Has Anyone Seen This Dinghy

LOST:
12 foot SKIFF constructed of fiberglass and foam core, grey hull, white interior, interior layout with large forward locker with hatch and two round view ports on the side bench/floatation lockers, mast step made of 3 inch PVC pipe, starboard offset dagger board trunk (it leaks at full speed) four cleats fore and aft. Under she has a full skeg for motoring.
Chris designed the Ultimate Dinghy, to row, sail and motor; all very well. And she was built to withstand us.
Up until the Saturday evening of the Bequia Island Easter Sailing Regatta this skiff was our family truckster. She was 12 feet of workhorse and safety for our family and we miss her greatly. We miss her because the evening of the prize giving at the Sailors Bar in Bequia she went walkabout, never to be seen by us again.
She has a name, it is minimus.
We take the blame for the loss. Though Chris did carefully tie the unusually large painter that by heft alone would confuse the mistaken owner of another boat who might untie by accident ("hey, big enough painter you got there?" was almost always remarked to us at dinghy docks) and checked the knot, we did not lock minimus. Our mistake.
We did not lock it because we were foolish enough to think she was such an unusual boat that no one would choose her among the many inflatables that look the same, are easily stowed, and would resell anonymously. We thought no one would would want such a beat up looking old skiff scarred from ten years in service to a demanding crew, adults and children alike, as well as various dogs and a cat. The outboard was painted pink to match the coving stripe on Hogfish maximus. Of course it was a Yamaha 15, a much sought after outboard for resale value and because it is a damn good engine (started every time, as long as there was gas in the tank...)We had heard many stories of its popularity with the tief trade, and of course engine cowlings can be replaced easily, but we thought... And we trusted the goodness of our fellows on the water. And we wanted to get ashore to join in the fun that we were having that was supplied by the regatta committee. and we did not lock her. Really, really. Foolishly naive? Even after a rediculously long time spent livivng on the water? Oh, yes.
Like I said it is our fault.
So we were able to purchase a new rowing dinghy and have learned it is best to lock up the dinghy and to warn others to lock up theirs. We now notice, with regret for the necessity, all the other locks on the other dinghies at dinghy docks.
But that does not make it any better or make it right that during regattas dinghies go missing at an alarming rate. Nor is it okay that during regattas there is the practice of "borrowing" any dinghy to get back to a boat and then not returning said dinghy but "setting it free" because such an act is theft. Borrowing denotes the act of returning. Nor is it okay that the local police find the practice of dinghy theft so commonplace that it is a bore of a chore to record it and the reply to action is the advice to "Check the anchorage because there are a lot of French boats out there..."
Stating the obvious, it is not okay to steal and resell. Really, really.
We dont know how the dinghy left the dock. We do know there were two other dinghies that did not leave docks with their owners that night; one found two days later back under the dock where we left our dinghy with very large tattered flip flops and a machete on board with little pilchards swimming in it (bait? or did the pilchards really wear such big flip flops when the fairy godmother returned to take them to the ball? and the machete?... I doubt the French keep machetes in their inflatables) We do know that there were two young men startled by a couple who returned to the dock to find the men in their dinghy with a piece of line wrapped around the quick stop button trying to start the couples dinghy minus its red safety cord which was in the couples possession since it was their dinghy. The response by the startled young men was oops wrong dinghy. Yeah, you bet.
We did make a call on the VHF to report the loss and got a response from another yacht who lost their dinghy that night and also a saint on St. Vincent who reported the loss to the St. Vincent Coast Guard. I was so shaken that I originally reported minimus as being green. It is grey. It was green, its original gellcoat colour, many years ago. The Bequia Regatta Committee were very sympathetic and wanted to give us microphone time to explain our loss but who wants to be a bummer on the happy occasion at the final prize giving? Thank you, we did enjoy the Bequia regatta very much and would love to return. Some of my favourite people on Bequia are the Ratsas at the market. One suggested that someone else wanted the dinghy more than us. Maybe so, but I dont like that philosophy so much.
Now minimus could be anywhere, Easter being months ago. And she could be green again or white or blue, or all of the above. or she could still be floating on the currents, because she is core she will be floating, even full of rainwater. She was our life raft.
We fantasize that minimus is being enjoyed by a family who found her floating off some quiet island in Panama maybe and there are many fish being placed into her again and the family is being taken safely home in any weather as she made the passage for us many times over.

BUT, if you do see this dinghy let us know. There is a reward. Maybe she will be our dinghy once again.

And if nothing else, lock your dinghy. Give someone reason to not let your dinghy be taken from you.

stay safe,
Rachel

Read More..

Can Anyone Identify this Dory

Ive received a request from a reader to help identify the junk-rigged dory pictured below. I find this interesting cruiser familiar, but cant quite place her. The beach, composed of small rock and sand, lined with Douglas fir and soft maple trees is very characteristic of the Salish Sea (Puget Sound) in Washington state, US, but this is only conjecture.
If you have any information about this vessel, please leave a comment below, or send me a note at:
mbogoger(at)gmail.com

UPDATE
Today (2/19) a reader named Dan writes in to tell us:
"This dory on the beach is a creation by Victoria [British Columbia, Canada] artist Godfrey Steven. Its a St Pierre dory with bilge keels. The boat is now in the hands of Godfreys daughter Aija on Salt Spring Island BC, Canada. The dorys name is Chu Wey."

Thank you, Dan!

Read More..

Why Would Anyone Build a Boat

Why would anyone build a boat? What kind of question is that for a boat designer to ask? I ask it because there are so many people who ask it in all seriousness. They ask it because they really cant understand why anybody would build a boat instead of buying one. There are so many boats out there that are available and can be acquired with so much less effort, new boats, good used boats, boats that have been damaged in weather events, tired boats that can be rejuvenated and almost dead boats that can be resuscitated.

There is no single answer to that question, there are many reasons why people build boats for themselves and each builder no doubt has a bunch of these reasons rolled up inside whatever it is that drives him to build his boat.

A reason that is common to all of the builders is passion. They have a passion to create a boat, to create something that would never have existed were it not for them and their desire to do this. Having been there myself many times, I can attest to the fantastic feelings that flood through when we first put that new boat into the water and then to give it life by hoisting sail or opening the throttle for the first time. If you think about how wonderful you felt when you first used a new boat that you had bought, doing the same in a boat that you have created with your own hands intensifies those feelings in ways that cant be described.

Petr Muzik built his Shearwater 39 then circumnavigated in his 70s.

It is that passion that also drives many of the decisions that are made during the build project. It drives them to do quality work because they want to feel pride in the final product. They want their creation to show well when seen by others, to be seen as a thing of beauty. Those who have never thought to build a boat themselves look at it and say "Wow, did you build that?".

Financial restraints are behind many amateur boatbuilding projects. If you need or want a new (as in not pre-owned) boat that costs double the money that you can afford to put into it, then the only route to get it is to build it yourself. I have never calculated ahead of my boatbuilding projects how much they are going to cost. Each time I have just dived right in and started, then kept going to the end. That was when I found out what the total cost was and was able to compare with what it would have cost me to buy an equivalent new pop-out production boat. Each time the cost of my fully-equipped boat was around 45% of the cost of a base-package for a production boat of similar size and concept.

Those who dont get it say "It cost you a lot more, you havent priced in your labour hours, which must be priced at your professional rate of pay". No, we dont price our labour into the project and no, we should not price it at the rate that we receive in our paying jobs, whatever they may be. The project serves as a hobby, as recreation that helps us to recover from a tough week working for someone else. It helps to keep us motivated and able to take on the world. The alternative of working very extended hours at our paying jobs to generate the funds to pay someone else to build our boat brings with it a risk of getting burned out in the process.

Andrew Morkel built his Argie 15. Now he and his family are learning to sail in it.

Many people who build big boats for long distance cruising want to build it themselves to give them confidence in the strength of the boat. They know that they will be sailing their boat on very remote waters, far from rescue services and possibly with their beloved family aboard. The safety of all depends on the quality of the build and they dont want to leave that to people whom they dont know. They have vested interest in doing everything in the best manner possible, so they want to do it themselves. In the process they garner the side benefit of knowing intimately how the boat works, where all of the important parts are, how to get to every seacock or filter in a hurry when dictated by some emergency that may develop onboard. They know exactly how to repair everything onboard because they installed it in the first place. They are likely to lay out all aspects in a very sensible and logical manner because they will have to maintain it themselves. At sea in a storm is not the best time to be trying to track down plumbing or electrical faults in systems that are overly obscure because the person who installed them before the hull liners or lockers were installed didnt consider the problems of working on them in the completed boat.

Others build their own boats because they want something different,  a boat that will stand out from the crowd on marinas, at sea and in distant anchorages. They add personal styling features to fit their own characters and they choose joinery detailing such as is not available from production boatbuilders.

Sergey Federov built his Hout Bay 33 to a very high standard.

Some people choose to build a boat purely for the hobby benefit. They enjoy the build more than using the boat, so the project will be drawn out interminably. They produce exceptional quality in the process but will probably sell the boat when completed or soon after.

It has been said many times that the happiest days of a boatowners life are when he buys and when he sells the boat. The exception to that cliche is the boatowner who has built his boat himself. There is so much of the builder wrapped up in that boat, in the form of blood, sweat and tears, to say nothing of chunks of skin and body hair, that he and the boat have an affinity and  intimacy that is unknown to those who buy their boats. I have felt very sad when selling each of the boats that I have built, far from the happiest days of my life.

It has also been said many times that boatbuilding is a disease and when you have had it, you will experience periodic relapses. I have to agree with this one, I have had numerous relapses. I cant say that I have suffered relapses, as would apply to most diseases, I have enjoyed those relapses too much to convince my wife that I have suffered in any way. And this is the way that most amateur boatbuilders feel. Visit any of the many boat shows that cater for amateur boatbuilders and you will see for yourself how much they love what they do and just how much passion they build into their projects.

To see our range of designs, for amateur or professional boatbuilding, please go to http://dixdesign.com.

Read More..