T&T: "Tinnys" as dinghys

[SATORITOM@aol.com]

One more 2 cents worth.
 
On our Cal Cruising 46 we have always carried two dinghys. We have an old  
Avon Redcrest in a deck box and a 4 HP two stroke. This is referred to as our  
"surfing dinghy". In many anchorages on the Pacific refracted waves around  
headlands create some interesting beaching challenges. With the old Redcrest and  
the light weight 4 HP,  we can surf a wave in, hop out at the critical  
moment, pick up the dinghy and run like hell before the next breaker. Getting  back 
out is more of a challenge, but I was surfing on balsa wood boards back in  
the mid-fifties, so you gotta catch the right chance.
 
Everywhere else our choice of a dinghy, since 1982, is a 12' aluminum vee  
bow, (referred to as "Tinnys" by Brits), with a 15 HP two stroke outboard,  
preferably a Yamaha as in my humble opinion the best. Those of you who have seen  
the original Cal 46, know we have the pilot house forward of the mast and a  
large deck aft of the cockpit. We have dinghy bunks in that space, use our aft  
anchor windlass, boom and a snatch block hoisted almost to the spreaders to 
lift  the dinghy on board. The Admiral, steps on the windlass button, while I 
control  the dinghy as it is lifted and placed in the bunks.
 
We are on our third aluminum dinghy in 24 years. After a while banging off  
square waves the rivets loosen and we buy another. We have used the old Grumman 
 "Car Topper", now made by Lowe, an OMC affiliate. Immediately on getting a 
new  tinny, we glue the fire hose looking, foam padded material from West 
Marine on  the gunwale with 5200 and I build a light weight plywood lockable locker 
forward  for anchor, rode and spares. This increases the weight to about 125 
#, so the 15  HP Yamaha will plane out with four persons aboard. I believe we 
paid about $700  for the last dinghy.
 
So, we need to place fenders overboard, big deal. The padded gunwale takes  
out the potential for damage to topsides, but not all of the noise at night 
time  in a sloppy anchorage. An added advantage to a tinny is they are so ugly, 
no one  would steal them, but in questionable areas, like Venezuela, we put a 
spinnaker  pole off the beam and lift the dinghy out of the water and chain it 
and the OB  to Satori. We use high test chain as proof coil can be more easily 
 cut.  
 
YMMV
 
Tom and Bobbie