A tender is almost essential equipment for any cruising vessel, including a cruising dinghy, but the inflatable tenders used on most yachts are too heavy and bulky to be practicable on most cruising dinghies. They also cost as much as the second-hand value of many dinghies.

There is an alternative type of inflatable which I have found suitable for a cruising dinghy and which I know is also used by some other DCA members: this is the small PVC inflatable sold for use as a beach toy at garages and high street stores.

The requirements of a tender for a yacht are different to those for a cruising dinghy. Yachts often have to moor or anchor hundreds of yards from the shore and, because of their draught, they cannot always be brought alongside a landing stage to embark or disembark crew. Consequently they need a robust tender to carry the full crew some distance over possibly choppy water. By contrast, many cruising dinghies are used as their own tenders, but with the disadvantage that a rigid dinghy is very vulnerable to damage when tied up at a landing stage while the crew go ashore for shopping, or especially if the dinghy has to be left unattended between weekends. Few dinghies carry large fenders and even large fenders might not provide sufficient protection against jagged pilings and rough stonework. Also, when the tide recedes the dinghy might be damaged by unknown underwater hazards, or when the tide rises it might drift across the edge of a jetty. Add to these hazards the inconvenience of returning to your boat to find it either firmly aground or tethered out of reach from the shore and it is clear that a better way to go ashore is to anchor a little way out and use a tender.

If one first makes a quick visit to a landing point to disembark all but one of the crew, there is no need for the tender to be capable of carrying more than one person, and so a toy inflatable is quite suitable.

My own toy inflatable was purchased about 9 years ago and although I have done little sailing in the last few years, it was used a lot during the first few years of its life. I notice that it has now developed a pin-hole leak at a badly welded seam, which might or might not be repairable, but even so, the cost divided by the useful life is much lower than for a good quality inflatable which could last a lifetime, but will cost hundreds of pounds.

The overall dimensions of my inflatable are about 1.25m x 0.75m inflated. For obvious reasons I could not recommend a tender smaller than this, but at the same time there is no advantage in having a much larger one, since only one person need be carried, and a larger tender will take longer to inflate and deflate.

For inflation I bought the largest size of air pump readily available from a camping shop, since the tiny pump supplied was tedious to use. The inflation points on cheap inflatables are provided with moulded plastic one-way valves, which are intended to be a safety feature but which are also a nuisance since they restrict air-flow, both in and out. I found a piece of thin-walled tubing which could be pushed through the valves to hold them open. This speeds up inflation and deflation. For inflation the air pump nozzle is pushed into the end of the tubing. Even so, it takes longer to inflate a toy inflatable than a much larger, good quality one, since the pump and valves are less efficient. When approaching my mooring at Paglesham I used to start pumping up the tender in the cockpit of my dinghy when about a mile from the mooring so that it would be ready for use on arrival.

Soon after purchasing the inflatable I discarded the oars and replaced them with home-made paddles which look like slightly enlarged table tennis bats. These are made from 6mm ply fastened to wooden handles. The problem with the original oars was that the rowlocks, being soft plastic loops attached to the thin plastic skin, were hopelessly flexible for serious rowing. The wooden paddles give a slightly better speed, are easier to stow, allow one to face forward and see ahead, and the bows float higher. The paddles are used one in each hand with short strokes. The action soon becomes tiring if you try to go too fast; it is better to paddle less energetically but continuously.

If it is necessary to cross a strong tide it is best to paddle straight towards the shore without counteracting drift downstream; the inflatable is so light it can easily be carried back along the bank. Conversely, to paddle out to a moored dinghy it is best to set off from a point upstream; with such a light tender one is not restricted to launching from a slip or jetty.

Normally the small inflatable is used for trips of only a hundred yards or so, but with good conditions it can go further. I remember once anchoring near Hamford Water in Essex and paddling the inflatable with a flood tide to catch a train home from Walton-on-the-Naze. A reasonable quantity of luggage can be carried, even in a tiny inflatable, but if it is windy, plastic bags will be needed to protect luggage from spray. Luggage should not be left in the inflatable while it is tied up astern of the dinghy, since the wind can easily flip it upside down. A few moments later it will probably flip back again without damage, but anything left aboard will be floating away. I twice lost a pump, paddles and other loose items in this way. Also, a cheap inflatable should not be towed other than at low speed in calm water since the attachment of the painter is not really strong enough for this purpose.

Getting into and out of the inflatable can be tricky. It is certainly not possible to stand up in it while afloat, so when getting in from, or out to a larger craft, one must support one’s weight by holding firmly onto the larger craft’s gunwale. Paddling ashore onto a beach it is possible to feel for rocks through the bottom of the inflatable. Once safely aground on smooth mud or sand it is safe to stand up.

Water does tend to collect at the lowest point of the floor of an inflatable, which is also the point where to occupant is seated. An inflatable cushion overcomes this problem.

The light weight of a cheap inflatable offers a further benefit. If you cruise from A to B, rather than from A to B to A, you might need to use public transport to get home. A tiny inflatable equipped with paddles rather than oars can easily be packed in a shopping bag or small kit-bag and carried on bus or train. Don’t forget the pump!