Hey! Where’s my Dinghy?

[thannever]

It was late new years afternoon in Majuro, RMI and I was heading ashore for a party. I was carrying pot luck things and was somewhat distracted and not even drunk yet. I pulled up to the seawall whose owner allowed me dinghy privileges and climbed up the 5 feet to ground level as it was low tide. I tied my painter up nicely and took off without looking back. Around midnight when I returned the line was hanging straight down with no dinghy in sight I pulled up the line which appeared normal but then remembered that this was the old painter extension which I had disconnected from the painter the previous day and had left coiled on the dinghy seat. I started out downwind which was right through the 50 foot opening in the ring of anchored floats enclosing this sea wall. Beyond that about 6 miles away was the narrow channel under the bridge. Still it seemed likely that it would be found onshore somewhere rather than threading the needle on the way to the doldrums or maybe Jaluit Atoll. However we didn't spot it onshore from a search boat the next day and there was no response from a request for help on the local radio station.

[HeywoodJ]

Once upon a time anchored at Tahiti with 100+ other boats I awoke at 2 in the morning to a bump in the night. Investigating, what did I find but a nice shiny RIB with a 20HP outboard bumping along the starboard side. I grabbed the painter with a boat hook, tied up the dinghy, used the port rail facilities, and went back to bed.

Next morning I popped up on the morning VHF net about 9 to announce my find and was told that the crew had already motored their main vessel into the marina, was tied up at the dock, and were at that moment sitting in the police station reporting the "theft". It was apparently the talk of the marina (although I do know of two actual dinghy thefts that occurred while we were there).

Lesson, don't be the most downwind vessel in the anchorage And when you wake up in the morning, check with the boat that is furthest downwind.

[patprice]

I have one of these at the end of the dinghy painter. Absolutely foolproof....just wrap the painter line around a pulpit tube and clip it onto itself.

My dinghy had one look at it, manouvered to one side of the stern so as to place the clip accross another pulpit tube and hey presto off went my dinghy. Ashore thank goodness.

[sailon46]

I was in St Martin French side before Irma and Maria bitches wiped out everything anyway I was provisioning ole Mary Jane with radar and batteries from Budget Marine and a new 9.9 2 cycle Tohstsu. That’s when wife said let’s go sailing to this island to the North, she meant Anguilla. So I did sail there an afternoon got there to Road something big anchorage anchored way out behind all kinds of sailboats turned on the anchor light cause it was a moonless night. Dinghied to shore nice restaurants I remember sank walking in the sand passed my ankles. Had nice meal some drinks went back to the dinghy dock and all I found was the cable cut with a bolt cutter I assumed. Found some kid in a crazy dinghy to take me back to the boat . It was scary I wrote off Anguilla from the islands I want to revisit.

[MicHughV]

Oh Lordy, where do I even begin....the hall of shame has my name on it in several places...

[garyfdl]

Originally Posted by Jamme

Note to self: have a carabiner at the end of the dinghy painter for when partying hard 🤭

[f0t0man]

Originally Posted by rbrazil

I’ve now joined the ranks of having a dinghy disappear. I’m blaming it on Raicilla. Raicilla is between Tequila and Mescal and packs quite a punch.

We were tied to a mooring in Yelapa, Mexico, and rowed to shore to hike and explore; well one thing led to another and when we finally rowed back to the boat it was late, as in very dark. No worries, it was only a few hundred yards and quite humorous. Five people, two oars, many drinks under our belts and packing into a dinghy for a shore entry. What could possibly go wrong…
After clearing the very small, very manageable shore break, one of our illustrious crew snapped an oar in half. Now armed with one oar, I rowed from the bow while the crew sang sailing songs. After boarding Tally Ho, our Nauticat 43, I tied what appeared to be a knot holding the painter to the rail of the boat. I normally would have attached the dingy to the davits and raised it out of the water, but, well…Raicilla. Next morning I awoke and sauntered up on deck and dared look over the side to see if the dinghy was ok. Alas, it was gone. The swell, wind, rocking of the boat untied my feeble attempt of a knot and sent the tender drifting out into the pacific. Stupid Raicilla…
I know, I know. Please dont suggest to me what I should have done.

LOL I love this, and wonder if it's worth hunting for?
Are you currently in Lacruz? We are, and love this story!
Where do I find this drink?


We are on Rainmaker

[StuM]

Dinghies sometimes come adrift because people have been taught the clove hitch for securing a line to a rail. They think that it is a secure knot for attaching a painter to a stanchioin, pushpit etc.


Under flexing loads, modern fibre lines will work a clove hitch loose, especially around a shiny stainless steel pole.

A round turn and two half hitches is far more secure.


(Same applies to fenders against a dock)

[garyfdl]

Originally Posted by Chotu

A great story. Reminds me of a time with a very small hard shell dinghy in college or just after. Just as drunk. Trying to row through some huge mooring field to get back to the boat in Plymouth Massachusetts. Water kept coming in over the rail. No lifejackets. No flashlight. Nothing but hope. Lol we did make it.

Did something similar - in an unfamiliar anchorage, foggy, at night, no flashlight, and we were so drunk we couldn't find the boat! Wound up rowing to a beach and sleeping until there was enough light to find our way back. Needless to say, we also weren't real popular with the other boaters we woke up, bouncing the dink off their hulls.

[Shooze]

We were staying in the hotel on the little French island of Hoedic and were anchored up in the tiny harbour. Think somehow we must have waded ashore at low tide with our stuff and found our way to the hostelry that sold Desperado, the tequila "flavoured" beer.

After drinking industrial quantities of this concoction, I found it vitally important to return to the boat at 3 a.m. despite the fact that we had a room for the night in the hotel and I staggered down the track to find the harbour. The tide was now full and I'd have to swim or borrow one of the wooden fishermen's dinghies turned upside down on the beach, above the high tide mark. I walked the beach, weighing up the merits of each of the dinghies in terms of size, weight and manoeuvrability as I needed to drag it down to the water.

After making my selection, the first task was to turn it back over so I set about lifting the starboard hull to be confronted by a very startled, angry Frenchman who had been asleep underneath it. I don't know which one of us was the most shocked or surprised. I do know that he said something that wasn't very polite.

[Shooze]

The Desperado also proved a costly error the following day for one of the other boats that was with us. We had been in the pub for the whole afternoon and were about to head back to the mainland, where this guy's wife was booking a restaurant for us that evening.

It was low tide again and we were loading up our stuff on our boat, while this guy had a little snooze on the beach, waiting for us to get ready. He was awoken by the sound of his phone ringing and he immediately waded into the water, heading for his boat to find out which restaurant his wife had booked only for his phone to stop ringing as the level of sea water reached his shorts.

[skipgundlach]

We had some guests with us for dinner.

The admiral tied their dinghy to our rail with their poly line.

Dinner over, they head topsides and I hear "Where's my dinghy!!??"

Poly line is pretty slippery...

We took them to their boat, and picked them up in the morning; a fisherman had spotted it and saw the empty stern and came over to tell us where to find it.

Thank you, Lord...

Lesson learned: never use polypropylene line for tying off...

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by Jamme

Note to self: have a carabiner at the end of the dinghy painter for when partying hard 🤭

Caribiner with a gate, or my choice a snap shackle

[jen1722terry]

I guess if you really wanted security, use a locking carabiner. You can screw the gate shut. Not much more expensive than a standard, quality crabiner and available at any store that sells climbing gear.

Cheers

[DEAN2140]

I will second the remark about the polypropylene line. I didn't know my dingy went adrift until someone on another boat spotted it. It had been secured to my boat with a cleat hitch. This was a charter so the poly painter came with it.