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Waimanu / The Smallest Boat you'd go to sea in?


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We cruised Tonga and Fiji, no fridge, hot water, etc. had NZ butter all the way round, (kept in bilge) cheese lasted well. an occasional wipe with a vinegar soaked cloth took care of mould. Did get tasty fairly quickly though! Large piece of bacon hung from the deckhead lasted until all gone, ditto with the vinegar trick.  un-washed eggs directly from the farm lasted almost 2 months, (turned every 2nd day) Worst weather was 6 hours out from B.o.I on the way back. 20 minutes of excitement! Then on the nose all the way to Tapeka point. For pocket size and not so pocket size cruisers KISS is my recommendation.

An aussie boat that we came across several times had ongoing issues with alternators, refrigeration, anchor winch, etc. etc. and eventually rigging failure. This was an AWB that was supposedly up to standard when departing Aus. On top of this is the inability of many island techs to accurately diagnose and fix mech / electrical issues. You still pay by the hour though, and spend much of your time overseeing or doing the repairs yourself, often missing out on the reason you sailed there for in the first place.

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So how did you get around without an outboard? Just row, or row and sail?

Assuming you had a good practical dinghy with the Cav.

 

 

No I had an Avon redstart? redseal? Avon is the only inflatable that had decent rowlocks which meant it could be rowed properly if you threw away the oars and bought a decent pair of solid ones. I even won dinghy rowing races against solid dinghies (OK I was younger and fitter then). And I could put i below decks for a passage. It was an excellent compromise.

 

Unfortunately Avon don't make little boats anymore, but I did think about buying a pair of their rowlocks and asking a local manufacturer to put them on.

 

Now I have a bigger boat I have replaced the RIB (for sale cheap) with a soft bottom which fits in the sail locker and I am looking to a nice rowboat to put in the davits (on deck for passages). Current favorite is this but I am still changing my mind regularly.

 

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/08/designs/catskiff/index.htm

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