Hi Rusty, As an old big boat sailor, before I got smart and downsized to an M15, I have done a lot of dinghy swapping to find the best solution. My first dinghy was a 9' dinghy, with dagger board and a sail, that I towed from Rotterdam to Paris via inland waterways; also used that dinghy when we sold the powerboat we had bought for the French inland waterways, and bought a sailboat again. This time we towed it from the Ijsselmeer in Holland down the English Channel to Le Havre and then back up the Seine to Paris. This dingy came back to the USA several years later and then explored New England waters. ....but: It was heavy. It had to be towed. I tried putting it on the foredeck of our 29-footer, but that wasn't a solution that was practical. So, I bought an AVON inflatable from a neighbor. The thought was it could be stowed in the forepeak on longer passages, and then inflated when we needed it. ...but: pumping it up in the cockpit was a nuisance; took a long time and a lot of energy; the rowing position was terrible; and trying to row it, loaded with two adults and two children against a headwind with the itty-bitty oars AVON gave you was impossible. The AVON only worked using an outboard, ....but what if the outboard doesn't want to start....? .....and the wind is blowing? .... and you have to row upwind to get back to the boat that is on a mooring half a mile away? The AVON was a disaster, and I sold it as fast as possible. Then I bought an old decrepit 7' - 9" Dyer low freeboard dinghy. After rebuilding it,this was a dinghy that worked. It rowed well, but.... It worked with one person aboard; still was workable with two on board; but with the children as well, the low freeboard meant it could only be used in a flat calm. If a powerboat left a wake, water came aboard. So, the low freeboard Dyer was nice, but not seaworthy. I needed the regular freeboard model. I bought a new one with sails. A delightful dinghy that fulfilled all requirements, including rowing out a second anchor into the wind at 2 AM .... It was sold with our sailboat when we downsized. The first time we went sailing in Maine with our M15, there were no marinas, and dock space was used by the lobster fishermen. Moorings were available;but on that first trip we didn't have a dinghy. So,for the M15, and our new extended cruising grounds, that winter I built a stitch-and-glue Bolger designed NYMPH. It was light weight; easy to put on the roof rack of the car; and was great fun to row for longer distances, mornings before the wind came to work. It was easy to tow behind the M15. The one minor drawback it had was that it was tender when you first got aboard. After you sat down all was well. Bolger modified the NYMPH to solve that "slight" problem by widening the beam by 12", creating the RUBEN NYMPH. I never tried one, but that may be the best solution. It carried my wife and myself; beer; water; groceries; fuel, ..... a dependable and excellent dinghy. See photos on Google -> "Bolger NYMPH" Happy sailing, Connie ex M15 #400 LEPPO ex Tripp-Lentsch 29 FUN TOO (26 years) ex Northeast 38 RHE On 11/29/2018 7:57 PM, Rusty Knorr via montgomery_boats wrote:
Just curious what the M-15 sailors here are using for a tender. In Puget Sound your really need one because anchorages are rugged and rocky and beaching is a challenge or impossible. Please share your thoughts, experiences, opinions, etc. M-17’s need not apply! (Unless you also have an M-15. 😜)
Rusty
www.rustyknorr.weebly.com