A Clean Bottom and No Burglars
Nighttime dinghy theft is a major issue in the Caribbean. Even in parts of the United States it is growing in popularity as outboard values surge and mini-RIBs are ever-more tempting to the marauding pirates. Davits are one solution, but for those of us who don’t have them, an attractive answer is to hoist the small boat to deck level in the evening. It will have a hoisting strop anyway for bringing it aboard to go to sea, so hook this to the main halyard, wind it up to the guardrails, and make up the bow and stern painters to stop it bouncing around in any kind of wash or swell. A minute is all it takes to sleep easy. There’s also the added value of a bottom and prop that stay clean all year round.
Save LPG Bottles
If you like to cook on board, the undersized apologies for LPG bottles supplied as standard with many modern yachts don’t get you very far. Even if you don’t serve up four-course dinners every night, the one thing we all do is make coffee or tea. Years ago, I realized that if I counted the number of strokes on my galley foot pump for a mugful, then tipped the right amount into the kettle, I’d use enough gas to boil it and no more, leaving no excess water to sit there going cold while I sipped from the cup. A pressurized system doesn’t easily measure, so it wastes water and LPG. A foot or a hand pump is simple to install. I keep a Whale charcoal in-line filter on mine (cheap from RV outfits) and use it only for drinking water. No matter where I have filled my tanks, I don’t waste LPG, and I always get a decent mug of tea.
Save Fuel, Set a Tablecloth
I was tickled last winter in the Caribbean to see this excellent bumboat sailor cracking past in fine style under a sail he probably picked up from the skip. Going upwind he’d have to row, of course, but on a broad reach he was traveling in style. I once sailed my tender 2 miles back from the pub powered only by a large black oilskin coat set from one of my oars while my daughter steered over the stern with the other. Starting the dinghy’s engine has become a knee-jerk reaction, but often it’s not necessary. Sailing is fun, and rigging some lash-up or other to blow you along teaches the kids a lot more than sending them off to annoy the neighbors with the outboard.