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Checking Out the Dinghy | Operating
the Dinghy | Docking
and Beaching
Often
forgotten or overlooked when investigating a charter company, the
dinghy is a critical element to a charter cruise: It can be either
the source of much help and fun or the cause of lots of frustration,
which could potentially ruin your charter.
When doing your homework in choosing
your charter company, you definitely want to inquire what kind of
dinghies they have in service. There are several kinds: the inflatable,
the hard fiberglass (usually older) and the semi-rigid - also called
rigid inflatable or hard bottom (the new ones). The latter combines
hard bottom and inflatable sides. Most charter companies have, over
the last few years, progressively replaced the old types with the
hard bottom kind. Some 2nd. tier companies have not and in that
case, you will be given and old fiberglass dinghy. Our first advice
is to insist for a hard bottom dinghy every time you can. They are
much nice, as you will read.
Before
Casting Off: Checking Out the Dinghy
Often, during the boat briefing
by a charter company employee, charterers focus on the yacht and
completely forget the dinghy. BIG mistake! How would you like to
reach your first anchorage, a big smile on your face at the thought
of the beach bar waiting for you 300 yards from your boat, only
to find out that your dinghy outboard refuses to fire up? Believe
me, you would be veeeeery upset! So here is a list of things to
check out before leaving.
-
Start the outboard and check that it
spits water. The outboard is the most important
item in the dinghy. You can make do with many flaws in a dinghy,
but not with a faulty engine. Ask the briefer if your outboard
has any idiosyncrasy before firing it up.
-
If it is an inflatable, make sure it
is properly inflated and that you have an air pump on the
boat. Find or ask where the air intake valve is.
-
Check the gasoline level in the tank
and ask what mixture you should use for refilling it.
Items that must be
in the dinghy:
-
Long painter-the painter is the long
rope that is attached to the dinghy for towing it, tying it
to the boat or to a dock.
-
Small dinghy anchor
-
Paddles / oars / oarlocks: are they in there and the right
size?
-
Bailing bucket
-
Wrist/disconnect attachment set
-
A safety line between the dinghy hull
and the outboard in addition to the outboard clamps. Make
sure the outboard motor is securely fastened to the transom.
Operating
the Dinghy
-
Before boarding, make sure that kids and people who do not
feel too secure swimming don a life jacket. It is also a good
idea to have a couple of extra life jackets on board. In some
countries, this is actually a Law.
-
Using the painter, bring the dinghy as close as you can to
the boat. Personally, I tie up the dinghy laterally to the
boat's transom, so it is very easy to board, especially for
kids or older people.
-
When you jump in the dinghy, try to jump straight inside it.
Do not try to stand on the gunwales if it is a hard hull. If
it is an inflatable, you can step on the side tube to get in.
Then ask other crews to jump in. Make sure all the crew weight
is not on one side or in the aft part: spread the load evenly,
and do not overload the dinghy.
- If you are going for a snorkeling trip, take the diver down
equipment. This is a bag with a diver-down flag and float safety
equipment.
- Check that there is enough gasoline in the tank for the trip
you intend to take.
- Start the outboard before casting off from the boat
or a dinghy dock, not after. If you don't do that and your engine
does not start, you will a) look silly, and b) have to paddle
against the current.
- Starting the dinghy for the first time in the morning, do not
run it full throttle with a cold engine. Run it a moderate RPM
for a few minutes.
- Using the dinghy at night, always carry a 360¾ white ligt if
possible, and/or at least a powerful flashlight to show your
presence, spot obstacles like mooring balls, anchor chains etc.,
and incidentally to be able to find your boat in the dark.
- When you go to dinner ashore, there is one guarantee when you
will get back to the dinghy: it will be soaking wet of humidity.
(Some) ladies will make fuss about wetting their pants! We always
take a towel to wipe off the humidity from the seats or the side
tubes.
- Is climbing back in the dinghy difficult for
you or your party? Check
out this product we found!
- Very important: When you get to an anchorage and before
you start maneuvering your boat to anchor or around a mooring
ball, shorten the painter considerably until the dinghy almost
touches the boat. This will ensure that the painter will not get
fouled in the boat propeller.
Docking
and Beaching
Docking is pretty straightforward.
Just approach the dock slowly, that's all. When tying up to the
dock, leave the painter long enough to handle tide changes (you
did not think about that one, uh?) if you are in an area that has
a tide.
If you are in an area that you know is theft prone — and unfortunately,
they do exist- you want to tie up your dinghy with a steel cable
and a padlock, preferably including the outboard engine handle in
the loop. If you are in such an area, the charter company will certainly
supply you with those items and alert you to the situation.
Beaching the dinghy is
relatively easy if there is no swell or breaking waves near the
beach.
-
Approach with some speed but not too
much. Have someone at the bow looking out for coral heads.
When getting close to the beach, tilt your outboard up 1/3
of the way then kill the engine and finish coasting on the
sand. Half the time, it does not work :-) and one of your
crew has to jump in the water to pull the dinghy up. When
on the beach, pull the dinghy way above the water line and
tie it up to a tree or a rock if you can. When you carry items
like a camera, cell phone etc. it is a good idea to put them
in a waterproof bag.
-
Now, if there are big breakers or a deep
swell, simply do not try to beach the dinghy. It can
be a hairy and dangerous experience.
Towing
The Dinghy
It sounds simple, but there are some tricks to this.
-
Charter companies often use a floating
type of line for the painter, so it will not foul the boat
propeller during your maneuvers. Problem is, those lines are
very slippery even when tied or cleated. As a result, you
will sometimes see lonely dinghies on the water or thrown
on the rocks ashore: These are lost dinghies. Very embarrassing
when this happens to you. There are several solutions, including
towing the dinghy with an additional regular line, but it
is a little cumbersome. My preferred solution is to tie the
painter to the stern cleat with a cleat hitch (see this knot)
and then attach the remaining free end of the painter to aft
stern rail with a bowline (see this knot)
-
When towing the dinghy, you need to remove
all extra gear from it, like your snorkel gear, sandals etc.
If you are allowed to leave the outboard on the dinghy at
all times (see below), always tilt it up to the max position.
If you don't, the outboard will act as an anchor and slow
you down a lot.
-
In most areas (except the Virgin Islands)
charter companies will request that you remove the outboard
engine from the dinghy while sailing. The reason is that the
chop on the water shakes the dinghy too roughly and the outboard
could simply tear the wood transom of the dinghy and sink.
I won't hide it from you: removing the outboard every time
you move to another anchorage is a major drag! When you remove
the outboard, make sure that you have a safety line
tied from the engine handle to the big boat. Those engines
can be heavy and if you drop yours in the water, you will
be very happy to have that safety line set.
The
Dinghy at Night
-
A dinghy is like a dog: at night, it
will make noises to attract your attention. It will gently
tap against the hull (usually exactly where you are sleeping)
or make a slapping sound like it is drinking water. The best
trick I found against the noise at night is to tie the dinghy
with its bow looking the other way. In another word, turn
it around 180˚ from the usual position, which is the
bow looking at the boat. In most cases, the noise disappears.
And remember: before you leave
the marina and the boat briefer: START THE ENGINE!
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