Some yachties go ashore to get their exercise. I got my exercise while getting ashore.
(Photos by Lorraine Seatle)
Let’s call seventeen knots of wind the norm, the tall side of a “Moderate Breeze“ on the Beaufort Scale, the beginning of a “Fresh Breeze“. Were there an unlimited fetch, the waves would be higher than a meter. We are under the land with a limited fetch, call it half a kilometer. Our waves are smaller than the RIB wakes… usually.
I’m sitting in shade and breeze in the cockpit going through the list. Money, devices (just a cell phone today), Covid kit (mask and sanitizer), shirt, pants, hat and sunglasses. Shoes are in the dinghy. I’m about to paddle ashore.
Time was, when anchored way out here, we were at the farthest edge of the anchorage. The vessel to our lee is on an old ship mooring – the ships now moor much farther out. Nowadays, here begins the outer reaches of the anchorage. There are typically a dozen or more yachts anchored in isolation outside of us, at intervals upwards of a hundred meters. Where we are, intervals are upwards of fifty meters – as crowded as I like to be.
This far out, we get a sweet breeze, a long fetch of the harbor chop, more swell, less noise and few mosquitoes. And when the wind goes calm we get eddies from the current that passes under the island, which swirl into the bay, which turn and drift us every which way (usually in the wee hours). We need the big intervals that we swing in.
There is almost no Wi-Fi signal out here.
Why on Earth would anyone anchor this far out? Peace and quiet (relatively speaking) and elbowroom.
But that does make for a long, sometimes wet, paddle to shore. My dinghy uses manpower or sail. During the winter trade wind, the paddle in can be all I can handle, sometimes more. Time was, I could hold my own against twenty-five knots. Now I rate myself at twenty. A time will come when that is too much.
Got it all? Pull up and dinghy check, often starting with a bail. Sponge and bailer. Shoes. Motive power (paddles) and backup power (sailing rig) – their roles reverse for the sail home.
Load up, push off, paddles assembled and pulling as quickly as possible – losing ground is demoralizing. A few times, I have pushed off and decided that I was defeated, too much wind. Sometimes I try for a while before giving up.
To feather the paddles (edge to the wind on the return stroke) or not to feather? That is a question whether kayak paddling (my case) or rowing. Most kayakers habitually feather. Rowers generally do not. Me? Depends. Paddling into a strong wind, I feather. Downwind, not feathering actually helps. Not feathering when more than thirty degrees off of a strong wind gives a drier ride. Not feathering against the fifteen-knot wind we have today increases the work some. I could use the exercise.
Stroke, stroke, stroke…. Once it becomes automatic, it is meditative. Or you can peruse the fleet as you pass among them. Or sing or recite to yourself. Watch out for swimmers.
“Row, row, row your boat… less money, noise and pollution, more friendly, peaceful and safe.“ – Jo Hender, Compass Forum, a quarter century ago. Less noise and pollution and more peaceful are self-evident.
More safe? Well, you’re not counting on an outboard or its fuel supply, and in the case of an inflatable, your backup, the oars (if you bother to carry them) don’t amount to much against the trade wind. Rowing is safer for swimmers – but keep an eye out anyway, they can’t hear manpower or sail approaching.
More friendly? No noise or wake for the yachts I paddle by. Another aspect is that manpowered vessels sometimes get friendly hails from yachts they pass. Occasionally I stop to chat and I’ve even been invited aboard – that’s friendly.
(Not that blasting inflatables don’t get an occasional hail. When they speed by close aboard, flat out, with a point-blank, slamming wake, I’ve been known to shout, loud enough for them and the neighbors to hear, “Glad I’m not in the water, idiot!“ “Idiot“ might seem a bit harsh, but “jerk“ means unpleasant – these folks could be good as gold in that regard.)
Less Cost? You bet! (If money is a priority.)
I built my hard dinghy out of plywood and epoxy a quarter of a century ago for half of what an inflatable dinghy would have cost. It’s had repairs since and even two rebuilds (which you don’t do with inflatables). I’ve saved the cost of several inflatables and one or more outboards. And I don’t buy gas.
But money isn’t why I have a manpowered hard dinghy. It is a preference and a practicality – for instance, I usually land on beaches. A hard dinghy without an outboard is so much easier to pull up. And some of the places I like to visit have docks or shores you wouldn’t want to get a rubber duck close to. Which also makes the choice a freedom issue.
In a really strong wind, a force more than today, big gusts can push us backwards, even if I’m hunkered down and paddling hard. Then the wind eases and we make headway again. Several times I’ve wondered if this was the time I wouldn’t make it. You don’t rest while paddling in, that just adds to the work. You could pick up a mooring or ask a yacht if you can hang on their dinghy for a rest. You could ask for or be offered a tow – which I accept only if I’m defeated.
Roughly halfway in, the waves have noticeably diminished. The wind becomes slightly variable but retains its strength. It is the wind we must beat. We’ve passed a couple of interesting yachts on the way. Stroke, stroke….
Most of the serious ocean sailors that I know sail modest-sized yachts and have hard, manpowered dinghies. (Most of them also happen to be single-handers – guess it’s the circles I run in.) Some of their dinghies have sailing rigs, but these people get their sailing time at sea. Their rowing dinghies are for getting ashore in all sorts of conditions and in all kinds of places. These sailors also get their elbowroom and exercise at sea. Here, they usually anchor close in, the area we are approaching now.
Closer in it becomes certain that I will make it – that’s in a big wind. No doubts in today’s wind.
The final test is pulling up the beach to dry sand – much higher if I’ll be gone a while. The exercise of paddling in might be what’s keeping me alive. Pulling up to dry sand might be what kills me, as I sit panting for breath on the bow in the breeze, overlooking the bay.
A hard dinghy without an outboard is so much easier to pull up
The rest of my exercise is whatever walking around I do ashore.
Then I reward myself with a sail home, recreation.
Why doesn’t everybody do it this way? Well, I’ll tell you.
An inflatable boat is one of the most landlubber proof items in the catalog. They are unsinkable, stable and all but unswampable. And they are a fender system unto themselves. Stumbles and falls by lubbers are cushioned. You can even sit on the rail! But keep them away from sharp objects. Their all-but-necessary outboard motors are remarkably reliable – if they are in good condition, have clean fuel and oil, and you know how to use them. Why would anyone row when they could merely pull a string, open a throttle and get a free ride? Sure, manpower is less money, noise and pollution – or is that just being silly? And some people prefer to go to the gym for their exercise… well, not here – we do have noodling three times a week.
Caribbean Compass December 2020.
© 2020