Planetary Exloration on Senta II

For the last two years we've either rowed the dinghy or powered it with our Minnkota electric trolling motor. It's been really nice to just hook the small (50 Ah) AGM batteries to the solar charging circuit and then silently glide through the anchorages at a couple of knots.

Unfortunately, the Minnkota just doesn't quite do it and there are a lot of exploration opportunties that we've missed because we did not feel it was worth lugging the batteries and the motor given a range of maybe one hour out and one hour back.

The 4-stroke Nissan 3.5 HP wasn't any better. Getting it off the sternrail and past the wheel into the cockpit was always an adventure. We always worried we'd smash the chartplotter or pull a muscle or just drop it in the water while trying to get it into the dinghy. Then there was the gasoline; we didn't want any onboard - so we got rid of it.

The dinghy itself is way too big for it's size. It is a small dinghy with a roll-up floor but the 1" wooden transom makes it a bear to stow. Since we do not want Senta to look like a boat belonging to the Beverly Hillbillies we stow the dinghy down below, on the port settee.

Apart from the aesthetics, there is also a huge safety concern if towing the dinghy or stowing it on deck. When towing any sudden wind issue could become a catastrophy and the same is true for on-deck storage. Senta's deck space around the mast is very limited and if the dinghy is stowed on the foredeck it completely fills the available space so there is virtually no way of getting to the anchor windlass.

In short, our shoreboat is the biggest issue we have, and the biggest drawback with Senta's diminutive 39' size. No other aspect of our equipment list or boat design has caused us more negatives.

So, we wasted a lot of money on the Nissan which we later discarded in La Paz, Mexico. We also spent a lot of money on the Minnkota and the AGM batteries, and now we are about to discard them too. At one point we also carried a beautiful Sea Eagle inflatable kayak but you basically could not go anywhere in it without getting soaked and it was less than ideal for carrying provisions.

We've now taken the first step in getting a shoreboat set-up that is not too big and not too small, but just right. We found out that we could buy a new 2 HP Yamaha 2-stroke engine here in Playa del Coco, so we did. At 10 kilos it is a breeze to lug around and while it is about as primitive as an engine can be it should be just about right.

Next we'll see if we can pick up an Achillies tender somewhere along the way. The Achilles brand offers two tenders that do not have huge plank transoms but bolt-on engine brackets suitable for something as small as our little new Yamaha.

Maybe we'll finally be able to get off Senta in anchorages without it being a huge hassle, and do more of that exploring stuff :-)

It has been a long expensive learning experience but maybe we are finally getting to the point where we'll have a good solution.