renting small cruising dinghy for "dinghy camping"?
Posted by nireves@reddit | sailing | View on Reddit | 23 comments
I'd like to rent a small cruising dinghy like a Catalina 22 or a West Wight Potter 19. I would use it for "dinghy camping" out in remote ares of smaller bodies of water. Maybe it would be confined to one body of water, but I'd also like to trailer one to different lakes in the upper Midwest. Has anyone heard where this can be done?
tench745@reddit
Never heard of anyone renting sailing dinghies for more than a few hours. If you joined a sailing club they might let you take a boat for a couple days, but that would be pretty club specific.
There's not much small-boat sailing around me, so I built myself a Puddle Duck 15+ years ago when I was in college. The rot finally got beyond what I could manage and I had to cut her up for firewood (a very sad day I still don't like thinking about). I recently bought myself a Wayfarer to fix up and hopefully do some dinghy cruising next summer.
Horror-Raisin-877@reddit
These seem to be quite popular. People camp on them. Only 12’
12 foot scamp
foilrider@reddit
A Catalina 22 is not a "cruising dinghy". There is no category of boat called a "cruising dinghy".
These boats are sometimes called "pocket cruisers", but they are not dinghies in any case.
I have never seen any type of boat rental service that rents boats on trailers to be taken away over land.
ppitm@reddit
The Dinghy Cruising Association would disagree.
foilrider@reddit
I guess I'm just wrong on this particular point. Maybe I'm too American, and it seems this is a very British thing to do. But also, it seems many of the boats on their site are less specifically "cruising dinghies" and more "dinghies being used for cruising".
In either case I'd still argue a catalina 22 and a potter 19 are not dinghies, cruising or not.
Inevitable_Brush5800@reddit
Americans build literal campers on pontoons and call them houseboats. We drive giant SUV’s for a three person family. We drive huge pick-up trucks and keep them clean.
Just because we don’t do it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t make sense. I’m all for shunning certain aspects of Europe, particularly as it pertains to politics. Small boat sailing/cruising and cars with diesel engines are not those things though.
Igor Stopnik is a fun watch.
CrazyJoe29@reddit
Careful there, it almost sounds like you want to emphasize things you agree with, instead of just shouting about the things you don’t agree with.
This is dangerous idea that might lead to increased harmony and a more fulfilling life for everyone!
foilrider@reddit
I'm not shunning it, I'm just saying I'm not very familiar with it. In the US one oddball guy going camping on a Hobie cat, which sure, has happened, hasn't built any momentum towards calling the Hobie 16 a "cruising dinghy" even if stuff like that is occasionally done here.
CrazyJoe29@reddit
Oh man, there are perverts at least as deranged as Sam Holmes all over the states. Check out the Texas 200 maybe they’re not going as far offshore, but they’re definitely thinking outside the cruising/dinghy racing box!
u399566@reddit
Dinghy cruising has a long tradition tracking back to the 1920s. My favourite book on this is "Wandersegeln auf Binnengewässern" by Schreibert:
https://share.google/ewU1FtvBfSuxDqXiU
Pretty interesting book, although already published in 1928.
CrazyJoe29@reddit
Nobody’s asking but is how I think of a dinghy:
An open sailboat (no cabin) without ballast that relies on crew weight to counteract heeling caused by the force of the wind on the sails.
This once you put a cabin on the boat, lower a ballasted keel or centreboard, or flood the ballast tanks, you moving away from what is easily recognizable as a dinghy.
But then again, I think the whole point of boats is doing whatever you want to them, and calling them whatever you want. As long as you can self rescue and you’re not a danger to anyone else.
worktogethernow@reddit
You got to buy one my friend.
CrazyJoe29@reddit
Or build one. But he warned, once you build a boat the scales will fall from your eyes and you will be cast out from the garden forever!
On the plus side, you’ll have a cool little boat to bop around in. Swings and roundabouts.
Low_Individual7789@reddit
Tanzer Overnighter
madocgwyn@reddit
For small bodies of water you want something that has a drop keep and low draft like a siren 17 (only needs 8 inches of water) I don't know of any service that rents them. there are larger drop keels but if your going to be stepping and unstepping the mast at each step smaller might be easier.
meisangry2@reddit
r/DinghyCruising
RobinsonCruiseOh@reddit
Your best bet is to join a Sailing Club and be able to use the clubs boats. Also this is not a dinghy. for anything Inland Waters this is a full-on trailer sailor
Fellstorm_1991@reddit
Dinghy Cruising Association website will show you what actual dinghy camping looks like. My dad's a regular contributor and I've spent many a night sleeping in his 13ft modified Torch class dinghy, exploring the river. The sound of the water on the hull and the gentle movement of the boat gives the best possible night's sleep.
If you want to take a trailer/sailor small yacht for a bit more room, then yes you can buy one, but rentals tend to start around 32ft in my experience.
ppitm@reddit
No one is going to rent a keelboat or for something like that, and it would cost a lot even if they did. A cruising dinghy (<20' sail and oar boat) is something you can buy or build for a few thousand bucks. But it is more of a camping experience.
New_Day_Co-op2@reddit
Buy a wayfarer
LameBMX@reddit
I wound up sailing because, at a point before covid, it made more financial sense to buy a used power boat than rent a power for a weekend.
RobynTheCookieJar@reddit
Mr sir the venerable Potter 19 series are not dinghys 😤
It is a trailerable cabin cruiser / pocket cruiser
overthehillhat@reddit
Not out of the realm of possibility to actually buy one -- --
Would end up being more cost effective -- --
Use it as a trade in for a larger dinghy with inboard power and standing headroom