Dinghy, to name or not to name?

[Telemark43]

Originally Posted by jrbogie

mine is named, "ROW VS WADE."

Beautiful spelling and thought !!

[grantmc]

Originally Posted by Copacabana

But how would someone know which boat to return the lost dinghy to? It would seem to take some esoteric knowledge and thought to make the association.

(also, no offence, but "third world bad guys" is a bit insulting, especially when you travel and meet such kind people all over the developing world).

All the boats in the harbour where I moor my boat have fore and aft mooring blocks (no fingers) on the seabed. We have a shed containing dinghy lockers. So we must row out to the boat and tie the dinghy to the mooring line when we want to head off on the mother ship. And of course the reverse when we return.

I've never named my dinghy.

One day I arrived back and my dinghy was missing from the mooring line and no where in sight. I had to thumb a lift back to shore, thinking to myself some scumbag had stolen my dinghy. But when I looked in the shed there was my dinghy, safely tucked up in her spot, oars and everything tidily in place.

Obviously my knot tying hadn't been so great and some kind person had picked her up from the beach, and presumably not knowing to which boat she belonged had at least realised it would be safer in the dinghy shed.

To this day I don't know who returned her but I concur, in my experience 99.9% of people (be they in the first or the third world) are decent law abiding people, and usually very kind and helpful too.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Many times we are reminded that this is a world-wide forum, so that not everything American has validity elsewhere, either in law or in terms.

For example, I recently licensed my boat in Canada, which is a provincial affair, as compared to registering the boat, which is federal here, Canadian.

In the States, the choices are Federal documentation or State licensing.

My dinghy uses an engine less than 10 hp and, therefore, does not need to be licensed, Canadian, in my province. When I had it California state registered "American" I put the CA state registration numbers and bi-yearly stickers on separate boards tied to the handrails of the dinghy. All I need do now is remove the boards, there were no markings on the dinghy itself at all.

As an option, one could just as well put personal identifying markers on the dinghy, photograph it/them for record, for future ID purposes. Doesn't need to be a name, T/T or number. Gee, a cool graphic would suffice, as well as, for another example, deliberate indentations or a pattern in the transom. I think there are many ways to skin the cat, multihulled or mono.

That's why the ten HP engines miraculously became 9.9HP. More than one way to skin a cat. As you said. It seemed neater to say I had a 10 HP engine

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Cadence

That's why the ten HP engines miraculously became 9.9HP. More than one way to skin a cat. As you said. It seemed neater to say I had a 10 HP engine

Gee, how'd you guess what engine I have?

The reality is that I bought the engine in 1999, about 17 years before I moved to Canada.

Pure coincidence? Naaahhh... I could see into the future even back then.

Want any investment advice?

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Gee, how'd you guess what engine I have?

The reality is that I bought the engine in 1999, about 17 years before I moved to Canada.

Pure coincidence? Naaahhh... I could see into the future even back then.

Want any investment advice?

I think it was well before 1999 in the states for the 9,9. It will probably last for ever. If it's an OMC and gives a problem. Throw it over board. In all likely hood it's the upper main bearing. JMHO

[donradcliffe]

Originally Posted by Copacabana

But how would someone know which boat to return the lost dinghy to? It would seem to take some esoteric knowledge and thought to make the association.

(also, no offence, but "third world bad guys" is a bit insulting, especially when you travel and meet such kind people all over the developing world).

There are good guys in the Caribbean too, but the bad guys there have made dinghy theft and burglarizing anchored boats a national pastime.

https://safetyandsecuritynet.org/

[Smokeys Kitchen]

The sailboat is "Just Lucky"

The dinghy is "Good Planning"

For what it's worth, in Washington if you use your dinghy just to go from shore to your boat or vice versa, then it does not need to be registered. If you use it for anything else, fishing, dropping crab pots, or even just tooling around, it needs to have a separate state registration (per the WDFW which stopped me and told me so).

[JPA Cate]

For us, dinghies earn their name, or present us with it. We started out with an elderly hypalon Zodiac, and it was called "Zod." The mother boats have been "Insatiable" and "Insatiable II".

Zod was a boy dinghy, with broad shoulders, and so was his replacement, "Disby". Disby was a DSB (Deutsch Schlauf Boot) that served us very well, except for going walkabout one time. Our RIB didn't earn a name, till after it was stolen and set aflame. The alloy hull survived; Jim cleaned it up; and we had the tubes replaced. A Gemini, it was built with light weight South African Hypalon, and didn't hold up very well. But it earned it's name: Phoenix. Now, it has experimental PVC tubes, made in China from West German heavyweight PVC. It is an experiment in progress.

Our dinghy is labeled as Tender To US Yacht Insatiable II, because the label here is what exempts it from local legislation as to o/b size and taxes.

For the Caribbean, I guess you have to comply with whatever the local requirements are, or suffer the punishments applicable. It is one reason there, to have a spare, small dinghy, that you can leave tied to the mother boat. We have actually found it handy to have a spare, lightweight dinghy you can row ashore, and avoid using a motor at all.


Ann

[Simi 60]

14ft tinny with a 30 on the back so registered and HIN stamped into metal.

If I was to name it I'd go with.........."Love me tender"



Thank you very much.

[Rorzech]

Locks only keep honest people honest ! Locks mean nothing to thieves ! Loud siren alarm loud enough to be painful is a better deterrent and they'll scatter because they'll think everybody in the anchorage is now looking at them.Not much to do with dingy's but may give some piece of mind on shore if they're named the same.
Just say'n

[kryg]

Originally Posted by Captain Randy

Greetings,

So I hear two trains of thought on the naming of my new dinghy.
1. Put a name on it so it is easier to identify if it goes missing and maybe be less attractive to theft because it has a name painted on?
or......
2. If you put your boats name on the dinghy people will know if your at the dinghy dock that you are not on your boat making the mother ship susceptible to break in?

Thoughts.....?
Thanks
CR

To over come your name or not name issues. In my case I just put the boats HF licence radio call sign as the name on the dinghy. There can be no argument as to whos dinghy it is, if it comes to make a claim.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Rorzech

Locks only keep honest people honest !
Locks mean nothing to thieves !

True, but if one dinghy is locked and the one next to it is not, guess which one gets taken.

Same with cars, houses..

Loud siren alarm loud enough to be painful is a better deterrent and they'll scatter because they'll think everybody in the anchorage is now looking at them.

Sort of true
How many times have you heard car alarms go off?
Did you get up and look or even care?
Most people probably don't.

But, it will keep the less bold thief away.
Some portable motorcycle locks have inbuilt alarms and are relatively cheap.

[TabbyCat]

Or put a large sticker on the fiberglass transom - I had a spare TabbyCat logo when I had my boat name done in vinyl, so I slapped that on the transom of the dinghy. No lettering, just a line drawing of a tabbycat. Very easy for me to identify, very hard to remove, and doesn't scream that I'm not onboard when the dinghy is at the dock. Even if a thief removed the decal, it's been there so long it would leave a shadow outline of a tabbycat on the fiberglass.


PS: Most of the dinghy claims I receive are for dinghies left in the water overnight! So lift yours out and let someone else's get stolen! Locking is a good but second best alternative. Thieves can quietly cut lightweight chain with a small butane torch.

[astokel]

Mothership is Marzipan; dinghy is sweets They can figure it out.

[ebsail]

I also does'nt hurt to make a slip of paper with your name and phone (cell) on it and epoxy it over in a place that's not easily visible. That way you can prove its yours if its found later..