Just lost my dinghy! Suggestions??

When it rains it pours, and last night it poured. This morning I realized my 10' inflatable was gone. I check the line and it either parted or was cut right at the boat. I had it tied up pretty tight so the rain might have made it heavier and worked on the 1/2" nylon line. Unfortunately where I am is just outside the Boot Key Harbor Entrance in Marathon Florida and the wind is blowing towards the middle of the 7 mile bridge and a lot of open water.
I called the Sheriff's office only to get a message to call 911 or wait 'til they open tomorrow morning at 9am

Any suggestions??

Isn't life fun...!

Bad luck, sorry, does Boot Harbor/ Marathon have some sort of VHF "cruisers net" you can announce it on so anyone finding it can get in touch with you?

Motor the big boat around looking for it?

Bummer. I think there is a daily cruiser's net @ Boot Key; might be able to get some help thru that; altho' it sounds like the dink might be outside the harbor area. Good luck

I think the cruiser's net and call-in radio show might be your best asset. Everyone wants to be a radio hero….you never know. Keep an eye on new arrivals in the harbor.

Dinks are like cats, they always come home. Look for yours in Salem...

I'll bet yours was swiped.

Wore thru 1/2 inch line overnight? Does the parted line match up with a really sharp edge somewhere?
Report it to the Sheriffs Dept.

call the USCG for 2 reasons if you think it just got away...

one so they know it wasn't a survival craft...

two ...they have a better chance of finding it if it made it to deep water and they will contact everyone else plus make radio calls...

if stolen...they will still make the appropriate contacts.

It does indeed sound like a Lorena Bobbitt scenario...

Northern Spy said:

It does indeed sound like a Lorena Bobbitt scenario...

Click to expand...

After slicing off John's dinghy, Lorena left the area with the severed dinghy, drove a short while, then rolled down the car window and threw it into a field.

This should narrow the search to nearby meadows, if any.

Was there an outboard on it too?

BTW, from Active Captain..."A great source of help/info in the Boot Key Harbor area is Cruisers Net Radio, mornings at 9am on VHF 68."

Did it have registration numbers and/or a name on it?

Report it missing.
Call your insurance company.
Get a new one.

Half inch nylon holding a dink is not going to part on it's own. There's a thief somewhere with your dink.

Why wouldn't a thief just untie it..? Maybe it untied itself with a lot of jerking around..?

Peter B said:

Why wouldn't a thief just untie it..? Maybe it untied itself with a lot of jerking around..?

Click to expand...

I don't think it untied itself: "I check the line and it either parted or was cut right at the boat. "

If you a picture of it start putting up reward posters. And keep an eye on Craig's List.

All good advice:
Call CG
Call Sheriff
Borrow a friends raft and perform a search down wind
Call Insurance Company
Watch Craigslist

This post reinforces in my mind the need to tie the dinghy to the mother ship with two lines when at anchor. I lost a dinghy once, retrieved it from shore eventually, but it was a lesson (hopefully) learned for me.

Insurance is great but when boating in remote places losing a dinghy can be a safety or stranded on the shore affair.

in areas known for thefts it appears the only real successful way is to lift and remount on the boat. We have Weaver davits, we also tie a line and have a cable locked to the cleat, not that any of this couldn't be bypassed, figured I would give them a harder time.

I lost my dinghy in a storm one night. I contacted the CG just advise them there were no missing people associated with the dinghy if someone found it. They took details and my phone#. Got a call back later that afternoon, someone had found it and reported it. Long story short, got my dinghy back.

No matter how many time the USCG screws up...they sure seem to be involved with a lot of happy endings...

even if their total involvement is just darn paperwork, coordination and following up.

Happened to me on early morning 4th of July. Woke up to find dinghy gone. Called CG and then Sherriff. Took off downwind and searched for a couple hours, no luck. Got a call after maybe 3 hours, dinghy found, riding an outgoing tide into the Straits, opposite of where I was looking. Very grateful to Jefferson County Sherriff and the two Coasties that were joyriding in it when we rendezvoused to pick up

Awesome!!! So glad your dinghy was found and returned!