SoCal - sailing dinghy recommendations?
- Thread starter marke14
- Start date
Have you considered rigging an inflatable dinghy to sail? I have the stuff to rig it but never have done so. I kinda inherited the parts from a cheap styrofoam sailboat and the rudder, mast, sail would work fine on my 10' dinghy. Chief
Ha ha Chief, no sir I had not considered that. I am super happy with the new dinghy and will be selling my PortaBote.
I haven't sailed it yet - I tried but it was at dusk and the wind died completely down to zero, and I had to paddle back to my slip.
Soon ... and I will post a few pictures.
P.S. I love those Portland Pudgies, I hadn't heard of them before. A sailing lifeboat ... crazy!
I haven't sailed it yet - I tried but it was at dusk and the wind died completely down to zero, and I had to paddle back to my slip.
Soon ... and I will post a few pictures.P.S. I love those Portland Pudgies, I hadn't heard of them before. A sailing lifeboat ... crazy!
So if I don't want to get wet necessarily ... how much is too much wind? How do folks plan for the opposite, to get back in if the wind lays down? I have a small collapsible "emergency oar/boat hook" that I bring as the oars it came with are far too bulky to sit in the boat with you.
How do folks plan for the opposite, to get back in if the wind lays down? I have a small collapsible "emergency oar/boat hook" that I bring as the oars it came with are far too bulky to sit in the boat with you.
I did my first real sailing in the WB8 yesterday. It was a bit more challenging than I had expected!
I got myself in a bit of trouble when I didn't make it through a tack and ended up backwinded against, thankfully, the biggest pile of crap boat in the marina (on an end tie) but even that was a very low-speed, fend off kind of contact.
It's quite uncomfortable to sail in, because you have to sit on the bottom of the boat and duck down way low to get the boom across when tacking or gybing.
Going upwind was a little tedious - not sure what I was expecting there - but once it loaded up and got moving, it went to windward pretty well. I think I just need some more practice to get the hang of it.
I got myself in a bit of trouble when I didn't make it through a tack and ended up backwinded against, thankfully, the biggest pile of crap boat in the marina (on an end tie) but even that was a very low-speed, fend off kind of contact.
It's quite uncomfortable to sail in, because you have to sit on the bottom of the boat and duck down way low to get the boom across when tacking or gybing.
Going upwind was a little tedious - not sure what I was expecting there - but once it loaded up and got moving, it went to windward pretty well. I think I just need some more practice to get the hang of it.
Chief, it sheets mid-boom so I am not sure how I would do that, or what it would accomplish except that I would get clotheslined instead of clobbered by the boom (potentially).
BTW I could see that really injuring someone, if you experienced a crash gybe / uncontrolled gybe. We are fortunate that our big boat's boom is overhead even if you are standing in the cockpit.
BTW I could see that really injuring someone, if you experienced a crash gybe / uncontrolled gybe. We are fortunate that our big boat's boom is overhead even if you are standing in the cockpit.