Admiral Dingy around the in a 9' 11" dinghy

Senior Trailer Sailor Loses Control of Cruising Dinghy

I had a task to perform! Simply to put my Dinghy of Dreams on her trailer and take her out of the water

I have about 40 (forty) years of experience living aboard boats. My first command as a trailer-sailor has arrived. I reason that it cannot be that hard to take a dinghy out of the water. So, I way anchor (all by me one-sies)�"and I row my Dinghy over to the crab dock while the crab fleet is out.

I have never backed up a trailer before even so�"I feel that I can do this (all by me one-sies). So I put the trailer's tongue on the trailer hitch ball and the darn thing will not cooperate by slipping into its proper place. ARRRGH! It is not working this is a good time to practice nasty sailor language, so I jump and grumble using nasty sailor talk.

ARRRGH! That has been loads of fun, but I am not getting the job done, so I sit down on the trailer tongue I look at the top of the tongue wondering what the lever thing attached to it is. I try to turn it. ARRRGH! It isn't turning. I cannot help but to keep wondering what that thing is! I wonder what would happen if I were to lift it? So I lift it and almost fall on me fantail and at the same time the trailer falls into place. Aha! I have done it (all by me one-sies)!

Let's see. I am still trying to figure out how to back up a trailer. "Aha!" I tell myself, "I can do this!" Then off goes the van with Dingy (me) at the helm. I get it into position well enough to let the comedy of errors begin. "Aye," I say's I to myself, I want it to go to port and it goes starboard!"

So I get out of the van and pull the trailer around by hand, I have been at this for a good 20 minutes, and I'm still not getting the trailer into the water.

The bartender and the customers at the Marina are laughing their poop decks off at my inability to put a trailer into the water. I pull the trailer by hand to line it up with the water and back it almost straight.

The Dinghy is now ready to load and I have done it (all by me one-sies)! So then off I go! It seems as though the fender is scraping on the tiers. I decide to remove the fender. "That should keep it from scraping and causing a blow-out!"

I remove the fender, what am I to do with the nuts and bolts; I put them back onto the fender.

Remembering the nuts and bolts, whoops it seems as though they are supposed to hold the axle onto the trailer. I travel a hundred yards before I figure that out. It's a good thing that I have the boat strapped onto the trailer, or she would have fallen off and onto the road. As I look into the rear-view mirror, I see the Dinghy leaning to the port side. The frame on the trailer is bent down and is dragging on the ground. I have a serious problem and I have created it (all by me one-sies)!

For more Adventures of Admiral Dingy go to admiraldingy.com!
By Daryl Colinot

Senior 66 Cruses Around the World in A
9' 11" Dinghy, Will Time Allow?

Numerically speaking age is nothing more than a number, it's simply a number that goes with our physical body. Meaning we where born x number of years, months, weeks and days ago. In point of fact, we carry this number around with us and it does not stand dormant, it grows with each tick of the clock. We measure it in time!
TIME; what is time? The French horde it, the Swiss manufacture it, the Hindus say it don't exist, the Italians squander it, the Americans say it is money and me I navigate around the world with it. I personally thank time is a thief; it is robbing me of my time that I have left on this water planet as I sail the oceans of the world aboard my 9' 11" Dinghy!
There is 24 hours in a day, 1,440 minuets and 86,400 seconds in that same day. I have reached the autumn of my life; I, am now considered a senior and I wish to invest the time that I have left in sea adventures aboard my Dinghy of Dreams.
What notes a senior or an elderly person? Actually you are considered a senior by some establishments at 45 or 50, however 55 is probably the most correct.
Now the point of fact has been established I'm old at the time of this writing I'm 66 years and 6 month that is 66.6 ARRRGH not a good number. Oh well in two more days it will change to 66.7 that sounds better then 3-6's.
I want you to understand the problems that I am going through. I won't bore you with ten tons of reasons why I should not be doing this around the world sea adventure. Let's just say that they think that I am too old and that my Dinghy is too small and will founder and sink once I get out of the harbor and into the open ocean. ARRRGH Now I ask you what do you think?
My posture is this I have the attitude, the fortitude, the ways and the means to complete my sea voyage. I have built my Dinghy of Dreams. I shell be "Surviving on the Savage Seas" its sink or swim and my Dinghy of Dreams swims very well!
If you have an interest you can go to my web site admiraldingy.com and check out my first book Adventures of Admiral Dingy, book 1.
By Admiral Dingy


CAN HE DO IT?

Building My Dinghy of Dreams
By the Dinghy Builder Himself, Admiral Dingy!
My Dinghy of Dreams is my world cruising boat and also my dive platform for solo diving with a built in hooka rig where other divers do not go.
The lines of her hull evolved from the Great Age of Sail! I merely took those lines from a 40-foot sailing work boat (a cat boat) to be sure to create a hull of smaller proportion; and I added a super- structure of my design to fit the needs of her job at sea-- and that is to sail the oceans of the world and to keep me cooler in the day and warmer at night.

Hence she has become a one-of-a-kind experimental ship designed to go out and fight hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones. You may say that this is extreme sailing to the uttermost, because it is.
The size of the ship named "My Dinghy of Dreams" which has also been dubbed as "My Ne'er Will Sink Dinghy", is 9 feet 11 inches LOA in length overall with a beam six (6) feet wide.

She draws about 28 inches of draft fully loaded and displaces close to one ton of water. Her construction is fiberglass-layered with woven-roven, cloth and matt which required hundreds of (3) three-inch brushes to apply. At no time did I use rollers or chopper guns.

Her super-structure is Luhan saturated with resin with five (5) layers of cloth and matt on the outside and three layers of cloth and matt on the inside. Yes--this is very labor-intensive...However I was willing to pay the price in man hours. In fact, this little ship is so over-built with concentration to detail, that she is much too heavy for her size!

She is strong but in no way is She a fast ship. It's my belief that she will meet Lloyd's of London A- rating as well as that of the American Bureau of Shipping (A.B.S). I built her as if she were an over-built 40-foot work boat!

She carries a (6) six-inch closed cell of foam that I capped for insulation and flotation and it is my belief that she is unsinkable! And that is one more innovation for (Surviving on the Savage Seas)! That is until one of those Giant Squids comes up from the deep and rips her apart just like the Kraken in "Pirates of the Caribbean". But I would rather take my chances with the hurricanes than one of those massive monsters of the deep.

The sail that I chose is a Chinese Junk rig type that dates back more the 2,000 years. However, this boat should carry a gaff rig. I did this for many reasons (the main one being ease of handling)�"after all I do not have any deck space to go out and handle sail. That would be ever so dangerous, and the solar panels take up almost the entire deck. And I will build a gaff as well as a Marconi and not to forget a square sail--my favorite sail for downwind sailing. Yes, I know that a square sail is old-fashioned, but can you think of a better sail for going downwind in the trade winds for this size dinghy?

I have built in rowing stations to row 1)facing forward and push-type rowing; or 2)facing backwards and pull-type rowing; or 3) with a single oar, sculling one-handed with the oar lock mounted on the stern at center ship. This will allow me to exercise when weather permits; and I will be adding a "mini-gym" for the building and maintenance of my body for the exorbitant task of sailing a ship so small that I cannot even stand up in or move about in, to keep my body from cramping and my muscles in tone.

As you can see, exercise is of paramount importance for the daily activities. I have also built a harness to allow me to swim while pulling her toward my destinations. Let me explain:
I have installed two (2) twenty-four (24) - volt electric motors built especially for salt water and continuous run for cruising under power. Plus--there are three (3) solar panels, a wind generator, and I hope to build and add on a motion generator. At this point I do not know how to accomplish this problem, and any technical advice from any of you would be greatly appreciated.

My goal here is to be able to cruise under power indefinitely! That's a big maybe! With the twenty (20) batteries each with 650 amps, I have on board, she can store 13,000 amps. That is one gigantic amount of amps considering that her mother ship "Neptune's Castle" only has 1,300 amps and she is a 62-ft. sailing ship.

As for the Dinghy, except for the two 24-volt motors, the rest of the ship runs on 12 volts with 20 batteries converted into five (5) battery banks. Could that be a little over-kill? She has a full keel that holds eight (8) gallons of potable/drinking water, which is also a part of her ballast.

Topside there is a canvas to provide shade and catch rainwater and I am in the process of installing a water maker for insurance. The one that I am building produces 300 gallons a day. Okay so there is another case of overkill! She sleeps two (2) intimately (with body harnesses), and these bodies will also contribute to the ballast.

Trust that I have provided you with a good insight on how I built her.
For a more complete record of how I built "My Dinghy of Dreams", I encourage you to read my first book--just out and a collectible Sailor's Log book #1: Title is "The Adventures of Admiral Dingy--Around the World in a 9-Foot/11-Inch Dinghy--Log Book # 1; Printed by Montage Press. My technical book on "Surviving on the Savage Seas" will be published later this year.

In closing, just let me wish all of you "Fair winds in your sails"
--Admiral Dingy