Serendipity, Lady Luck or Karma - A Story with a Great Ending

Rosalind had just been launched and I had brought our trusted Achilles inflatable dinghy to the marina to assemble and install on the davits for the first time. When we bought our dinghy (used) over 20 years ago, it came with an inflatable seat that never held air. It never bothered us, as we found the seat took away valuable space, and we never tried to fix the leak. This year, when I was packing the dinghy to move it from the house to the marina, I decided (for the first time) to also bring along the valve of the inflatable seat to have a spare onboard.

At the marina, I assembled the dinghy and set up lifting harnesses to use with the davits. While I was working in the dinghy, I noticed that it was not holding air. I was a little surprised since it had held air at home, inflated in the basement for the entire winter. The dinghy being 26 years old, however, got me thinking that maybe the deflation, move, and subsequent inflation had caused one of the seams to open up. I left the dinghy on the davits and drove back home. That evening we discussed repairs, reliability, and new options. We started looking at new inflatables, and we found out that not all models are immediately available and stock is limited. It is not that we were in a rush to get a new dinghy, but we had just launched, had no permanent slip or mooring and we would have to leave the marina where we launched in a few days and go and anchor in the West River.

That had been the plan. But now without a reliable dinghy, this was going to be a problem. To complicate things, a gale was on this way and I did not like the prospect of being onboard the boat at anchor without running water, sails, bunk cushions or food. Rosalind needed commissioning and we needed time. So we stopped by our old marina where we have had a mooring for over 15 years and asked if could get our old mooring while we commissioned Rosalind. Our old mooring was available and we moved Rosalind there to get her commissioned and sort out our dinghy situation. It was a funny scene paddling to shore as fast as possible as the dinghy was deflating!!!

We stored the dinghy on land and went home for the evening. As we were driving to the boat the next morning, I told Cheryl, "There is a one in a million chance that I grabbed the wrong valve when assembling the dinghy. It is just possible that the inflatable seat valve has been the culprit for all these years." Well, you guessed it, I swapped the valves and presto, we were back in business with our trusted Achilles!

With an inflated dinghy and our outboard motor, we spent the morning and first part of the afternoon loading and storing cushions, clothes and provisions. The weather was very pleasant and we were debating going out for an afternoon sail but decided instead to go for a dinghy ride. The West River is very scenic and us being a little tired from the loading and storing, we felt the dinghy ride would make for a pleasant and relaxing afternoon....

So, we went up one of the creeks and then went past Rosalind as far as we could go, turned around and started heading back to our mooring. It was still early in April and the water temperature was 56 F (13 C). At that temperature, one can get in serious trouble very quickly. Right after we turned the dinghy around and started heading for Rosalind, we saw a sit-on-top kayak capsize. The kayaker was a fellow boater at our marina. We saw him sink under water and his hat float away. With the outboard engine's throttle wide open, we covered the 200 yards (200 m) to reach him quickly. When we got within 15 yards (15 m), I slowed down and put the engine in neutral. Thankfully, he resurfaced by the time we reached him. We got a hold of him and his dog who was wearing a life jacket with a handle on top, which made Cheryl's task of getting the dog onboard easier. The kayaker was also wearing a life jacket but I believe it did not inflate. It was clear within seconds that we would not be able to get him onboard. The cold water had depleted most of his strength and we felt that time was of the essence. With him still in the water holding onto the side of the dinghy, his lower body was under the dinghy so using the motor was not an option. Using only the oars and taking advantage of the wind, we were able to get to the transom of a large Hatteras motor yacht that was downwind of us. With the help of the Hatteras owners, we were able to turn the kayaker around, get him onto the swim platform and out of the water. He recovered fully from the capsize and his dog, too!! We were at the right place, at the right time, just because I grabbed the wrong valve....

Our Trusted Dinghy!