I am glad we decided to raise the waterline last spring when we did a paint job on the hull. The purpose of doing so was because it makes it poosible to polish the topsides while the boat is in the water.

Well, as all cruisers know, 'stuff' tends to be brought on board at a steady pace. Thus; unless one carries other 'stuff' ashore at a similar pace, the painted waterline seem to reach the 'real waterline' (where the water ACTUALLY meets the hull) over time.

This in turn leaves the crew with 3 alternatives.

1) Simply accept that the boat is in a very slow, but steady process of sinking...

2) Buy a larger boat.... or

3) Take a full day, or whatever needed, to go through every storage locker on board and discard/sell/ give away every item we find that has NOT been in use for 2 years, AND is not likely to hazard the overall safety onboard.

After lenghty considering, and negotiating, we have come to a consensus decision in the matter.

We'll settle with alternative 3. But not now of course....but soon.... or at least well before taking of on a longer passage..... or.....


A lot of self irony in the text above.... but it's SO TRUE, and in itself a safety matter at the end.

Anyway- We just made a SO good deal and found an *almost new' inflatable dinghy with an inflatable floor board together with a 2 hp outboard at a very reasonable price. This deal came through thanks to Joe, one of many nice neighbours here in the achorage.

Posting a pic of the dink here and the OB in the Photo Gallery.

The grey 'pillow' is from our old dinghy. Why a new one?

When we spend months on end at anchor like this, the dinghy is SO important since it is, in effect, our 'daily driver'. At least trip ashore daily, with water jugs, food and other necessities plus the crew and occassionally a guest too.

The dinghy needs to be sturdy enough to take those loads and keep us at least reasonably dry and comfy while rowing ashore as well as being capable of taking quite a bit of beating against concrete walls, pontoons, other tenders and smaller fishing boats etcetera AND yet be light enough to be manageable for one man to get up on deck.... and last but not least, be small enough to, when deflated, be snugly stowed on the cabin top without hampering the vision from the cockpit too much.

Impossible combo?

Obviously, every one of us comes up with their own answer to this issue.

For us, at this point at least, it's a 2,30 m dinghy at 15 kg and a light 2 hp engine. The engine makes it possible to move against a >25 knots wind AND tide, which is virtually impoosible when rowing.


Still prefer rowing as long as it's at all possible for sure.