LESSONS LEARNED WHILE CRUISING Jamie & Behan Gifford A Dingy Dinghy


Gets It Done But Gets No Respect


Dinghy on deck between New Caledonia and Australia.


exercise in palliative care. Threadbare seam reinforcements and chafed areas dominate. Dinghy chaps (a fitted cloth covering over the tubes) helped immensely in reducing UV exposure, but they to weaken in tropical UV light. From our want of a new Traveling Buddy came a compromise between time and money. The tubes still held air pressure; and the rigid bottom was leak free and supported a full load of people or jerry cans of diesel. So, we opted for a used backup inflatable dinghy, capable of carrying an outboard and able to fold up to fit under the V-berth. An outboard engine doesn’t suffer


It is: water taxi, jungle estuary


transport, dive base to the world below, supply boat, tugboat, rescue vehicle, and even a washing machine. The humble dinghy is a versatile workhorse. Yet it is mostly taken for granted. Reliance on it emerges when the outboard engine fails, an oar slips overboard, or a poorly tied painter lets the dinghy drift free. Likewise, a tender unsuited to the mothership, crew or their boating style becomes as self-limiting as the boating budget that most of us call reality.


When we bought Totem, the


tender was pathetic. An 11’ RIB and 15 horsepower outboard, best described as patched and scratched. Fifteen years of Pacific excursions by prior owners were not kind to the little boat named Traveling Buddy by our children. Maybe the missing rub rail, deeply scarred bottom, and engine cowling held on by string hinted at great seafaring adventure. For the active cruiser it’s simply wear and tear. Beyond cosmetic, condition of the Hypolan tubes seemed more an


from the bright lights of tropical UV. With maintenance and luck it can provide trusty service for decades. Unfortunately, our outboard had neither. New to us, it was already in such a state of decay that even the grease fittings were corroded. A tooth in this condition would be extracted. Problem was that it still ran with moderate predictability. That is until a day in Mexico when an unnamed, adult female member of the Totem crew cursed it by commenting on its terrific reliability. The next day, literally, the engine began the high maintenance and frustrating process of being reclassified as ballast. It’s interesting to look back at our


pre-departure assessment of the dinghy and engine. Oh, how we wanted to replace them. Yet, they both worked just enough to get cruising, buying time to keep our budget on track. We never fully trusted dinghy or outboard, and so took precautions. This notion of skepticism and precaution is how we’ve learned to treat all gear onboard, new and old alike. It’s frustrating and all too common to have new gear fail. What’s surprising and refreshing is the gear that exceeds expectations. Whether outliving a designed product lifespan or working in spite of past misuse, these rare instances are a real treat.


The Giffords with their “Traveling Buddy” in La Paz, Mexico.


48° NORTH, OCTOBER 2011 PAGE 26


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