Me and my Dinghy

 

Today I was able to check off another major item on my to-do list:  get a working, functioning dinghy and motor.

Both items were bought from other sailors right here in my marina.  The dinghy is a ten-foot, hard-body brand called Pelican.  It has a flat bottom for easy planing, and can carry up to 350 pounds.  The hull is full of floatation so it cannot sink.

The motor is a 6 horsepower, 4-stroke Tohatsu.  I like 4-strokes because they're quieter and more efficient than a 2-stroke.  But make no mistake:  that son-of-a-gun is HEAVY.

So once I had the motor running smoothly and all the necessary accessories acquired, I hooked her up and went for a spin.  Wow, this baby gets up on a plane without breaking a sweat!  So I was tooling around the marina having a blast, then looked behind me and realized I was DRAGGING A WAKE.  Not good in a marina!  No problem - I just headed out the channel and buzzed around Clear Lake.  Lots of huge, magnificent mansions line the shore, and are really cool to see from the water. 

When we are cruising the ICW and other channels, the dinghy will ride up on the foredeck.  It fits - although just barely.  When island-hopping or in protecting waters, we can just tow it behind Dragonfly.   The motor will ride up on the stern rail, on a special mount I built for it.   Here's a shot of the motor in its place. 

Side note: the formerly-naked stern rail is getting crowded.  In addition to the motor, we have: spare anchor, BBQ pit, throwable float, AIS antenna, propane tank, flag.  No more! 

In other news, it looks like we'll be leaving on Saturday, not Sunday.  The wind is predicted to clock back around to the north Sunday morning.  We could get out of OUR marina Ok, but might have trouble getting into Stingaree Marina, on the ICW just east of Galveston Bay, our first stop.