T&T: Dinghy Recommendations

[Woody and Kathy]

Kris:

Dinghy's are a bit like women...some short, some long, some skinny, some not
so skinny. This has probably been hashed over to some great extent on this
forum, but I am new to this whole forum thing myself.

A first question you want to ask yourself, is what do you want to do with
the dinghy, and how sure footed are you? A dinghy that will row well, is
long and narrow. A dinghy that will go well with an outboard is broad, and
flat in the stern. Inflatables row as well (badly)sideways as forward, but
will really scoot with an outboard, even soft bottom ones. They do however
have a bad habit of scooting out from under people getting in them from swim
platforms, and they do not last as long as hard dinghy's.
 A popular dinghy here in the Northwest is the Livingston. This dinghy comes
in several lengths, and is very stable. They are frequently seen attached to
swim platforms with Weaver davits. The Weaver davit is two eyes attached to
the swim platform, and two clips attached to the dinghy that function like
hinges. You can fold the dinghy down, get in, and then detach it from the
platform. They could win a prize for ugly, but over all they are a good
dinghy, especially for someone just getting used to boating.

Woody
27 Marben
Port Orchard, WA