Sparkles!

Originally posted May 15th 2007.

I love Craig’s list! When I bought my boat it was listed with a dinghy. In reality it had a Sears vinyl kiddy dinghy not suitable for an adult. This is a fairly limiting thing as to get off the boat someone needs to have a dock to tie up to. Sailing out to a remote bay and anchoring could result in a severe case of cabin fever. Long story short I needed a dinghy. The problem is finding one on no budget. I looked all over the classifieds and all I could find was old fiberglass dinghies in advanced stages of disrepair ranging in price from $100-$400 dollars. Imagine my surprise when I saw a posting for an inflatable dinghy listed for $50 vs the going rate of over $500. I thought it would be a piece of crap coated in 30 years of filth and ripped to shreds or a vinyl kids boat; I was not going to call. Of course being a cheap bastard I did call and talked to the Kathleen who confirmed it was a zodiac like dinghy. I agreed to meet her that night at the Quayside Marina in Yaletown. Imagine my surprise when I found the dinghy pictured below. A 10ft soft bottomed inflatable in decent shape. It came with oars, a pump, and puncture repair kit. It was totally sweet. All it is missing is the aluminum floor boards which I can reproduce out of wood easily. I couldn’t force the money into their hands fast enough. I dragged it down the dock as fast as I could before they realized what they had done. Interestingly I had a lapse in judgment and decided to walk down figuring that it would be fairly light. WRONG. The thing was the size of a hockey bag and weighed as mush as dead body. I nearly had a heart attack dragging it out to Pacific Ave to catch a cab. Figuring they would not want to pick up a half crazed man with a “body bag” so I hid it behind a meridian and popped it on the cab driver when he had opened the trunk. In the end I got it home and inflated it where it no resides in the living room.Now we need to name it; any ideas?**UPDATE**Great news I have replaced the floor boards that were originally missing from the boat. I used 1/2" sanded plywood and made three panels. Sadly the spar varnish and plywood actually cost more than the whole boat! I built made the new floor boards down at the Jericho Sailing Centre as they have a hangar that makes a great workshop. After that I wheeled it out to the beach and launched it. It was easy enough to get into and in only a few inches of water did not ground out with me in it. Rowing is not my thing. It was fairly easy to do but I had my moments of spinning in a circle. I must of looked like a total jackass from the shore. Finally I named the dinghy: SPARKLES