Having spent many years now, something like 12 or so as a live aboard sailor, on various vessels purchased and restored while cruising summers. Spending winters as a snowboarder, traveling about in RV's, and playing at mountain hermit in small cabins choping firewood. There falls a serious question... What to do with that beloved dink? Sure some people just let them go with the boat, but when you often change vessels and locations, the budget is tight, or most importantly you just love your skiff,and have had it longer than you have lived aboard... some useful thoughts...
(note mine is a dyer dow sailing dink 9ft, thoughts work well with most hard dinks)
*ideas by year,in order they were tried...
1. Flip dink upside down on top of jeep to keep rain and or snow from filliing soft top while not at beach...
2.take dink to ski mountain and try rowing down slope...take it to next level and win pond skimming contest...
3.cover firewood to keep dry...
4.spend winter converting to sailing dink installing center board...make huge mess and replace carpets in rental apt, and sanding carpet off of wet resin on hull when tripping over saw horse...
5.stand on stern and install shelves at old rowing seat to hold tv,books and stack junk in instead of buying a real bookshelf...
6.lean agains back of rv to hold crates of gear and keep snow off generator on trailor hitch platform rack doubling weight of rv...but transporting all sailing gear cross country...admiring peoples faces on the interstate staring at the turtle shell looking thing on back of rv...
7.was somuch fun did it twice, devised method for lowering from roof to launch dink anywhere there was water, american indians took pictures of me sailing in a puddle in the desert, i took no photos i was the tourist lol...
8.prop on block with lightbulb underneath to keep freinds tortise warm in back yard...
9.strap to roof of truck to keep dry instead of fix leaky sun roof...
10.prop up rightside up inside this time,flat on floor on sandbags, cut out plywood to fit flush over seats leaving about 2 inches of gunnel inside above plywood,cut foam matress to fit in space left above plywood, wrap in sheets tuck in blanket add pillows, converted niceley to slightly smaller than a doublebed...
11.build cradle to repeat bed, cut pluwood in half and add handle holes, use inside of hull below matress for storage...
12.wrap cover over whole dink/bed on foredeck of boat, to provide soft seating/stargazing weatherproof deck area while wintering in marina...
13.tow freinds behind truck in flood...re glass bottom when hit a speed bump...
14.return to use as a bed after summer of cruising, add "mini"fenders for effect and bewildered look on girls face when she sees where you sleep...
15.girl refuses to let you buy a "real" bed because she likes the dinghy better, after all its where you fell in love, she buys a 2 bedroom boat instead of a condo...and now you have to build davits...look on the bright side you figured out what your dinghy was for
(note mine is a dyer dow sailing dink 9ft, thoughts work well with most hard dinks)
*ideas by year,in order they were tried...
1. Flip dink upside down on top of jeep to keep rain and or snow from filliing soft top while not at beach...
2.take dink to ski mountain and try rowing down slope...take it to next level and win pond skimming contest...
3.cover firewood to keep dry...
4.spend winter converting to sailing dink installing center board...make huge mess and replace carpets in rental apt, and sanding carpet off of wet resin on hull when tripping over saw horse...
5.stand on stern and install shelves at old rowing seat to hold tv,books and stack junk in instead of buying a real bookshelf...
6.lean agains back of rv to hold crates of gear and keep snow off generator on trailor hitch platform rack doubling weight of rv...but transporting all sailing gear cross country...admiring peoples faces on the interstate staring at the turtle shell looking thing on back of rv...
7.was somuch fun did it twice, devised method for lowering from roof to launch dink anywhere there was water, american indians took pictures of me sailing in a puddle in the desert, i took no photos i was the tourist lol...
8.prop on block with lightbulb underneath to keep freinds tortise warm in back yard...
9.strap to roof of truck to keep dry instead of fix leaky sun roof...
10.prop up rightside up inside this time,flat on floor on sandbags, cut out plywood to fit flush over seats leaving about 2 inches of gunnel inside above plywood,cut foam matress to fit in space left above plywood, wrap in sheets tuck in blanket add pillows, converted niceley to slightly smaller than a doublebed...
11.build cradle to repeat bed, cut pluwood in half and add handle holes, use inside of hull below matress for storage...
12.wrap cover over whole dink/bed on foredeck of boat, to provide soft seating/stargazing weatherproof deck area while wintering in marina...
13.tow freinds behind truck in flood...re glass bottom when hit a speed bump...
14.return to use as a bed after summer of cruising, add "mini"fenders for effect and bewildered look on girls face when she sees where you sleep...
15.girl refuses to let you buy a "real" bed because she likes the dinghy better, after all its where you fell in love, she buys a 2 bedroom boat instead of a condo...and now you have to build davits...look on the bright side you figured out what your dinghy was for