| Living on a sailboat is a great way to travel and live. | | | | rollup. But we were not through making mistakes. I |
| Choose your dinghy careful. Also learn from our | | | | increased our motor HP to 8, with an auxiliary tank that |
| mistakes, we made a bunch of them. | | | | increased the range we could go. It would not plane |
| We cruised the Caribbean living aboard a sailboat for | | | | with 2 people. Still wet, still caused bad language...dumb, |
| 8 years. It took us 3 years to get the right dinghy | | | | really dumb. |
| motor combination. Do not let this be you. Get a hard | | | | The only good thing was dinghy davits which enabled |
| bottom dinghy, with a large tube diameter (16" | | | | us to haul the dinghy up at night and on passage. |
| minimum), a 15 horse motor, and install dinghy davits on | | | | Towing the dinghy on passage slows you down a half |
| your boat to handle this combo. | | | | a knot...do not do it... get davits. Since the davits were |
| Our first dinghy was a rollup dinghy we brought from | | | | on the boat when we bought it I can take no |
| West Marine that could be stowed in a bag. It weighed | | | | responsibility for this situation. |
| a 100 lbs. We combined that with a 5 HP motor that | | | | After 3 years I finally bought a 15 horse Yamaha. All |
| had no auxiliary tank. Dumb...you don't want the hassle | | | | was well, we could plane, and it was dry...no more bad |
| of blowing up the dinghy after a passage. Your buds | | | | language. |
| are on their second beer while you are manning the | | | | All I would have had to do to start off right would have |
| pump. | | | | been to open my eyes and look at the dinghy docks in |
| The 5 HP motor was totally inadequate and with no | | | | the islands. What do you see but Caribe hard bottom |
| auxiliary tank had a limited range. Not enough power to | | | | dinghys and 15 horse Yamaha motors. The answer |
| plane which makes for a wet ride and bad language if | | | | was there all the time. |
| you are dressed for a night ashore. Really dumb... | | | | Living on a sailboat can a lot of fun, learn from our |
| We did buy a 10 foot Caribe hard bottom dinghy that | | | | mistakes in dinghys and motors and start off right. |
| weighed about 130 lbs. Much more stable than the | | | | |