Arwen's meanderings

Hi everyone and welcome to my dinghy cruising blog about my John Welsford designed 'navigator' named Arwen. Built over three years, Arwen was launched in August 2007. She is a standing lug yawl 14' 6" in length. This blog records our dinghy cruising voyages together around the coastal waters of SW England.
Arwen has an associated YouTube channel so visit www.YouTube.com/c/plymouthwelshboy to find our most recent cruises and click subscribe.
On this blog you will find posts about dinghy cruising locations, accounts of our voyages, maintenance tips and 'How to's' ranging from rigging standing lug sails and building galley boxes to using 'anchor buddies' and creating 'pilotage notes'. I hope you find something that inspires you to get out on the water in your boat. Drop us a comment and happy sailing.
Steve and Arwen

Tuesday 13 August 2013

Riverboats!


River boats

The river boats are fibreglass, flat bottomed and long. About 7 or 8' in length they have huge 115 hp engines on the back. On attaining a certain speed they rise up on the plane. Sitting just a third of the way down and you see large sweeping arcs of water like lace curtains running down each gunnel. You are inches above the waterline. It is exhilarating stuff although I do get concerned about bankside erosion. On the other-hand, there is so much floating vegetation before you get bankside that it acts as a protective cushion and a river in flood does far more erosion I suspect!


 

River boats deliver everything from Gaz cylinders for cooking to bottled water and toilet rolls! They also act as water taxis between lodges and Tortuguero village itself. 



 They are well looked after, each skipper meticulously cleaning his boat before and after every trip. They control them with astonishing dexterity, reading currents, underwater obstructions and depths with precision. They can ferry glide, hold steady in a raging current, allow the boat to be moved sideways……it is skilfully done and goes unnoticed by most tourists. You have to be a boaty to really appreciate how talented the Tortuguero boatmen are!



 

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