CURRENT LOCATION: On a mooring ball near the reef in Ensenada Dakity
18 17.609' N, 065 16.813' W

Once a week, we motor our dinghy out through the cut and across Mosquito Bay to take care of the pool and work at the rental property on the hill. With the recent onset of increased tradewinds, that ride is getting a little more bumpy with each passing week.

This week, with Sheryl in the middle seat and me at the helm, I heard a distinct 'cracking' sound emanate from behind me. I turned to see some small cracks appear along the Porta-bote's plastic transom on each side of the motor mount. Not good.

Fortunately, we made the trip without incident (like the engine falling off into the bay, and the subsequent sinking of the Porta-bote). Once we were tied up to the big boat, closer inspection, which involved shaking the engine vigorously to see if the transom would crack further under the stress, suggested that we were not in immediate danger of catastrophic failure. We decided to risk one more trip in order to facilitate the transport of Sheryl's big island provisioning bounty out to Dakity.

That trip was a nighttime ride with the Porta-bote loaded pretty heavily in front and rear. I kept checking the transom with a flashlight each time the 'cracking' sound occurred, and could now see some of the internal metal structure housed within the plastic transom. After a successful transport mission, we declared the Porta-bote retired and removed the engine.

We give the Porta-bote a fair salute as it gave us over 8 months of faithful service. It offered three advantages over our inflatable: a substantially more roomy interior, higher freeboard for dryer passages, and the ability to keep our precious inflatable stored for a period out of the harsh UV rays of the tropical sun. For this, the purchase price was worth it. Would we ever go out and buy a new one? No. However, a good deal on one with an age measured in double-digit years suited us fine. Yes, it was slowly and subtly crumbling apart beneath us, but with a little bit of 5200, some duct tape and a few new nuts and bolts, it managed to hold together for just as long as we it needed to. It was a fairly ugly but practical means of transport while we were here in the harbor, and I am sure that we will miss the features it offered which our inflatable does not. We bid our big milk-carton-like tender a fond farewell.

As you can see in the lead photo, Patience has been resurrected from the depths of the port-side cockpit locker. She stands ready to be launched and outfitted with the new engine for our trips to town next week. I am curious to see how 6 horses of power will push our little inflatable tender. Will we be able to get up on a plane with two aboard? Only time will tell.