The increase in the number of very small cabin boats now on the market leads one to consider what it is that dinghy cruising can offer which these cannot. Firstly, of course, those who can only afford an open boat will find that the right open boat can be as seaworthy as these pocket cabin cruisers — more so than some of them. Further than this, there are many among us who would not change for a cabin boat if they could. Few small cabins are as roomy as a tent over an open boat. If one will always be sailing with several other members of the family, something larger is needed in any case for sleeping aboard, but for the single hander or with two aboard a tent can be ideal. The boat can then be small enough for easy handling alone, under sail in any reasonable weather, and also under oars. It can be trailed, launched and recovered with a minimum of fuss. It can, if need be, be beached where there would be no anchorage for a deeper boat. Above all it can explore the backwaters and tidal creeks too narrow for even the smallest “pocket cruiser”. A cruise can include the little rivers at the head of the estuaries, sometimes for a change inland waterways can be tried.

There is no hard and fast rule — one of the cruises described in this bulletin which included “ducking under” Havengore Bridge with the mast down was done by a small cabin boat, though one very little removed from a dinghy. It is the combination of shallow draft, light weight and easy handling which gives a cruising dinghy a place all its own among small sailing boats.