Dinghy or dingy

In our North American nautical world, a "dinghy" is any small boat powered by oars, sail, or an outboard motor. And then there's "dingy," which is similar to ditzy: less-than-average common sense with a lack of focus.  This is exactly what researching and purchasing a "dinghy" has done to me; it is totally driving me dingy. Kind of like Dory from Finding Nemo.

There is a wide variety of inflatable rubber dinghies out there. You got your AB's....Achilles.....Carib.....Zodiac.....Walker Bay......Avon.....do-da, do-da (do you hear Dory singing here?)  And then there's a decision of size----9 ft or 10ft (yep, it does matter) and a motor decision of what horsepower: 9.9 HP or 15HP. We'll go with Yamaha as it's prevalent in the Caribbean for parts and repairs. And then there's the co$t of course, that is choking us.  Though we don't possess a dinghy...yet, or as of today anyway, we can proudly boast of our new stainless steel MarTek Davits.  

MarTek motto:  Towing your dinghy is a drag

Davits are the metal brace arms extending off the stern (or back) of the boat to lift and carry your dinghy.  We found a new friend, Kevin, the owner of the MarTek Davit company, and successfully traded him a davit installation job on our boat for an official Tim Reeves Video on how to install your davits. Don't ya love barter?  Check it out:  

So davits are the first step----but it's kind of like having a garage....*sigh*.....without a car and its motor = dinghy-less. Oh well, as Dory sings, we'll "just keep swimming" until a dingy dinghy decision is made. Stay tuned.

One of the big events of the week was the removal of the boat name "Grateful". This required hanging on a swim platform over marina water, while holding a heat gun and peeling two decades of lettering off.    And then, applying the new sticky vinyl lettering... ta-da!  

The champagne ceremony and celebration are soon to follow.

It's a Tequila sunset

Always time for a Friday night sunset dock party. Whew, 19 sailors under one bimini and I donated one large bottle of tequila...woah.