Living at anchor means one has to get back and forth from the "house boat" to the land. And that means a dinghy -- think of it as our car for getting from the house to just about anywhere. And powering our dinghy is an outboard. Yeh, some folks row or better yet sail in, but not me. Rev it up.
Our dinghy and outboard require their own care and maintenance. And to keep them from the clutches of opportunistic thieves, we take the outboard off the dinghy every night and raise the dinghy out of the water. And lock everything up...
So to get ashore, it takes us a bit of prep time. And that is when the current isn't honking or wind waves aren't cascading through the hulls. We can do the drill in about 10-15 minutes, but I'm sure in a panic we'd cut that time in half! Ha.
Here are some pictures of the drill:
 |
| Starting point: dinghy up on davits and outboard locked to boat stern (hard to see) |
 |
| The dinghy is now in the water; Alan is ready to step aboard. The gas can lives in the dinghy while at anchor. Alan will also turn the dinghy around so the stern is by the outboard....it doesn't fit otherwise! |
 |
| Alan getting the outboard ready to lower. I lower it via a 3 part block and tackle -- it weighs 80 pounds! The dinghy is secured to the boat with multiple lines....no chance for adventure! |
 |
| Outboard attached, Alan gets the fuel line attached and starts the motor. |
 |
| Meanwhile, I'm getting our load ready -- that be trash, backpacks, dry bags (think computer!) and stuff. Imagine laundry day loads...yuck. |
 |
| Our goal: the dinghy dock at Marina de La Paz. We are not alone! |
No comments:
Post a Comment