Hi all,
We’re at anchor in Elizabeth Harbor at Georgetown in the Exuma’s and have our dinghy in the water for traveling purposes. We noticed having difficulty getting to plane and once getting swamped by a wake from another boat. I thought it was an issue with the outboard and took it to the closest beach to haul it out. While doing so I undid the plug that drains the core and had gallons of water drain out. Thinking of all the recent rain I just thought it was seeping in from the fittings in the floor of the dinghy. On the way back to the boat we noticed the nuts from the bow eye laying next to the fuel tank just in time to save the eye from coming all the way out.
After fastening it together I took it back to the beach after grabbing tools and Loctite for a proper fix. Had this pulled out while we were towing or during the night, we would have been ordering a new dinghy and outboard. Hmmmm. After 8 years cruising I can only imagine that the nuts backed off from the jerking when tied to the boat or docks. The little plastic nut covers kept us from seeing this happening. Just lucky we noticed it when we did, aint life great.
We’re at anchor in Elizabeth Harbor at Georgetown in the Exuma’s and have our dinghy in the water for traveling purposes. We noticed having difficulty getting to plane and once getting swamped by a wake from another boat. I thought it was an issue with the outboard and took it to the closest beach to haul it out. While doing so I undid the plug that drains the core and had gallons of water drain out. Thinking of all the recent rain I just thought it was seeping in from the fittings in the floor of the dinghy. On the way back to the boat we noticed the nuts from the bow eye laying next to the fuel tank just in time to save the eye from coming all the way out.
After fastening it together I took it back to the beach after grabbing tools and Loctite for a proper fix. Had this pulled out while we were towing or during the night, we would have been ordering a new dinghy and outboard. Hmmmm. After 8 years cruising I can only imagine that the nuts backed off from the jerking when tied to the boat or docks. The little plastic nut covers kept us from seeing this happening. Just lucky we noticed it when we did, aint life great.