At the same time things have not been going too well with our submersible outboard. Having cleaned out the carburettor four times we have still been having fuel flow problems after one or two trouble free excursions. We had someone look at it in Dominica but when he diagnosed a coil or magneto problem preventing the engine from no more than ticking over even on full throttle I decided to keep the diagnostics to myself and replace the carburettor. They did offer a trade in on a two stroke model but we thought the trade in price offered for the Mariner was too low, barely covering the cost of the two hours work that failed to repair it. On reflection I didn’t think through that two stroke - light on weight and price - might not be an option outside of Dominica. I  subsequently ran the outboard and when I covered over the ends of the two breather tubes the revs roared up, falling back again when the tubes were uncovered. A new carburettor it will be if I can get any of the UK on line suppliers to respond.

Next port of call was Saint Pierre in Martinique. We paddled across to the town pier and on the second night decided to eat in town before filling our water containers. When we got back to Hunnie she seemed a bit low in the water on one side and all the water containers and the paddles had gone. We pulled her out and found a neat cut on the top of the deflated side at the back. The inside was dry and there was no sign of the containers or paddles anywhere. Fortunately we found the people on the table next to us at the restaurant who turned out to be a group of Italians also on a yacht so we didn’t have to swim back to Vega. Their much grander tender was on the other side of the jetty together with another - neither of which had been touched. Somehow having the dinghy stabbed and the contents stolen or discarded seems worse than having the dinghy stolen, more personal, assuming that’s what it was. Relieved to be back on board we decided to head for the marina at Le Marin the next day, saving our planned walk up the Mt Pelee volcano for another day.

At Le Marin our repair to Hunnie was a great success, marred only by the other side deflating a day later but with no obvious cause. This coincided with our being told of another Seago dinghy that came apart at the seams after a summer in the Caribbean sun. At the same time the Mercury dealer couldn't get a replacement carburettor for the outboard within a month and even then at three times the price of one in England. With Alex due out in a couple of days we definitely needed a new dinghy.

True bluewater cruisers maintain that a solid dinghy is best (and we do see them) but the thought of lugging one of these to and from the deck put us off this option. All the rage now are the semi inflatable ribs that have a solid vee shaped floor. As we don’t deflate Hunnie but keep her athwartship on deck this seemed a pretty good option. We carefully measured the available deck storage space and concluded that a dinghy slightly larger than Hunnie would fit nicely fore and aft in front of the mast. At this point the options of floor type, metal or plastic; material for the float chambers, PVC or Hyperlon; size, make, cost and so on come into play and I won’t bore you with all the options. Suffice it to say we opted for an aluminium floor and Hyperlon fabric that in theory will be robust and withstand the sunshine. In the showroom, stood up on the wall, the 2.6m dinghy looked much bigger than Hunnie but re-measuring of dinghy and deck confirmed it would fit. However, our 2.5hp outboard would not really cut the mustard and the very nice lady in the chandlery would have sold us a 6hp if she had one but 4hp was all she had. The 4, 5 and 6hp four stroke Yamahas are all the same engine so you might as well have 6hp if that is the recommended size. The only one we could find in Martinique (or St Lucia for that matter) was a Mercury so that is what we have - following the same line as the Mariner.

When the dinghy was delivered it looked tiny of course. The new engine, brought around in a shopping trolley by Alex and me, looked enormous. Still, the combination is as recommended and off we headed, dinghy in tow, to an anchorage for the night. The dinghy winched up onto the deck easily and fits snuggly in front of the mast, the transom fitting between the mast and the guard rail for the ventilator.

The next day we went for our inaugural run across the bay to the jetty at St Anne, armed with our dinghy anchor to hold the dinghy off the jetty and various new chains and padlocks - dinghy theft is common out here. Being deeper than Hunnie it feels more like sitting in rather than on. The ride is more stable and the load carrying much better and easier with the solid floor. In the afternoon we went snorkelling, anchoring the dinghy over a  shallow reef and finding that you can pull yourself back in from the water without it tipping over. 

So far so good. All we have to do is give her a name. Having heard about the internet consultation for a name for some new research vessel that came up with “Boaty McBoatface” we won’t be following this method. Hunnie Too or Love Me Tender are the favoured options - sensible suggestions welcome.

We traced the leak on Hunnie to a seam  - it may have to be a burial at skip.