Our 'Car'

Brad and brother-in-law Christopher inflating the new "Car".

No, we are not taking a car with us on the boat!  Nevertheless, since we plan on anchoring out 95% of the time we need a way to get to shore and to transport not only ourselves, but groceries, laundry, propane, diesel fuel, fuel for us (wine, rum, vodka etc.) to and from the boat.  Furthermore, since we would prefer to anchor away from commercial harbours and town centres, the trips can be quite long, sometimes requiring us to venture from our protected anchorage and into the open sea before landing in another harbour proximate to shopping.

This is to say nothing of exploring rivers, reefs for snorkelling and other secluded beaches that are not accessible on Estrella del Sur, which draws (has a depth of) 4 feet.   As a result, we need a reliable, stable and fast means of transportation from our home base every bit as much as someone who lives away from an urban centre needs a car.   

We already owned an Achilles inflatable with a 2.5 HP Yamaha outboard motor - perfect for our needs when sailing out of our marina on Lake Ontario.  Of course, when we need supplies there we can always return to our marina and use a real car.  

While the Achilles and the outboard are still almost new, they were inadequate for full-time cruising for three reasons:  the Achilles has a rubber bottom, which would soon get torn when beaching on all but pristine sand;  a 2.5 HP motor can't get the Achilles up on a 'plane', necessary for travelling at anything more than a snail's pace;  at 8.5 feet, the load and maximum engine capacity of the dinghy (6 HP) were too small for carrying more than two people and a sizeable load of supplies.

After some considerable research, we purchased a new 10 foot Brig RIB (rigid inflatable boat), which has a fibreglass bottom and transom surrounded by inflatable tubes.  Brigs are designed and made in Eastern Europe by a team of former Soviet aerospace engineers and, while new to the North American market, are the biggest selling RIB's in England, Europe, Scandinavia and Australia.  

We added a new Yamaha 20 HP outboard - the maximum size for the boat.  We chose Yamaha as they have dealerships throughout the Caribbean, including our soon to be home base of Isla Margarita.  We went for 20 HP based upon the advice of some full-time cruisers we met at the Sint Maarten Yacht Club in February of 2015:  those who originally bought smaller motors, eventually upgraded to that size.

The cost of our new 'car' (boat and motor)?  Including tax, almost $10,000.!  Who said living simply, largely off the grid was cheap.

Once purchased, we then had to register the inflatable.  Sound simple?  Transport Canada now has online registration so we filled out the forms, sent an accompanying manufacturer's photo of the model of our Brig and submitted the requisite fees.   We were supposed to get our registration within 5 business days.  After two weeks passed with no response (noting that they had charged our credit card), we started making inquiries.  After a few days we received an email saying that we had to send a picture of our actual boat.  Say what!  It is a mass-produced boat and they have the make and model, colour and the serial number.  I mean, do you have to include a picture of your actual car in order to register it?

The problem was that at that point our new Brig was still in its shipping crate and we had no desire to unpack it and inflate it until we were ready to launch Estrella del Sur.  Once in the water, the inflatable would be stored on the davits on the back of the boat.  We contacted the Brig dealer in Toronto and they said that they had never heard of such a thing; indeed, they provided the photo we submitted with the bill of sale precisely for the purpose of registration. 

The joys of Canadian bureaucracy!  Obviously, whoever was tasked with processing our registration was annoyed that we might actually expect it to be done in a timely way!