In the '70s we lived in Michigan and sailed our Islander 28 out of Lake St. Clair. In 1978 we purchased a 7-foot, 11-inch Dyer sailing dinghy for our children to sail and use as a tender. In 1982 we moved to New Hampshire and the dinghy rode the foredeck through the New York barge canal to our new mooring in Back Channel in Kittery. It has served us every trip out to the boat since then.

In preparation for a trip to Florida and the Bahamas, we purchased a 31-foot Westerly Longbow and installed davits for the dinghy. It has ridden there for the one-year trip south and every summer for five weeks Downeast. It sits all summer when not in use in the water at the dinghy dock. This is hard use, and it has stood it for 25 years. We have a small motor, but I love to row and that's what we do if the distance is under a mile.

When on a cruise, most mornings find me rowing around the anchorage with my binoculars and a cup of coffee, observing wildlife and the other boats. During 25 years there have been only three or four times when sea state kept me on board and with an inflatable I might have gotten ashore.

I have installed flotation under the gunwales (see accompanying photo), which makes it easier to bail out if we do swamp. This has only happened once, right in the middle of Newport Harbor when it breezed up and presented us with a wicked chop on the way back to the boat.

The dinghy has been such a good solution for us that I can't even imagine switching to an inflatable.<