by David Seidman

SMALL BOAT JOURNAL #71 February/March 1990

A definite Bahamian style of smallcraft was first evident by the 1830s. Only 20 years later, with the wrecking trade reaching its peak and the growing sponging industry demanding countless dinghies, these boats attained what was to be their final form for the next 100 years.

Ranging in size from 10 to 14 feet, Bahamas dinghies were (and still are) built from sawn frames and shaped by eye using the simplest of formulas: The beam had to be equal to one half the keel length, the transom three quarters of the beam, and the mast double the keel length. There was a set style, too.

They had straight-raking stems, keels with moderate drag, heart. shaped transoms, gentle and graceful sheers, low free. board, greatest beam forward of midships, ample deadrise sharp turn at the bilges, some hollow in the garboards aft, and long fine runs.

This classic model, with many subtle variations, remained prevalent until World War II. Howard Chapelle’s drawing (from which Sunrise was built) on page 227 of his American Small Sailing Craft, shows a classic dinghy typical of the Abacos, in the Northeastern Bahamas. She was built in 1898, her lines taken. off in 1925.

As the dinghy matured towards its final form, boatbuilders began experimenting with rigs that could fit it. What they finally designed complemented the boat as well as the waters it sailed on. But no one can say for sure how it came to be, or even when it first appeared.

Sails were made from heavy (8- to 10-ounce) canvas running parallel to the leech and cut for a very full shape. The foot had a deep roach, and was almost as long as the luff. Most sails had no reef points. They were either tnced-up (using a line from the masthead that raises the foot), or their after ends gathered and lashed to the boom to reduce sail area. While not close winded, the sail could pull like a mule and was a perfect match for the heavy, hardworking dinghies.

Around 1925, economic forces began working to change the dinghy’s well-tried shape. In 1926 and 1929, hurricanes destroyed most of the sponging fleet. Soon afterwards a blight wiped out almost every marketable sponge in the Bahamas. To make things worse, there was a worldwide economic depression.

On the bright side, there were prohibition and visiting yachtsmen. Smugglers needed dinghies to transfer goods, and yachtsmen needed tenders. Both were looking for stable load carriers, and the boatbuilders of the Bahamas supplied their needs. By 1945, this newer model made up the majority of dinghies being built. They were more burdensome than the classic style, with harder sections aft and fuller waterlines. They made effective short-distance carriers when sculled, and could be used with a small outboard motor if one was available.

The next evolutionary change occurred in the late 1950s when the reliable, and relatively inexpensive, outboard motor found its way to the Bahamas. By 1965, outboards were everywhere, and builders were creating boats to fit, Sheer lines were leveled off, keels reduced in depth and drag, after sections flattened with an almost straight run of the buttock line, and transoms broadened to prevent squatting. These are the working dinghies you’ll now find all over the Bahamas. They are good boats for the service they must perform, but a far cry from the more graceful earlier models.

The Bahamas dinghy also performs another role as an intensely competitive racing machine. Compared to stateside racing, a Bahamian dinghy regatta seems like a wild free-for-all. Fourteen-foot boats are rigged with 225 square feet (of more) of sail for 20-knot breezes, and take three goodsized men to handle them. There’s no maneuvering at the start. You anchor in a line with your sails down, to leeward of the first mark. At the gun, you pull the boat to windward with the rode, haul the anchor, hoist the sail, and force your way out of the pack. It’s raw and brash; but never underestimate either the boats or the men sailing them. What these men may lack in polish, they counter with sailing ability; their working lives are spent in other dinghies.

For those readers who may not be as adept as Lowell Thomas was in building from smudgy set of lines in a book, contact the Rockport Apprenticeshop, P0 Box 539, Sea St.,Rockport, ME 04856. They are preparing an upgraded set of builder’s plans (3-sheet set, $25) for an Abaco dinghy, and may offer a finished boat in the near future.

If you are travelling to the Bahamas and would like to buy a boat, or have one built, there are only a few places left where you can do so. Your best bet is Man of War Cay in the Abacos. The Albury family has been building boats there for generations, and can provide a dinghy with a suitably Americanized finish. If you’re willing to trade off fine joinery for something a little more “Out Island” (and to my mind, a lot more interesting and shapely), there are still some builders on Long Island and Andros who would be proud to do their best work for you.

But time is not on your side. After 150 years, the era of the Bahamas dinghy, like traditional local craft all over the world, is slowly dwindling. If you don’t want to own one, at least go see them race in April at George Town, Exuma (SBJ #60). It may be a sight that your grandchildren will never have a chance to see.

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