After fighting water current for 6 months using our trolling motor when trying to get to shore and back, we decided to outfit our dink with a new Mercury 3.5hp gasoline engine. There were too many times where the little 30# thrust motor just didn’t feel like it was going to get us back to the boat. I’m looking forward to the upcoming weekend trips and the chance to try out the new motor.
It was a gorgeous weekend, but we didn’t get any sailing in. Blake was sick all weekend and had a fever Saturday. He was doing better yesterday morning and did make it to school. This coming weekend is supposed to be just as nice, so we’ll be out on the water for sure. It’s storming at the moment though and is supposed to last through tomorrow.
We did ordered a new dinghy today from BoatsToGo.com. Very good customer service who has been prompt in returning emails. Even price matched a competitor who I didn’t choose to purchase from due to the lack of customer service.
Below is a pic. It is 7’6″, which should fit on our deck nicely while underway. It is inflatable with a high pressure inflatable floor and v-keel, so we’ll keep it below deck during the days we daysail and keep it on deck otherwise. Our current dinghy is about 9’6″, so it takes up a lot of space on the deck. It also doesn’t tow well at anything above about 4.5 knots, so I hope the new dink performs better in that department too.
We’re still going to use the electric motor though. I typically take our dog to shore to do her business around 5am; that’s easy to sneak over and do using the electric motor without disturbing other camped boaters, so we’ll stick with that for now.
Just as our current dink is apparently easy to spot, being not your typical dink, the new one should be easy to spot as well with it’s large name “Saturn” plastered on the side.
What a beautiful weekend we had here in Pensacola.
We shoved off from the dock around 4:30pm on Friday and headed to Ft. McRee. The temp was great over Friday night.
We got up around 5am Saturday morning, fixed coffee and had breakfast, then went for a couple of hours sail before returning to Ft. McRee around noon.
Had lunch, then went swimming. The water was crystal clear, so I took the opportunity to scrub my prop and glance over the entire boat bottom. The color and clarity of the water reminded me of the Bahamas.
Around 2:30pm we were getting cleaned up from all the swimming and noticed Nightwatch prepping to drop the hook, so my son and I dinghy’d over to say “HI” after they settled in. After touring Nightwatch, which is an absolute beautiful vessel with obvious hard work put into her, we were invited back for 5pm cocktails. So my wife, son, and I headed back over for cocktail hour and really enjoyed ourselves chatting the evening away with Ralph and Mary.
As the sun set on Saturday, the three of us headed back to our own boat to cook some dinner and turn in for the night.
We woke around 5am Sunday morning, had coffee and breakfast, then headed on back home so we could visit with my mother for a while, since it was her birthday.
Carol commented how this was one of the best sailing weekends we’ve had in a long time. It was perfect all around.
Ralph and Mary, it was a pleasure to finally meet with you both in person.
Here’s our new dinghy. We were using a little 2 person (with three of us on it) Coleman inflatable, which wasn’t very rigid and you would get wet. So for the extended camping weekend earlier this month, we picked up a new dinghy and trolling motor. It all deflates and stores easily when not used. It also holds the three of us, without getting wet.
 | Welcome to s/v Monomoy's blog. This site is a journal of sorts in regards to sailing and maintaining our 1987 Hunter 37.5 named "Monomoy". Contact the Captain at: bharris [at] RationalRealty.com |