Dinghy: to be or not to be - in the Med or

[alansmith]

Is it possible u have a helicopter on your aft deck?

[kellyp08]

I've been in the Med for 3 years now; first on my HINCKLEY 50 yawl( had to take her back to Maine when the VAT (tax) man started trolling and now on a 15 meter schooner. Trust me: you need a dinghy with a small outboard - unless you want to stay moored at overpriced marinas for your time there.

Take a look at:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezs99KTqNlw

Without an inflatable dinghy (stored in a sail locker); it would have been a boring trip!

[JPA Cate]

An option the OP might consider is a port-a-bote. I personally don't like them, but I feel certain one could be stored on his deck house unobtrusively.

Another option would be a nesting hard dinghy; one I have seen separates into two separate boats, or, conjoined, it is long and narrow, easily driven by a small motor.

Yes, I do agree with everyone else, that having a dinghy makes life a lot more pleasant; however, the OP might like to give it a trial without one, maybe it would work okay for them? Or take the dinghy this time, just in case he wants it? Since he already has one.
Why not? There's bound to be a way to stow it.

Ann

[Pelagic]

You seem to have a consensus here that the quality of your cruising experience is very much dependant on having a dingy.

It offers you:
Freedom to choose your anchoring location
Privacy to not be depending on others.
Security to resolve technical or provisioning problems without disturbing the mothership.
Enjoyment to explore shallow areas and deserted coves for a sundowner experience.

Don't over think or be a slave to appearances....your dingy is an integral part of your cruising experience.

[Prairie Chicken]

It's all about the type of sailing you do.

We sold our dinghy last year. It was an inflatable Zodiac with a small outboard and served well for our purposes. For many years we used it often but slowly stopped doing so as the captain's knee got increasingly worse. I might add that boat had a difficult stern ladder to climb. As our habit had us anchoring off for a few nights, then taking a mooring for a night, the system worked for us. The dinghy allowed us to stay out longer.

We carried that dinghy around for three years and didn't use it. Then we got a new boat with a scoop stern & good ladder. With guests aboard, we launched the dinghy for the first time in years--and learned two things. First, after that long without use, the glue was failing & we had a leak. Second, while the new boat made it easier to get on & off the boat, it didn't help with landing on shore with a bad knee. So, while we still anchor out as much as possible, we stay aboard when we do. We take a mooring when we need to provision, eat out, or whatever other land activities we need. Health has thus decreed. Not optimal, but certainly you can sail in the Med without a dinghy. We do.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

.... Health has thus decreed. Not optimal, but certainly you can sail in the Med without a dinghy. We do.

Inspiring post and a testament to those who never give up but just adjust to whatever can keep them sailing on the water.

Fair winds and safe anchorages!

[TheThunderbird]

Dear sail mate
Thank you for your information.

Is it the Torqeedo what you are telling about!? The 1xxx model?

Thank you :-)

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by cal40john

There are many people here in Puget Sound that only cruise by tying up to a dock at night and plugging into shore power. My guess is that there are plenty of areas in the Med that you could cruise that way as well. If that's your cruising style then no dinghy needed.

Whether in Puget Sound or the Med I believe that you miss a lot if you cruise that way, but everyone has different tastes.

Lots of English sailors on the South coast also do this -- never spend a night not on a pontoon berth. Just go from marina to marina. My boat's PO was apparently like this -- there were only 160 hours on the lovely heavy duty genset when I bought the boat.

To each his own.

I do sympathize with the OP, however. The dinghy is a big awful PITA without any good solution for boats under 60 feet or so. We've had a few threads about it.