Finding a compromise
markedly lop-sided, because she understandably declines to sit on the hard edge of the transom. Another couple cram together on the thwart with a midget oar apiece, while most Frenchmen simply use the oars as paddles. For serious progress, an engine appears to be necessary, and some people are so dependent on the machinery that they regard oars as optional extras. Inflatable tenders also suffer from progressive deterioration. After a few years, floor panels are inclined to leak so that feet and luggage are in puddles, or the luggage has to be on the passengers’ knees to keep it dry. The pre-war yachtsman in his wooden tender, with bottom boards and multiple thwarts, enjoyed a more civilised means of transport.
It’s a pity that the owners of modern tenders should be denied useful features that were standard in traditional craft, but does this actually matter? If lots of people seem satisfied with mass-produced dinghies that are cheap, cheerful and disposable, is there any safety issue to concern us? Well, here’s an example, and as this article opened with a quotation from a ‘casualty’, I’ll finish in a similar manner. Last year in the Channel Islands an inflatable drifted offshore with a dud engine. The owner grabbed a mooring buoy but if he had missed it the next stop was a long way downwind and his two small children could have suffered from exposure, because the boat’s interior was swilling with water and wet asses would have been no laughing matter. As they were being towed to the shore the owner was asked if he had oars. He gestured at a paddle-sized object and said: ‘I’ve got this, but I don’t really trust it.’
Even though the inflatable had lots of built-in buoyancy, the family would clearly have been safer in a clinker rowing boat. There’s food for thought: manufacturers of tenders should make a serious attempt to combine the best of ancient and modern.
Coastal Turmoil by Ken Endean (£16.99, Adlard Coles) describes variations in coastal sea states, such as windagainst-tide effects, and explains how to avoid rough water. I once owned an inflatable, which softened after only two years’ use. Ever since then our family’s tenders have been folding dinghies, built at home.
Most had ply sides and canvas bottoms but in 2002 we decided that we would enjoy something that behaved like a traditional craft – a proper little ship.
I designed Peardrop to combine several qualities. She has a rigid lower hull with buoyancy compartments but the canvas topsides fold down and foreshorten, so that she becomes small enough to be carried on davits by our 27ft cruiser.
The hull has a pronounced rocker (fore-and-aft vertical curve), for easy rowing, zero deadrise (ie. no bottom V) for maximum buoyancy, and good overhangs to deal with rough water, which we often encounter at our home mooring.
There is no provision for an outboard motor because rowing is cheaper than gym membership. She would not be everyone’s cup of tea but has been well-used for 14 years and is showing no hint of softness!
‘I owned an inflatable boat, which softened after only two years’ use’