A dinghy is the car of the seas. When you’re at anchor (as we plan to be 99% of the time) then the only safe way to/from shore is in a dinghy and there isn’t a better dinghy manufacturer on the market than Highfield. They are simply the crème de la crème of dinghy manufacturers today (in our opinion).
When you’re going to be in hot/sunny climates, using the dinghy every day, you need Hypalon rather than PVC. Hypalon is resistant to temperature extremes and most importantly ultra violet light. PVC on the other hand degrades over time (our current dinghy is smaller, relatively unstable and made from PVC).
We have set our hearts on getting a new Highfield CL310 in Hypalon, however this retails at £4,495 which is definitely a pretty penny!
In order to help us buy the dinghy, we have launched a fund raising goal on ko-fi where you can make donations and help us chip away at the cost.
We have approached Highfield but at this stage we’re just not a large enough channel for them to consider funding, sponsoring or donating a dinghy. We’re so enamoured with the CL310 however that we don’t care and we still want one, even if we end up having to pay full price (although it may take us 5 years to save up at this rate).
Some of the many features we love in this dinghy which set it apart from the competition include the double deck hull with EVA teak flooring, extra large 44cm/17″ tubes, inboard stowage for oars, fixed/secure (removable) seat positioning, dedicated lift/towing points, a bow locker and more.
Coupled with the ePropulsion outboard which Nestaway Boats were kind enough to assist us with earlier this year, we think the CL310 will be perfect for our needs as we island hop and explore rivers and beaches along the UK coastline and then onto France, the Med and eventually the Caribbean (as is our plan) over the next 3 years.
