Carrying a Sailing Dinghy on a Sailing Liveaboard

[gjordan]

Do you cover your forward hatch with the dink? I would love to have a sailing dink, but it makes me nervous to not have that second way to exit in case of fire. My 34 foot boat doesnt have enough deck space to not cover the forward hatch. _____Grant.

[michaelratinter]

The dinghy covers the hatch over the vberth but the hatch over the forepeak is accessible. In addition, the dinghy is griped with nylon line that would be easy to cut by a motivated sailor.

[Minggat]

Yes. I cover the hatch.
Get more fire extinguishers if that's your concern

[CarinaPDX]

Mine covered the forward hatch too, and the RIB does so now. The saloon hatch is still unobstructed. Getting caught forward in a sinking cruiser seems pretty darn unlikely. Before you worry about that, have you installed a lightning rod, high capacity bilge pump in addition to the basic one, a recently inspected liferaft and EPIRB - all far more important? Cruising is a lot about managing risks - not eliminating them - and that starts with a clear assessment of the risks. Lightning, water intrusion, and ultimately sinking require planning - getting trapped in the v-berth doesn't. YMMV

Greg

[cj88]

I quite like the idea of the Tiwal inflatable sailing dinghy but they still take up a bit of space when packed down so a kite board seems like a fun compact option for me.

[puffcard]

Back in the day, cruising with my parents we had an inflatable and a sailing Dink that we carried in the davis. It was a ton of fun and became my little sister main ride. Nice having backup dinghies. This past year saw a guy towing a 19ft O'Day with the mast up, all thru the Bahamas. Had some tricks, like a tow bar for towing.

[quill]

years ago I crossed from Texas to Fla. with my 12' Jarvis Newman N12 strapped lengthwise, behind the mast on my Westsail28. Not a fun trip. Way too much top hamper. When I got to the Bahamas, I towed it. Sailed it a lot when anchored. While anchored at Georgetown, I sailed ashore to buy some groceries. When I returned a local guy was looking at it. I told him a guy in Maine built it. He said O no, that's Island built. Still have it.

[roverhi]

Dinghy covers the forehatch but the midships hatch is unencumbered. Have two fire extinguishers forward if I should need them. Was going to store the dinghy aft of the mast but then wouldh't have had a place for the life raft. Life raft is on the main hatch hood and midships open over the hatch.

[Mara Mae]

Originally Posted by LoudMusic

Does anyone carry a small sailing dinghy on their cruising sailboat, and if so, what is your dinghy and what is your cruiser?

I don't intend this to be a replacement or modification of a motor dinghy. It's just an additional water toy, much like kayaks or paddleboards. My concern is that there just isn't enough room on even a reasonably large cruiser for a dinghy of entertaining size.

My thought is to put some kind of cradle on top of the motor dinghy davits and set the sailboat dinghy on top of that. At about 12 to 15' in length, on a monohull that'd likely be close to or exceeding the cruiser's beam. And on a multihull it'd be overlapping one or both swim platform steps, but theoretically could be high enough to not be intrusive.

I'm curious if anyone has done this and do they find it useful to have around - similar to bicycles on boats, I suppose.

Hi I have a Sinbad sailing dinghy that is missing the screw-in stern drain plug. I haven’t been able to find one with the right thread pattern. It seems like it is 1/2” coarse. Do you happen to know ?

[michaelratinter]

Originally Posted by Mara Mae

Hi I have a Sinbad sailing dinghy that is missing the screw-in stern drain plug. I haven’t been able to find one with the right thread pattern. It seems like it is 1/2” coarse. Do you happen to know ?

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-...05?recordNum=2

Thiese plugs are 1/2" coarse.

[Benz]

I built a 9' rowing/sailing dinghy that stows aft of the mast on chocks. It held five of us rowing, two sailing, and was a complete blast. Being able to sail around harbors is exceedingly pleasant: in Baja I'd troll for fish while sailing it around. In Isla Mujeres a daily grocery run was done under sail; in El Salvador it was my first (and last) raceboat in a local dinghy regatta. For me a sailing tender is almost a must-have for a sailing yacht.

[wingless]

This topic shows my 11' rowing / sailing dinghy that I use for a tender on my 2000 380DA Sea Ray Sundancer.

[Franziska]

We have a Spindrift 10 on our 36ft cat.
I did do an adjustment though :-)

I fitted a Laser deck and Laser Radial rig to the Spindrift hull instead of the original deck layout.

Sails nicely, you need to use the Spindrift rudderblade instead of the Laser rudderblade. The Laser blade has the center of effort to far aft.

As result we have a huge watertight forward locker in which I can even lie down and the dinghy is virtually unsinkable.

One thing I would do next time though, use 4mm plywood with fiberglass on top instead of 6mm plywood.
Even better use foam or Nidacore with glass & epoxy for the hull.
Our hull turned out a bit to heavy.

Rows, sails and motors.

Images and video on www.ladyrover.com

[SVHarmonie]

Originally Posted by Minggat

Yes. I cover the hatch.
Get more fire extinguishers if that's your concern

This comment trivializes a very real issue. The idea that you can get yourself out through a fire with a fire extinguisher is just plain unrealistic.

Covering your only emergency escape access with a dinghy is something that is not often brought up, but is not something to be ignored.

[Manateeman]

Greetings. We have two Trinka dinghies. 10 on deck, 12 over sugar scoop. The 10 on deck sits athwartship, upright, and over the stern cabin which has two 20”x 20” hatches. I am currently building a cradle which will allow the Trinka to cant toward the stern to increase the area available to escape the stern cabin in case of fire.
Fire onboard is my greatest concern.
As posted by SV Harmonies, I am in absolute agreement...every cabin must have an available exit which is designed to function under difficult circumstances.
A good number of years ago, USCG required Merchant Mariners to be trained in firefighting. As the program was new, I attended a regular firefighters school.
Firefighting was exhausting, intense, intriguing. I gained new respect for professional firefighters. The films were frightening. No one forgets their first burn house. Prevention, escape, practice. When at sea, you are the fire department.
Anyone remember the “escape” hatch on the dive boat in California?
When I’m offshore on a commercial vessel, I sleep with an ACR strobe and a flashlight on my ankle. I check the ship emergency lights, my flashlight, and I make sure no one has left a toolbox on the aft escape hatch. A long list.
Sailing dinghy as lifeboat vs life raft. Let’s set the entertainment value aside and consider the simple advantage of an emergency support vessel which you can direct toward rescue. Help is not always near.
I am modifying my Trinka 12 to become our lifeboat. I’d rather have it than any inflatable life raft that is at the mercy of wind or currents or that will sink if ripped. In the Trinka 12, two can lie down in it. It self drains, rows, the air chambers can be modified to hold a lot of rescue stuff, and lastly...it can move you toward safety because it’s a sailboat.
Good enough for Captain Bligh, good enough for me.
Happy trails.
Mark the manatee