A dinghy is a cruiser’s car.  It’s used for sightseeing, for going to get groceries and supplies, to get to other people’s boats, to kedge off if possible when the motherboat runs aground.  Dinghies aren’t just for cruisers, however.  Those of us who aren’t yet out there full-time also need them unless they want to rely exclusively on launches.

Probably 99% of boaters use inflatables.  Their advantages include stability, the ability to deflate it and store it below, and the fact that it’s quiet when it bumps up against the mothership.  However, they also puncture, they row terribly, and they eventually deteriorate in the sun which requires a person to purchase another one.  Prices can vary from $600 or $700 to $10,000 plus.

Since most boaters have inflatables and we didn’t know any better, we bought one for our first dinghy.  Admittedly it was a bottom-of-the-line inflatable and we had to pump it up once or twice during the season, but it worked well enough until we stored it in the garage over the winter.  An unidentified critter chewed on it at the seams, rendering it unrepairable.  After that experience we decided that inflatables weren’t for us.  With the right hard dinghy we could purchase it once and never have to buy another.  Of course this decision put us squarely in the minority, but we’re used to that.

Since the demise of our inflatable was discovered on the brink of the sailing season, we didn’t have time to do much research.  We decided to go with something relatively inexpensive so we could find out for sure if a hard dinghy was the right choice for us.  After a fruitless search on Craig’s List, we went to West Marine and bought the ugliest dinghy on Fishers Island Sound – a WaterTender 9.4 – on sale for $500.  It was indestructible.  We also discovered it was unsinkable after I PT-109’d it once with Little Bristol when we were trying to catch our mooring.  Jeff watched in horror as hundreds of gallons of water flowed into it (he was concerned that the outboard would submerge) yet that dink kept floating.  It was still going strong after two seasons, but we knew it wouldn’t work for us when we go cruising full-time.  For that, we wanted a Fatty Knees dinghy.

Continue reading “Deal of the Century! Our Fatty Knees Dinghy.” →