Practical Dinghy Cruiser

Dinghy Cruising is a popular, practical activity, pursued by hundreds if not thousands of sailors. Surprisingly, there is no recognized, single style of craft specifically for this sport. Each person taking it up must find their own boat and then modify it to make it suitable for their own chosen undertaking. This book is the key to unlocking that whole experience, on a tight budget. It explains how to search out an affordable craft, then to carry out the many task required, in order to convert it into a ‘cruising unit’ capable of carrying its owner on adventurous journeys. Sailors with an innovative mind and some practical ability who possess a garage or a garden shed can venture upon their own voyage of discovery, inventing and fabricating their own equipment to make their dream a reality.

Where do I start? What do I need? Who can help me? The book is filled with questions and although many solutions are offered, absolute answers are not given, only guidance, to encourage individuals to explore ‘avenues’ and to think for themselves.

In an increasingly technologically wasteful world, dinghy cruising has been described as a ’low carbon’ activity that can re-establish the link between urban people and ‘nature’. It does not matters whether the journey is crossing a lake, going down a river or canal, along the coast or across the sea, dinghy cruisers will find themselves seeing the sunrise, admiring the sunset and studying the stars once more.

The book has many simple constructional diagrams of useful equipment, numerous photographs of the people, the boats and the activity. There are lessons to be learned and short cruise accounts to be enjoyed, sufficient to carry the reader into the dinghy cruising world in the craft that they have evolved. The contents will hopefully encourage them to feel 'I could do that.'