislike are the non-RIB inflatables that have soft floors with plywood or other floorboard inserts. The one that I owned was a older 9' Avon. I was using the same 4HP Merc that I am now using on the 10' RIB Avon. Didn't like from day one. The only positive was that it was cheap. I always felt like I was in/on a pool toy. I can imagine that a strong wind would pick it up and flip it. I have never had that feeling with the RIB's when towing. Towing the RIB's was never a problem (at least to this point) the Avon with the 25 HP was always towed in general with larger boats in the 38'-44' range. It is extremely stable. The Dyer is great for rowing and sailing but doesn't have near the capacity of the smaller Avon nor the stability. But you can't sail the Avon.

[boom2it]

I have been researching for a dinghy to tow behind our Typhoon. More for storage then anything else, as space is at premium as I am sure you know. My main concern is "drag", and not so much unstability. We aren't offshore but even over night you need stuff. We are actually taking our first overnighter this weekend. Sailing from City Island to Oyster Bay, figuring on approximately 4 hours depending on the breeze. I decided on a slip rather then a mooring, just out of convenience. No dinghy as of yet. Anyway I would love to hear the pro's and con's of towing a dinghy, especially behind a TY Wkndr. I would more then likely just swap the outboard if I can't row to shore (current, weather, etc). I am so excited to take our little Typhoon on its first adventure. This is our first year on the sound. She was on Lake Otsego, Cooperstown NY before coming to hang out with the big girls on the sound. I know it sounds wierd but I really think "Gael Force" likes it and appreciates being in the sea.

[mike ritenour]

I believe one of the most important keys to successful towing is to make sure the dink is properly positioned on the wave train behind you. I would put it on the third to fourth wave, with the dink not quite cresting the wave, kinda riding on the back of the wave, but not too far back. its a trial and error drill, depending on sea conditions.

Having a FLOATING tow line attached to a towing bridle, which is firmly attached to the dink and spreads the towing load over the dink, instead of just loading a couple of points.

Not leaving your outboard on the boat or if you do, don't let it drag in the water.

i've also seen some folks trailing a small drogue behind the dink to keep it from slewing about.

A buddy of mine has a trip alarm on his tow line. made up of a light line attached seperately to the dink. its lightly married to the tow line. if the dink is cast loose an alarm goes off. he developed it after his tow line broke in the dark and he lost his dink, never to be found again. says its cheap insurance .

rit

[Joe CD MS 300]

I almost always use two painters (sailing and motoring). It makes it very easy to position the dink directly centered in the calm water directly behind the the transom. No yawing or swinging back and forth.

[Russell]

I frequently tow my RIB, as deck storage for a RIB requires deflating it and manhandling the thing solo is a real chore as well. Basicly if seas are 5' or less and the trip is less then 24 hours, then I tow, no problems so far.

My towing setup is:

a bridle on the dingy, made of strong nylon webbing.

A heavy SS ring that the bridle is sewn onto

then TWO painters spliced onto that ring

Each painter is made of a special double braid line, the core is polypropelyn(floating) and the exterior is a UV resistant material. This gives the best of all worlds, never use a polypropelyn line for towing, the UV eats them up and they break even when they look fine.

The painters are each 50' long, be sure to have plenty of length for flexability, where your dinghy in relation to waves is very important, you need flexability, especially in a following see if the dinghy tries to surf, you dont want it to surf into your stern, so you want it on the next wave back.

Having two painters gives redundancy and extra strength, never use one painter. The painters go through the stern chocks, on each side, so the tow setup is a big V.

Absolutely never tow with the outboard still attached, the extra weight adds to drag and to strain on your towing setup, and if in the off chance your system does fail, at least you only lost the dink.

I do leave my 20' of 8mm SS chain in the dingy when towing (this is what I use to lock the dinghy to the boat and dock to prevent theft), while its weight does add to strain, it also puts a little extra weight down in the lowest point of the dingy to help prevent flipping (but flipping a RIB is VERY hard, would take tropical storm force to accomplish that).

And always remember to remove the drain plug when towing! And even if you use floating line, still always be sure to snug the painter up tight to the stern when docking or anchoring, yes even floating line can get sucked into the prop (yes I have experience here!).

But seriously, I would absolutely not tow anything other then a RIB.

[Richard Bell]

We found early there is no silver bullet in this area. After a couple of years observing some friends of ours who had the dinghy tow system (www.dinghy-tow.com) (they have had it 16 years), we bought one. We have had it on Pegasus for about two years now and it has worked perfectly. When towing we don't have any degradation of performance and from stow to go is lesss than 4 minutes.

Rick

I have not mastered photos yet, so I wont try, but if you go to www.coastalbendyacht.com

Last page photos, there are some pics of the dinghy tow on a CD 33