How far can you realistically travel across potentially rough water in an inflatable dinghy?

Question

I'm thinking of visiting some uninhabited Scottish islands just for some "wilderness hiking". Particularly attractive to me are those islands which don't have regular transport routes to and from them (for a wilderness in its purest sense), but on the flipside, I need to think about how I can get to such places!

I had the idea to take an inflatable dinghy and paddle across various straits in order to reach such islands. The idea of an inflatable dinghy is that it's (a) quite cheap, (b) quite easy to transport. However I don't have a lot of experience with them, and particularly, how far I can travel in them.

For example, the island of "Wiay, Skye" (not to be confused with the nearby "Wiay, Uist") is an uninhabited island off the coast of Skye. According to Google Maps it is only around 0.7 miles off the coast of Skye, although Wikipedia has it at 0.87 miles. As one commenter mentions below (thanks again), the waters around Scotland are typically quite rough, and so I couldn't guarantee perfectly still conditions. Is this a distance which it's feasible to travel in an inflatable dinghy? What is about the maximum distance which one should consider to travel in this way? What preparations should I make in order to travel such a distance?

Answer 1

Sounds severely risky. If you drift out to sea (which you might if the weather or the tides are not what you expect) then unless you can contact land - and don't count on your mobile phone - you could really be screwed.

RNLI guidance is clear: inflatables are great fun in pools but it is strongly advised that they are not used in the sea. If they are, only do so on a lifeguarded beach between the red and yellow flags.

http://rnli.org/NewsCentre/Pages/RNLI-Margate-issues-urgent-safety-advice-about-inflatable-dinghies.aspx

Have you considered just paying a local with a boat (a proper boat) to take you over there and come back later to get you? Try phoning tourist information or the harbourmaster's office and they might be able to recommend a water taxi.

Answer 2

It depends on what you mean by "dingy". Some of the inflatable crafts, such as the white water kayaks and sea kayaks are quite useful for long distance travel (much longer distances than you mention). But these inflatables are not lightweight, as they are built of heavy duty fabrics. So you would have to deal with transporting them while on the islands (or finding a place to secure them, in which case you could use any paddle craft).

If you are referring to the cheap, vinyl kids blow up boats, then they are not designed for open ocean travel. You need to consider where would you put your backpack (you can't wear it while paddling as the boat will be top heavy and tip over). Most do not have any directional controls (ie no keels or skegs to keep them going in a straight line), so you are going to have to steer constantly to keep on a direct line to the island ... and if there are currents or side winds, good luck. And the cheap vinyl is easily torn by rocks while landing, by your backpack clips, and other such bits leaving you stranded on a wilderness island.

Can it be done ... yes. Is it practical and safe ... not really.

Answer 3

I'm no expert. I've had 3 people known to me die together in 'interesting conditions' - not in an inflatable boat but in a "dinghy" when a new outboard failed on a test run - where I would not have expected them to die.

I'd say at a minimum you want a rudder - can be quite rudimentary (groan) and still very useful. I had a friend with a kayak who added a rudder and told how it transformed the experience in a cross wind. Plus ...

Some sort of keel or means of reacting side forces into the water (dropboard maybe). And ...

A super marvellous device, a sail. The sail can also be rudimentary and still make a vast difference. I've seen NZ adventure programs where a jury rigged sail using a ground sheet turned an inflatable nightmare paddling journey on a long rough NZ lake into something of a joyful roller coaster. (They don't show you the helicopter stage off waiting to rescue them.). BUT perhaps the most useful add on would be a small electric motor and a battery. You don't specify what wait is tolerable but it meets your 'quit easy to transport' criteria, can be quite cheap if improvised and can be exceeding useful. you can but small electric trolling motors and "Kontiki" motors but cost is usually high for what you get. A suitable quality battery drill is liable to have what it takes to be useful. [I've dismantled and used quite a few for their motors and integral gearboxes. The best are reasonable. The worst are not. ]

You can get purpose built electric people pullers that provide prop and gearbox & motor. You'd probably want to use an external battery. -

A small internal combustion engine will give you substantially better energy density than the best battery except for short runs where the electric motor may be much lighter than the I/C motor. ie a super teen tiny outboard motor.

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Related:

People happily Kayak the km or so here Belmont to Rangitoto in conditions I'd not trust. A rubber boat would be "a challenge".

An enthusiastic multi-sports enthusiast used to commute daily to and fro across the Maraetai-Waiheke leg - looks like about 6km. Again - in a kayak.