Second Dinghy

Good day all:

Going to be on a bareboat charter first week of April with a group of 10 on a 52 foot cat.

Have chartered on numerous occasions previously but have had this large a crew before.

Appreciate thoughts and experiences regarding advantages/disadvantages for a larger or second dingy for a group this size?

Any other suggestions for organizing a larger group welcome and appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

I'd get a 2nd cat....

I second the 2nd cat.

Seriously, some charter companies will not provide you with a second dinghy. And they are expensive to rent., and the second dinghy will be dragging behind perhaps. Check with your charter company.

We just got back in December with 8 of us plus a captain on a 52 ft cat. Honestly, we all felt there was plenty of room...inside and outside. We found at least with our group, we would take 2 different trips ashore because getting 8 people to be ready at an appointed time was not going to happen...and seriously, why should there be such strict timelines??? It's vacation!!! I don't know if you're familiar with "Rick's Rules" on St. John Trip Advisor...but honestly if you're not...look it up. It's not only hilarious, it's true!!

We just got back with 10 people on a '50 cat. The idea of a second dinghy only came up once or twice (per hour). We had some scuba divers > made for some issues.

-- Second dinghy Pro's > see stolen dinghy thread.

-- Second dinghy Con's > extra cost and see stolen dinghy thread.

We've chartered power cats in the past and the boat's cruising speed of the dinghy up on davits vs pulling one was a loss of one knot per hour: two dinghy's would be more. All in all: a cheap set of walkie-talkies can go a long way in sharing one dinghy. And the walkie-talkies make for less fights than some of the cellular texts we sent back and forth to each other: i.e., "When are you coming back?" (may be not said in such nice words)

10 people.....

They are going to be going several different directions at one time.

Provisions : make up lists , do not send em all shopping at the same time. It will be WAR !

Have a pre cruise meeting about

1. Pre ordering provisions, and have them delivered.

2, Make a list of all the items, taxi to the market. Max of two to three people.

3. Hand held radios sound great.

4. Assign cooking duty . Probably three or four people, to handle of the mess duties, and clean up after dinner.

5. As to the dink, good luck. You might assign a dink captain or two, who know outboard motors and how to tie proper knots .

6. Assign mooring pick up crews, rotate them so every one who wished to learn and help out can do so.

7. Have a meeting and go over which island and cays you intend to visit, and what there is to do ashore.

Personally, good luck, have fun.

If that group has no orgnization, or leadership......welcome to the BVI Goat Rope

Pour a double rum, have patience, and shrug everything off.

I have not even mentioned , keeping everyone safe, and also having them understand and how to operate the boat's system.

If they’re able to get a 12+ dinghy and have the charter company change the prop for one with less pitch they’ll be able to move 10 people at a reasonable speed.

10 compatible people fit very well on a 52’ cat. We have had fantastic trips with this many people, even on a 45 footer. It is all about the adventure, good people, and flexibility. We have also rented 2 dinghies, under way one is lifted and the other dragged. Who cares if you lose a knot? If you are in a hurry you should charter a power cat and smell the fumes for a week. Negotiate hard with the charter company, some will do this and others not. But a second dinghy is great, especially when you all are going snorkeling.

Add 2-4 people to your crew and get 2 mid 40s(42-45) yachts.

Tandem cruising is even more fun than a larger boat.

But if 10 on a larger boat, I would just shuttle to shore... We have a larger Highfield dingy but even with 6-8 people, we often do 2 trips because of convince of people ready and some not.

We chartered a Moorings 4800 Cat for our 10 person charter in 2016. Boat had more than enough room, and we rented a second dinghy. They charged us $280 for the second dinghy.

The problem with a second dinghy is it can’t be hoisted. Most cats now have decent hoist systems and dinghies don’t seem to have as robust tow lines and attachment points. The tow lines lately also are not long enough. I would stick with one and make a second trip.

Thanks all for the advice and guidance regarding larger groups and the pros and cons of the second dinghy. Probably will come down to how large a unit they will give us as a primary.

The advice re: briefings - safety related and otherwise, provisioning and overall crew management also appreciated.

All the best.

We had 10 people and 2 dinghys and thought it worked out very well. If we were just had to worry about making two trips to shore all the time it wouldn't have been as much of an issue but it was nice to be able to go farther away without feeling like you stranded the rest of the group. We had two families - 4 adults & 6 kids. The older 4 girls often wanted to go explore, go snorkel, go to Bubbly Pool, etc. while the younger boys sometimes just wanted to chill on the boat or on shore. It was nice to be able to leave some adults & kids behind knowing they could go somewhere when they were ready, we didn't feel like we had to rush back to check on them.

I have 52 powercat out with 9 guys and 1 dinghy. We arent doing long runs so splitting up group on dinghy rides. The other factor is size and weight of crew. I have 9 guys 200 lbs +. We also have an elevator lift so didnt want to tow a 2nd. I dont know if Moorings has 2 sizes anymore. In May I will have 3 adults and 7 young adults and will have 1 dinghy

Regarding the group make sure they are laid back and understand there is one captain and they need to listen. I am clear on this when i hold the captains briefing. Put people in charge of various duties for the week. Run through the boat systems and how to moor/anchor before you leave.

I suggest a tentative agenda and distribute it before hand along with Scotts BVI book. we consolidate what we are bringing. Planning in advance and setting the tone and communicating with the group in advance I have found to be most helpful.

We always travel with 8, sometimes 9 people. We have never had an issue with just having one dinghy. We either make 2 trips (depending on who's ready) or we take all at once and go slow. We usually try to get a ball at the front of the mooring field so we don't have as far to go to shore.

We always sail with at least 10 - my skipper husband always says, "The more, the merrier," and he'd say his wife has never met a boat too big. We've chartered a 50 Saba with 12, and in May we'll have 12 on a 52 Lagoon. Last year our crew of 15 sailed St. Vincent/Grenadines on two boats, but it was more work for me logistically as the trip food planner, and we sort of missed our comrades on the other boat. (We used to sail tandem monohulls in the Abacos 35 years ago which was a blast with 16-17, but then we always anchored and tied up together - a floating party.) When taking the larger cats, we've been able to rent a second dinghy which works out very well; in addition to more comfortable rides, they allow for much more flexibility for such a large crew. The skipper conducts a safety/informational briefing the night before heading out, although at this point we have very few, if any, newbies on board; most are salty sailors. I always set up a wiki that everyone can access for all of the trip info, including menus, packing and shopping lists and meal duties. We eat on shore for half of the lunches and dinners, as well as LOTS of beach bar drinks/apps etc., but we also bring down several styrofoam coolers full of prepared meals/convenience foods and boxed wine (hey, we're on a sailboat), which makes meal preps a breeze. And every trip is a treasure!!!

Catdancer - we will also be there in May on a 52 Lagoon. We have 10 people (6 staterooms sort of), but never thought to get second dingy. We will have 4 inflatable paddle boards, so if someone really wants to get to shore, there's always a way. This is our 4th trip with this group - 2 familys with a total of 5 20 somethings. Everyone loves this trip, and a second dingy has never been something we've needed in the past.

As the OP just wanted to thank everyone for their advice and report in on our experiences on our latest charter.

We ended up with 11 people on a 52 lagoon. We did take a second dinghy and while it wasn’t a requirement- it did certainly provide the group with appreciably more flexibility when at anchor and it really wasn’t any additional trouble. I would certainly classify it as a “nice” rather than “need” to have. But that said- the group would probably elect to do the same next time.

We found the lagoon 52 was great for a group this size with lots of room for all to find their spots and do their thing while under way and at anchor.

Other random trip observations:

- DYC base at Scrub very nice indeed- but would try hard to fly in and out of EIS for convenience if using them again

- first trip back since Irma - and I’m not sure if it is connected or just general climate impacts but snorkeling seemed generally less vibrant in most of the usual spots

- absolutely wonderful meal at foxys taboo!

- maybe it was just the night we visited- but Willy-T seemed much quieter in its new local with smaller anchorage to provide potential attendees

- overall pleased to see the progress with recovery and rebuilding


Can’t wait to return.