Dinghy naming, is it a thing?

[although]

What's the custom for names on dinghys? Are they traditionally left blank? Do they carry the name of the vessel they are associated with? Do they get their own name?

I remember seeing my boat (years before I bought it) with a dinghy on it that had a cute, diminutive version of the bigger boat name. Sadly, by they time I bought the boat, the dinghy had disappeared.

We've been getting by with a cheap inflatable, but I think I'm going to find a nicer glass or plastic dinghy. I kind of like the idea of having the same name as the main boat....

Just idle ruminations

Cheers!

mike

 

[soin2la]

I'm a believer, TT, Tender To, or any name associating a dinghy with a mothership, is broadcasting there is likely no one on the boat.

Do as you wish, not what everyone else does.

 

[Comodave]

I'm a believer, TT, Tender To, or any name associating a dinghy with a mothership, is broadcasting there is likely no one on the boat.

Do as you wish, not what everyone else does.

+1. It tells everyone to go burglarize your boat.

 

[Don L]

I have called my dighies lots of things.

 

[rgano]

Reformed smoker friends who sailed around the rim of the Pacific years ago had their still-smoking adult son join them for a couple of long passages. They made him sit in the dinghy astern when he wanted to smoke and named the dink "The Smoking Section." A trawler home ported across the bayou is named Wild Rice and her dink is named Duckling and in the dish duckling with wild rice. I have seen many other very clever names, but being "unclever" I never bothered with my dinks.

 

[O C Diver]

I think dinghy names should be fun or have a message as opposed to the mother ship.

Mine is:

End of The Line
(Traveling Wilburys)

Ted

 

[GoneFarrell]

I put my vessel name on the bottom of my RIB.
It rides sideways swung up over the swim platform

Last surveyor commented that satisfies vessel ID from the stern of my documented vessel, and nobody's gonna turn my dingy upside down to read it!

 

[hmason]

Once upon a time we had a boat named "Satisfaction." We named the dinghy "Satis/fraction."

 

[Blissboat]

Knew a big Hatteras M/Y named "Do It Now." The name painted on the sides of its dinghy: "Done Did It."

 

[Delta Riverat]

I'm just going with State reg numbers.

 

[Comodave]

I put my vessel name on the bottom of my RIB.
It rides sideways swung up over the swim platform

Last surveyor commented that satisfies vessel ID from the stern of my documented vessel, and nobody's gonna turn my dingy upside down to read it!

Maybe get a surveyor that can read the marking requirements on the NVDC website. You may not get a ticket but that doesn’t meet the requirements. The dinghy isn’t a part of the hull.

(c) Recreational vessels. For vessels documented exclusively for recreation, the name and hailing port must be marked together on some clearly visible exterior part of the hull.

 

[Bacchus]

Best one I've seen was by a contractor and dingy was named "Contract."
Cruiser Yacht was " Change Order"

 

[Moonfish]

Once upon a time we had a boat named "Satisfaction." We named the dinghy "Satis/fraction."

That's a good one! :lol:

With our boat named "Traveler", we nicknamed our dinghy "Suitcase"... ("Passport" came in second.)

 

[HopCar]

I had a customer whose boat was named Whistling Swan. The dinghy was named Cygnet.

 

[boomerang]

I'm a believer, TT, Tender To, or any name associating a dinghy with a mothership, is broadcasting there is likely no one on the boat.

Do as you wish, not what everyone else does.

When at anchor & our dinghy is launched ,the transom-mounted Hurley Marine dinghy davits are just sitting empty. Thats about the biggest signal that the boat is unoccupied that you can have. I'm not going to worry too much if I have a our dinghy named that a crook is going to go looking for the mother ship with a matching name to rob!
On another thread someone said they felt putting T/T on the side of the dinghy was boastful and pretentious. I disagree ,plus our insurance policy covers the dinghy of the boat it's used on. The only issue I have with stenciling "T/T Wandering Star" on the side of our inflatable is that the name is too damn long...or the dink is too short.

 

[ranger58sb]

We've been getting by with a cheap inflatable, but I think I'm going to find a nicer glass or plastic dinghy. I kind of like the idea of having the same name as the main boat....

We don't have a name on our dinghy, just state registration numbers.

FWIW, dealing with a dinghy is a system: weight? length? pax? how to carry? how to launch/recover? horsepower? engine weight? how to schlepp motor to dinghy? (or leave attached?)

Et cetera.

Generally useful to solve all that before purchase.

-Chris

 

[although]

Thanks for all the advice! I hadn't considered the security issues... I guess I'm not frequently in a situation where I have to worry about such things. Still, it feels like a solid excuse to avoid bothering with putting a name on the dinghy.

Thanks again!

mike

 

[2savage]

A J44 sailboat racing on Long Island Sound was called 'Gold Digger'. His dinghy was called nugget.

 

[jgwinks]

Maybe get a surveyor that can read the marking requirements on the NVDC website. You may not get a ticket but that doesn’t meet the requirements. The dinghy isn’t a part of the hull.

(c) Recreational vessels. For vessels documented exclusively for recreation, the name and hailing port must be marked together on some clearly visible exterior part of the hull.

If the mother ship's name is properly marked on the transom, swinging the dinghy up on the swim platform obscures it. So put the name and hailing port on the dinghy bottom too. Perfectly legal whether the dinghy is there or not.

 

[Mike GB32]

"I put my vessel name on the bottom of my RIB.
It rides sideways swung up over the swim platform

Last surveyor commented that satisfies vessel ID from the stern of my documented vessel, and nobody's gonna turn my dingy upside down to read it!"

GoneFarrell- I've been thinking of doing the same thing with our new RIB but I was concerned about how paint on the bottom of the dinghy would wear. Has that been a problem for you? It solves the problem of obscuring the name and home port. Can you tell me what paint you used?

 

[jgwinks]

"I put my vessel name on the bottom of my RIB.
It rides sideways swung up over the swim platform

Last surveyor commented that satisfies vessel ID from the stern of my documented vessel, and nobody's gonna turn my dingy upside down to read it!"

GoneFarrell- I've been thinking of doing the same thing with our new RIB but I was concerned about how paint on the bottom of the dinghy would wear. Has that been a problem for you? It solves the problem of obscuring the name and home port. Can you tell me what paint you used?

I've seen it done with the same vinyl graphics they put on the mother ship, just order two copies. You would have to be careful about dragging it up a sand beach or rocks, etc but otherwise would hold up as well as on the big boat.

 

[psneeld]

On my dink when I did the mothership name on the bottom..I just taped off the bottom with the name and then bottom painted....then peeled the tape off.

Then I started hanging my new dink and just placed a piece of starboard with the mothership name on it mounted to my fender holders that were on the back of my flybridge.

As far as the "missing dink" or dink with "tender to" on it on the beach.... real criminals watch the boat, the dink may or may not be a signal to them.... read up on how burgalars case houses or steal cars.

As far as the USCG getting all excited about it not being proper for "documented vessels"...as long as it is also on the stern of the mothership and also on the dink...never heard it was a problem with boarding crews, never had the problem personally during boardings (because you ARE complying with documentation if on mothership stern), and as a pro mariner and former USCG officer doubt it will ever be a real problem for you if you choose to do it. Just make sure the mothership is also properly marked.

 

[CaptTom]

We have a "diminutive" name for the dinghy based off the boat name, but only use it on the radio, between ourselves. We didn't actually paint it on the dinghy. I'd heard the security concerns, but also it just seems a bit pretentious. That said, I enjoy seeing dinghy names with a funny or intellectually "deep" connection to the mother ship name.

As for the boat name and hailing port, we had a vinyl "sign" made up which we hang on the aft rail of the flybridge whenever the dinghy might obscure the transom. I've seen so many obscured names that I really doubt anyone cares, but I still think it's a good idea to have it visible. At our typical cruise speed, we get passed a lot and this way the boats coming up behind us can hail us by name.

 

[Comodave]

"I put my vessel name on the bottom of my RIB.
It rides sideways swung up over the swim platform

Last surveyor commented that satisfies vessel ID from the stern of my documented vessel, and nobody's gonna turn my dingy upside down to read it!"

GoneFarrell- I've been thinking of doing the same thing with our new RIB but I was concerned about how paint on the bottom of the dinghy would wear. Has that been a problem for you? It solves the problem of obscuring the name and home port. Can you tell me what paint you used?

My point was that having the name and hailing port on the bottom of the dinghy doesn’t satisfy the marking requirements and the surveyor should not have said that it does. If I were going to have a tipped up dinghy I would first mark the transom to meet the requirements and then use vinyl letter and copy the name and hailing port onto the dinghy bottom also. That way you are legal and the boat name is visible with the dinghy tipped up so other boats can hail you.

 

[mvweebles]

What is the point of naming a dinghy? You'll never hail a bridge or marina as a tender. Neighbors will never say "there goes Flubber....."

To me, boat names should reflect the soul of the boat, not the owner. Hard to imagine a RIB with a 30hp Yamaha having a soul.

Peter

 

[Lollygag1]

Ours is named Plan B

 

[C lectric]

As required by my Registration the boats name and home port is on the dingbat so when pulled up it is readable. Due to that I have been called on the VHF when someone wanted to pass me in close quarters in .

I used commercially made decals from a sign shop. THey cut them while I waited. THey are now pushing 30 yrs old with no weather protection and still show well.

 

[jleonard]

Our last dinghy was named “Tweak” and the boat was “Attitude Adjustment”. The dinghy prior to that was “Minor Adjustment”.
We also had a dinghy named “Rubber Friggy” and the boat was “O’Frigate”.

 

[O C Diver]

Have a friend who's previous boat was "Magic". The dinghy was "Merlin".

Ted

 

[RCook]

When we cruised in New Moon, our dinghy was Moonbeam.