Tenderitis in Bequia
We believe the mothership attacked the tender as a split pin on the back stay had rotated and pierced the skin on reversing to check the anchor was dug in. Eventually the tube part filled with water and collapsed at a faster and faster rate so we had to go for a field repair.
And a quick word on tenders; we made the mistake of listening to a professional and did not fit davits. This has restricted our mobility as it’s a big effort and very time consuming to keep stripping the tender down every time you want to move. Davits are a must for all the short hops in heavy seas that you need to do in the Caribbean.
Our other big lesson learnt is that a smaller tender with a hard bottom is a much better vehicle than a fully inflatable. Our valves leak, you can’t get the pressure in the floor, and you don’t get the performance in rougher trade wind anchorages.
Gerry and Wendy from Duplicat kindly leant us their ‘car’ whilst ours was in the garage curing.
Our tender has been afloat for 3 months and done a good 200 miles plus
The Duplicat sports car – tiny, twitchy and fast…
