After our adventure last week, my wife wants a dinghy with a center console - or at least a normal
helm and throttle. Not sure what the smallest size is, but we intend to
cruise on a minimum of a 38' Cat.
What happened to make her want this is that last week we were on a Sunsail 384 Cat and I made her dinghy
captain for the day and coming back to shore I got on the
boat and had her stay in the dinghy so we could put it on the
Davits. She was aimed straight at the stern of the boat right about dead center and she somehow slipped, falling back and twisting the throtlle, causing the dinghy to pop a wheelie and go forward into the boat. Fortunately the wheelie caused it to hit the bottom of the transom (not sure that's the correct term - the section between the two hulls) and I put my foot on it to hold it steady. She managed to shut it off after trying unsuccessfully to get it in neutral or reduce throttle.
After that she started saying we'd need a dinghy with a center console when we start to
live aboard
It's a really good thing that it popped the wheelie though since she would have gone right under the cat if it hadn't and while the dinghy would fit, it would just barely fit so she probably would have been knocked in the
head.
She was a little mad though since I did laugh - I just couldn't help it, it was
funny and I could see she was ok the whole time, just shaken up.
That didn't stop me from making putting her at the
helm when we pulled off the
mooring ball though - gotta get right back on the horse if you fall off
Everytime I try to get her to do more and more..