The Dinghy: Your Boat's Getaway Car

Your tender (or dinghy) is the small boat that ferries crew between an anchored yacht and the shore — think of it as the family car for a house with no driveway. Most cruising tenders are inflatables, often a RIB (rigid inflatable boat) with a solid hull and inflatable tubes, powered by a small outboard motor of roughly 2–15 horsepower.

You carry the tender one of two ways. Towing means trailing it on a line (a painter) behind the yacht — simple, but in a following sea the dinghy can surf into your stern or flip, so you shorten the painter in harbour and lengthen it offshore, and never tow at speed with the outboard still mounted. Davits are arms at the stern that hoist the dinghy clear of the water — safer for passages and stops it filling with water, which is why most bluewater cruisers prefer them. For a short hop to a marina, many skippers simply deflate and stow the tender on deck.

Running the outboard rewards the same habits as the main engine (recall prop walk and idling in gear): attach the kill cord to your wrist or leg so the engine stops if you fall out, check you have fuel and the vent is open, and keep weight low and centred as people board. A tender is easy to overload — respect its rated capacity, because a wave over the bow of a laden dinghy swamps it in seconds.

For safe trips ashore: everyone wears a lifejacket, you carry a bailer and a paddle in case the motor dies, and you tie up above the tide line or use a long line so a falling tide doesn't leave the dinghy hanging — or a rising one float it away.