Should I carry a dinghy on my boat?

If you plan to leave the marina and use anchorages or swinging moorings, carrying a dinghy is absolutely essential. It serves as your primary transport ashore, a work platform for hull maintenance and a vital tool for laying out a kedge anchor if you run aground.

Why a dinghy is indispensable

Cruising by hopping from marina to marina dictates your itinerary and rapidly drains your budget. Marinas on the South Coast easily charge £3.50 to £5.00 per metre per night. Anchoring is free. Swinging moorings or river pontoons cost a fraction of marina fees, but they all require a tender to reach the shore or the pub.

Beyond shore leave, a dinghy functions as working gear. If you pick up a trailing pot line and foul your propeller, you need the tender to inspect the stern gear and cut the rope away. If you run aground on a falling tide, a dinghy provides the only way to row a kedge anchor into deeper water to winch yourself off. Always tie the dinghy on a short painter when reversing your yacht to avoid fouling your own prop.

Choosing the right dinghy type

For a 34 foot yacht where deck space is at a premium, you have three realistic options.

• Slatted floor inflatables Models like the Waveline 2.4m or Seago Spirit are highly compact. They roll up small enough to fit inside a standard cockpit locker. They cost around £350 to £450 and weigh very little, but they row poorly and flex in a chop.
• Air deck inflatables Brands like Honwave (the T27 is a classic) or Zodiac use a high pressure inflatable floor. They track much better under power and row reasonably well. They are heavier and bulkier when rolled, usually requiring storage on the foredeck or a large lazarette.
• Rigid Inflatable Boats Small aluminium hulled RIBs like the Highfield Ultralite 240 offer excellent performance and durability. They cannot be rolled up. You must store them inflated on the foredeck or suspended on davits, which is often impractical on a 34 foot yacht.

Storage and deployment options

How you stow the tender dictates how often you use it. If it takes an hour to dig the boat out of a locker and pump it up, you will simply stay on board.

• Deflated in a locker This is the best choice for keeping the decks clear on a mid size sailing yacht. Buy a high volume 12V electric pump (like a Bravo BP12) wired directly to your domestic battery bank. This inflates a 2.4m tender to the correct pressure in under three minutes.
• Lashed on the foredeck Storing the dinghy inflated and upside down on the foredeck is common. You must use heavy duty webbing straps secured to strong points rather than bungee cords. This position can obscure your forward vision and foul the jib sheets during tacks.
• Snap davits If you own a motorboat with a swim platform, Weaver snap davits provide an excellent solution. They glue onto the dinghy and clip onto a stainless bar on the platform. This allows you to pivot the tender up vertically against the transom.