T&T: ICW in winter

[Rich Gano]

"I bought a 14' Sunbird (Seadoo type) boat for a dingy on the 39' Carver; it
was flipped and damaged losing the windshield
and steering wheel, doesn't have a trailer and needs some repair.  I'm
checking on the cheapest means to have it delivered
to Dallas so that I can have necessary repairs done in time for doing the
ICW *in April*."

COMMENT:
Do not do this!

Do you have experience with this Seadoo type vessel as a dink?  It is a
substantial (a 15-foot version weighs 1500 pounds) "sit-inside" kind of
vessel rather than a "ride-on" Seadoo-style, and it is a pretty large and
heavy boat to be used as a dinghy for a 39-foot Carver and way too much to
be toting to Texas from Rhode Island.  You cannot safely stow this size or
weight aboard your Carver, and you will thus have to accept the significant
speed and gas mileage penalties of towing it.  In sum, I think this is a
pretty large and heavy boat to be used as a dinghy for a 39-foot Carver on a
long trip and way too much to be toting to Texas from Rhode Island.

You will face many unwanted challenges in towing this thing to Texas.  You
will have to deal with it every time you enter a marina, circle and wait for
a bridge opening, suddenly slow or stop, anchor out for the night, etc, etc,
etc.  It will become your biggest nightmare.  And all those considerations
go before you even think about what to do about this weight and hazard you
will be dragging into open waters when you run out of sheltered ICW.  There
will be days where weather considerations would let you mover were it not
for the large tow you would have with this dink.  Will you plan to provide
for automatic bilge pumping in the dink?  How will you retrieve it if the
tow line breaks in a heavy sea?  Imagine yourself in a rough sea with
possibly you and/or crew feeling mal-de-mer and faced with the painful
decision of whether or not to abandon a loose dinghy.

I am a firm believer in NOT towing dinghies for extended distances,
especially for novices (are you new to this?).  I base this on my own
experiences towing a 14-foot Boston Whaler around for a few years both here
in Florida and up the coast of California between LA and Frisco.  I was also
once upon a time an ocean-going tug skipper, so I know what I am talking
about when I discuss the lack of sufficient towing hard points on pleasure
craft, both on the smaller as well as the larger craft - it's one thing to
tow the 14-foot boat about on a short day trip and quite another to hazard
the wear and tear to both it and the towing vessel on a long trip like you
are contemplating.

Even if all went well and you didn't lose the boat altogether of have damage
to the larger boat due to fouled tow line or the dink bashing into the hull
at some point, I would imagine a very heavy penalty on your speed and fuel
efficiency.  Think about borrowing or buying an inflatable that you can
carry on deck or safely snugged up right to the transom as a tow for the odd
times you might actually need a dink on your delivery trip, and save the
heavy and unsuitable 14-footer for those shorter local trips when you want a
toy to take along for a day or so at a time.

Rich Gano
CALYPSO (GB-42 #295)
Southport, FL