Finally Fun with Dinghy Dance

Dinghy Dogs

By the Captain

Once the dinghy (a Port Townsend PT11)  was put into the water it could feel a little tippy.  In fact I was reluctant to sail Dinghy Dance for fear of flipping her a long way from home and having difficulty righting her and getting her back.  Thus far we had only rowed the dinghy around the marina and it did great.

The PT 11Dinghy Dance rigged for sail in the front yard of the house we use to own.

Dinghy Dance is stored on deck

 

Dinghy Dance assembled on deck about to be lowered into the water.

Dinghy Dance in the water

1st Mate rowing around.

 Then the 1st mate saw a blog post for "Dinghy Dogs"  They are inflatable pontoons you attach to the
 sides of the dinghy for additional stability.  They are an outfit in RI http://dinghydogs.com/ and after some basic research and a little less than $400 a set was on its way.

This is a picture from the Dinghy Dog site.

To mount them on our Dinghy Dance would mean drilling a few holes that would need to be sealed with epoxy.  We decided to install the dinghy dogs in the southeast Texas summer so it was incredibly hot and humid. The standard mounting kit sent with the dinghy dogs would need a slight modification with the supplied fasteners to work with the PT11.

Drilling holes

Dinghy Dogs are attached by a cleat at the forward and aft ends and a slotted bracket in the center of the pontoon.  We temporarily installed the aft cleat first and tied the aft end of the pontoon to the cleat. We pulled the pontoon along the side of the dinghy and marked the placement of the forward cleat.  Did I mention that it was hot and very humid..  Once that cleat was temporarily installed the center slotted bracket was positioned and marked.  The bracket as shipped from Dinghy Dog has double sided tape and two mounting holes. 

Slotted attachment

 I did not think the double sided tape would be reliable long term and removed it.  I then increased the number of mounting holes from 2 to 4.  Did I mention it was also HOT.


Installation with the temporary placement of the cleats and slotted bracket.

 Once the dry fit test was completed the cleats and brackets were then removed.  The holes were sealed with epoxy and the cleats and brackets permanently installed.  So much sweating.

In the water

The total installation added some weight to the dinghy but the additional stability should be worth it. We used the whisker pole mounted to the mast to lift the dinghy into the water.  As it took both of us to operate the lifting apparatus there were no pictures to share.
We plan to sail her in the morning to see how it goes.  It is our intention to use this dinghy for a lot of exploring in water too shallow for SV Kooky Dance.

Dinghy Fun

 By the Captain

We rigged the boat in the morning with oars and sail.  It took all of 5 minutes. There was little wind to be found but I felt it would fill in as the day heated up.  We loaded into the dinghy and started rowing out of the marina.

The wind was almost non-existent.  We rowed out of the slip and around the end of the dock to get in clear water.  Once out there we picked up just a wisp of wind but it appeared to be enough to ghost along.  We sailed up to the marina store to gloat a little to the BoBos hanging out there.  We turned around and headed out of the marina.  The wind picked up and Dinghy Dance moved right along. 

 

We really had a good time.  It was just plane fun to be sailing again and the PT11 was easy to sail.  Unfortunately the camera stopped working so we got no pictures once the wind picked up.  As there were a number of people watching they may have some pictures we can add later.

I am excited about this little boat and the amount of exploring we will do.  It will be able to go places the big boat can't because of water depth.

Dinghy Dance became part of the crew today and we say; "Welcome to the Crew  Dinghy Dance, you are home".

Well enough for now