Scary dingy follies, (or, no good deed goes unpunished)

[s/v Faith]

Exciting dingy follies

Laying at anchor in Cochburn harbour South Cacos waiting for the seas to settle down a bit before I head to Grand Turk to clear out.  I am in the process of writing up an account of this trip, but wanted to post this while I am still shaking... And drinking rum.

Earlier today a pair of boats, a Tartan 30 and a Cal 29, sail out of the harbour.  They came back a couple hours later, and I was thinking they found the seas were still up too high.  There had also been another pair of boats also bound for the DR who had turned back earlier in the day..., making me feel very good about my decision to wait out the weather.  I did not feel so smart for too long....

The guy on the boat with the broken quadrant (the Cal 29) got on the radio asking for a clamp to repair the quadrant with.  He got a call from another boat (ducelnea, a Niagra) just as I was digging through my stuff looking for c clamps.

The other boat which is one of the big boats that got underway today and turned back, had found a couple of c clamps.  The guy from the Cal said he would row over.

The Niagara was downwind of me, maybe 400 yards away, the Cal was upwind maybe half a mile.  I figured he would be rowing a hard dingy (tough but possible)...  And considered picking him up to save him the trouble.  There is about 10-15k of wind, so it was going to be a real fun time for him to row back to his boat.

I grabbed my flashlight and the handheld and went to tow him over to the other boat and back to his.  I felt really good about this decision when I see he is rowing an Avon Redcrest inflateable (like mine).  Tough to row, and nearly impossible to row into this kind of wind.   I had a thought on my way out to check the gas....   You know what happens when I ignore those thoughts!  Guess what?

  So I get to Dulcenia just as the guy off the Cal gets there.  I offer to tow him back, he gets the clamp and we have a short discussion of the wx.  He says it was not too bad,  but big seas.  They turned back since they broke the quadrant.

  I tow him all the way back to his boat... Well almost all the way.  The dingy motor slows way down.... I am out of gas!

  I drop him off, he has a tough row back upwind.  The 75' I was short of getting him there took him a long time.

  I am drifting downwind, and REALLy glad I fixed the oar lock on the Carib RHIB and bought new oars earlier in the trip.  Well, I am not exactly drifting downwind, there is a current taking me away from the land, and the wind I though would do most of the work to get me back to my boat is only taking me faster off course!

  I am rowing, but the air is cooler so the tubes in the dingy are soft.... Making it hard to row.  Even with the hard bottom, the soft tubes absorb much of the energy of each stroke.

Back aboard the boat is a friend.  He and I have had several adventures and I know I can trust him.  I pick up the handheld since the situation is going south and the sun has just set.

I call him on the radio...  No answer!  I call him 3 times, same thing.  Well, I am rowing as hard as I can and only barely making way towards the boat.  It is dark and there are 40-100 miles of water between me and land in the direction I am headed....  North Cacos?

I decided to row as hard as I can until I pass astern of My boat and then I am going to start calling for help on the radio....   I call My friend again.  I row hard and make it to within 30' of my boat before I blow past.  She swings on her anchor to give me just enough of a break from the wind to make the difference and make it back upwind to grab the line from the davits....

My heart is beating, I climb up and ask my friend if he heard me... He says he heard chatter on the radio but did not pay any attention to it.  The radio is in the aft berth with the NAV station where i sleep.  He is in his berth mid ships and the stereo is on.... he can not hear the radio!

I am not sure what he might have done, anyway but I sure am glad I did not need to find out!

I did have a flashlight and the handheld VHF with me.  I also had the small anchor that I would have put down, but it is small and I do not know if it would have held me.  It would have at least slowed me down while I called for help.

Wow, I am very glad to be here in the cockpit typing!

Think about your dingy safety gear, and NEVER EVER ignore that thought that comes to mind!

Sent from my iPad

[s/v Faith]

Apparently I would not have been the first one.... 

:o I learned yesterday that it has happened before.

[Snapdragon]

Wow!
Glad to hear that you're safe Craig.
Reading of your little "adventure" will make all of us a little safer, and more aware of being exposed to "slippery slope" situations like that. That's pretty scary stuff!
Thanks for sharing it.

[Kettlewell]

A few years back Robert Bazell, the NBC news medical correspondent, drifted away from some Caribbean island in a dinghy and I seem to recall at some point he decided to swim for it. He made it back, but every once in awhile somebody inadvertantly crosses the Caribbean from east to west in a dinghy.

[Captain Smollett]

but every once in awhile somebody inadvertantly crosses the Caribbean from east to west in a dinghy.

Assuming they make it (*), gives lie to the popular notion one needs a 45+ footer to go to "sea."   ;D ;D





(*) And not trying to make light of ones who don't, or the situation.

[marujo_sortudo]

Dinghy anchors are probably the best piece of safety equipment for roadstead anchorages.  I haven't needed it,yet, but I always make sure it's in there if there's anywhere to get blown out, too.

[CharlieJ]

Agreed. My dinghy NEVER goes anywhere without the anchor aboard.

[Captain Smollett]

Dinghy anchors are probably the best piece of safety equipment

As Craig has commented before.

[Captain Smollett]

And make sure your dinghy anchor is large enough (scroll down)

[Kettlewell]

OT, but great write up on how you handled Irene Capt. Smollett--well worth reading, and makes you think about a lot of things.

In terms of dinghy anchors, I have found that the little 5 lb. standard Danforth in steel works great--I don't think my dinghy has ever dragged! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it would hold my big boat in normal wind speeds, once properly dug in. A tiny Fortress would be even better, but I like the fact the Danforth is now nice and rusty and isn't a theft magnet.

[s/v Faith]

I have thought the same thing.  That smallest fortress sure would be a great dingy anchor, but one would probably want to install a small vault in their dink to make sure it was there when you needed it! 

...then again, i suppose the vault could be tossed overboard if one needed extra weight.  :D

[Captain Smollett]

i use a small folding grapnel style for the dink.  It works okay...have used it fishing.  I also use it for the canoe.  I think it is the 4 lb size.

Personally, I would not like a Danforth style anchor on my dink.  It's inflatable with inflatable floor, and that style anchor seems (to  me) to have a lot of corners and edges. 

With the folding grapnel, I keep it in a small water resistant bag (along with some other hardware, like the cable I use to lock the dink to the dock).

[Kettlewell]

The thing I like about the little Danforth is its enormous holding power for its weight. I have an inflatable, but with a hard floor. So far I have never had a problem puncturing the boat. I try to wedge it in somewhere so it doesn't slide around when bouncing across the waves. I prefer the genuine Danforth due to its having the correct angles and shape. I've tried a few knock-off Danforths that didn't have the same holding power--the dimensions have to be correct. They're fabulous little anchors.

[Oldrig]

I used to keep a small danforth-type anchor in my dinghy. And, sure enough, one time when I was tied up to an unfamiliar public dinghy dock, the little anchor mysteriously disappeared. Luckily they left the dinghy tied up.

--Joe

[s/v Faith]

 Had some excitement late last night.  I heard a knock on the hull and went topside... There was an older couple hanging onto my swim platform.  They spoke French, and not much English, but I was able to figure out that their dingy motor died.  It was blowing like stink, so they probably grabbed on as they were blown past.

  I am anchored off of Kidd cove, near Georgetown.  Many boats anchor across the harbor at the various beaches in the lee of Stocking Island.  There was a big cruiser gathering last night, and I guess they were returning to their boat when they broke down.

I talked to them for a minute or so before it even occurred to me that I had not clothes on!  They could not see anything since they were below the stern.. But I was glad I realized it before I jumped down to look at their motor!

There was water in the gas in the carb, they declined the offer to come aboard while I looked at it.  I was able to get it cleaned out and started for them, not a small task in the dark with the boat bouncing around.

I asked them to call me on the vhf when they got to their boat (they apparently were going back across the harbor!). I never did hear back from them but watched them head out and they appeared to be doing fine as long as I could see them.