ganns@hound.UUCP (R.GANNS) (05/02/85)
As far as I know, inflatables have a bad reputation for poor handling in strong winds and under oar power; my limited experience seems to reinforce this opinion; Some very experienced cruisers have said that they consider inflatables inadequate for rowing out emergency kedges. Last winter in the anchorage at St. Augustine, some live-aboard friends of mine reported that a couple of times inflatables were flipped over by the high winds when their owners tried to power in to the dock. Their supposed advantage is ease of stowage for long open water passages; not many boats seem to be designed with deck stowage of a rigid dinghy in mind.