Hi Gang, I have gone the whole route:
My original dinghy was a 9 foot round bottomed boat with sails and a dagger board. Pluses: it was large, and held the whole family - wife plus two children and gear; it was fun to sail; but............. I couldn't put it on board, if things got dicey. Next attempt: an Avon 7' inflatable. A neighbor sold it to me. Yes, you could store it down below, but:...............it took forever to inflate and deflate. It would only work with an outboard................ Forget rowing. The position was wrong; the oars were too short; and if you had to row against a 15 knot wind to get back to your boat, then the outboard had better work, or else you were going nowhere.. My outboard wasn't reliable! Next stop: I got a 7'-9" low freeboard Dwyer dinghy at a Tag Sale - cheap. Rebuilt the whole gunwale. Tried it. Rows great. Fits on board. But...............with three of four people in the dinghy, the freeboard become so low that you become a submarine - or fervently hope you don't become a submarine. Next attempt: The regular 7'-9" Dwyer dinghy. Wholly satisfactory except: ................... if I sat in the stern operating the outboard, and my wife sat in the bow to balance the boat, and we hit a wave...................the splash drenched her back. She was NOT HAPPY. So, solution to problem: I built a "dodger" for the bow of the dinghy. Folded flat for storage, but in use, kept my wife dry, no matter what sort of wake we were crossing. Success! For my M15 I built a Bolger NYMPH 7'-9" dinghy. It is light weight. I can put it on the roof rack of my car. It rows well. It is fun. .............and that's where I am today. A Bolger NYMPH dinghy to go with my M15. Connie _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
