The tender that folds flat
Adinghy adds an enormous amount of fun to a cruising holiday, but on a small boat there is always the problem of where to stow it.
Hang it on davits and it gets in the way in tight manoeuvring and it can block the view astern; storing it on deck is often a nuisance. Our first yacht was a second-hand Moody 31, which came with a neat Avon inflatable and outboard. We could stow it below and inflate it quickly, but we hated the gymnastics involved in mounting the outboard and didn’t like carrying petrol.
As we worked out our style of cruising we realised that we rarely actually needed the motor. In a peaceful anchorage it was preferable to row quietly, and our dinghy rowed as badly as most inflatables. But that was what we had.
The much-loved Moody was our weekend and holiday home for eight years. Gordon retired in 2010 and we had our Sirius 310 deck saloon boat built. Alison was still working, so we kept Alshira at the builder’s base in north Germany through one summer and got to know her.
Alison loved being able to see out as she navigated, and a trudge homeward down the Kiel Canal in pouring rain showed the benefit of the inside steering position. We liked being able to make the longer passages with both of us inside, warm and dry. The 360° vision was essential. And that created a
