I hope that members will find Bulletin articles about suitable cruising dinghies useful. I have made decisions for various types of heavier boat and perhaps the factors guiding me would be of interest.

Hronrad - The Morag

I did most of my cruising in Hronrad, an adapted Morag, a conventional clinker built 15 foot open boat, 6' 2" beam, 4 foot transom, iron centre board, no built in buoyancy, foredeck and plastic boxes for day storage, water bottles around the centre board case for extra ballast, motor bike inner tube, inflated boat rollers and a half inflated toy dinghy for buoyancy. The boat weighed about 1000 pounds with gear. Gunter-rigged, small mizzen added, roller jib - she was rather undercanvassed, but that suited me. No engine - 10 foot oars which carried me many slow miles. I worked the tides on single-handed trips lasting the several weeks of teachers' holidays - no hurry. Sometimes I left her on two anchors for weeks between trips, but as I was sailing alone I could arrange for Tony to fetch the car and recover from the furthest point. I made a permanent spray cover to add stowage. The tent was in place rolled up to be fitted in about five minutes. I slept on a sort of root berth – canvas stretched from stringer to CB case at forward end of cockpit; two guests could sleep on boards between the stern seat and thwart. With good lines, she was a good sea boat. I never felt near capsizing. I never arrived at the right trailer for her rockered keel, and the long trail to Greece and back finished her off.

Red Knot - The Sandpiper 525

Then I tried a glass fibre cabin boat, Red Knot – a Sandpiper 525 - 19 foot overall, 7 foot beam, Bermudan, genoa. I changed that to my favoured gunter, my usual choice for easy reefing, but I think that was a mistake, although I do prefer a wooden mast for ease of altering the conventional rig. I found it extremely difficult even to add a topping lift to a metal-masted Bermudan boat. The mast in a tabernacle was fairly easy for two to raise (the Morag's keel-mounted one I always thought too heavy). She was undercanvassed, and one resorted too easily to the Mariner 4 in light winds. Ten foot oars only just moved her. An open-plan cabin made dry storage reasonably good. Four berths were reduced to two to use the under-cockpit seats for stowage. But I hated being 'down below' instead of being up looking out in the air. The drop keel took 100 turns of the winch-handle – a bad minus. 15 cwt was heavy for trailing. Unlike the wooden Morag she leaked very little but filled up in winter rains when left in Greece ashore. She had built in buoyancy under-floor, but I never had cause to try it out. She seemed quite safe in any seas I encountered, but I didn't put her to a serious test. She rolled like a pig, barrel-bottomed, but this meant she stayed upright aground close to the shore in Greek anchorages.

The Wanderer

I briefly tried a Wanderer. She sails beautifully even with the very reduced rig with which, in an elderly and partly-disabled state, I felt comfortable. Sleeping can be arranged. I never felt happy with the tall Bermudan mast. I had a wooden CB, and I fitted water bottle ballast. With full rig she was much too lively, and I could easily have capsized her.

Pladdy Lug - The Falmouth Bass Boat

I looked for something with the virtues of my Morag: low aspect rig, easy reefing, easy to row but an engine in emergencies. I had to be able to stow gear and to fit a tent quickly. Above-floor-level sleeping was desirable for an oldie. She had to look after us.

I chose the Falmouth Bass Boat, Pladdy Lug. I like the yawl rig – she really can be sailed in strong winds without the mainsail, so reefing is almost never necessary. Mast-raising is not too difficult, though a lighter mast would be better if she was to negotiate bridges. Rowing is easy with 10-foot oars. The Mariner 4 is probably too powerful, and its size necessitates lifting the tiller over it. I might try a smaller engine. The engine well is a great advantage, though it does reduce stowage, which is poor: two small lockers, the stern one not dry, and the forward one under a hatch usually covered by gear. I am making a permanently set and improved spray cover under which to stow my plastic boxes. I carry planks to make sleeping platforms. My tent is lighter and more easily set than the standard one. Like all my boats she sits upright on the mud – two bilge keels ensure this, but they make recovery on to the trailer slightly tricky. She weighs 500 lb nominal, but much more with gear. Unlike the Morag she doesn't leak at all. A pump instead of bungs has its pros and cons.

Conclusions

Choice depends on how you hope to use the boat. My two heavy 15-16 foot dinghies had much in common. On the Morag I lived for weeks and did channel crossings. The Bass Boat is used for shorter trips, weekends aboard and sometimes for family day sailing. I found it much easier to arrange gear to stay in place (leaving a permanent galley-box and also sleeping and lounging space) in an open dinghy without built-in buoyancy. In the Bass Boat I have to shift my plastic boxes around, and the narrow seats on top of the buoyancy are not so good for comfortably sitting out a tide or reading in the evenings. I can remove the boxes altogether for family day sailing. One can make alterations to decking, lockers etc. so much more easily with a wooden boat. In a modern dinghy designed with buoyancy it is worth looking for one which also provides purpose-built stowage.

Both these dinghies can make one feel safe and confident in their sea-going qualities. The Bass Boat is keeping us sailing.