POOH BEAR REPORT 2003-3 - 19 August 2003 The Rest of the Story From: Oslo, Norway The last Pooh Bear Report, 2003-2, about the loss of Piglet apparently struck a sensitive spot among many of our readers and now our "Inbox Overfloweth". Hence, I send out this "Mini Report" to set minds at ease by telling "The Rest of the story". Well, everyone can relax. Pooh Bear now has a new dinghy. And her full name is Piglet V. But among friends it is just plain Piglet. Actually, after a little discussion, the name was easy. Pooh Bear has had four previous dinghies since 1981. The first, a fiberglass sailing dinghy actually was built in 1974 as practice for building Pooh. It was a beautiful craft, but too big and heavy. In late 1983, I built Piglet II, a plywood nesting dinghy that fit perfectly on Pooh's cabin top. She served very well until 1986, when somebody else saw her virtues and one dark night took her away. There followed our first inflatable, Piglet III, a rather bright red. She served well, but began to age prematurely by deflating slowly, a sad sight. We found her a home with some kids who would treat her properly in her declining years. Then, in 1993, we bought Piglet IV who has served admirably for ten years and, at her untimely end, was still not showing her age. After a little thought, Piglet V was the only proper name. Then the question became, on what specific craft do we bestow such a name? Before even setting foot on shore in Tonsberg we spotted a fine looking chandlery, which we visited without delay. The staff was very helpful and presented us with some choices and some dilemmas; an unknown brand at a moderate price or a name brand at 40% more: an unknown brand in the preferred material (Hypalon) or the name brand in less durable material (PVC). And then several lesser considerations arose plus the toughest one, size. Judy and I agreed that Piglet IV was really too big. She would not stow at all well on Pooh's foredeck. We started by looking at dinghies one size smaller. But the next size smaller was only rated for a 4hp motor and our outboard is 15hp. I should maybe explain that the law requires manufacturers to set a maximum horsepower for the motor to be put on a dinghy. This is to discourage some idiot from putting a 100 horsepower motor on an 8 foot dinghy, flipping it over backwards, thereby killing himself (and thereby improving the gene pool). While I had no qualms of putting a slightly overrated motor on a dinghy, a 15hp motor on a 4hp rated dinghy seemed a bit excessive. The smaller dinghy was in stock, the larger was not. Judy and I discussed the pros and cons for 24 hours, before returning to the chandlery. The staff located a larger dinghy in the name brand that could be delivered quickly from Oslo. We placed the order, no deposit required, and, as promised, Piglet V was delivered mid-day Monday. We spent the afternoon customizing Piglet with her name, stern cleats, a fender, a towing line and a safety line. She is now stowed on Pooh's foredeck, again making foredeck work quite difficult. For those interested, the vital statistics of Piglet V are: a Zodiac 2.85, 9'3" long, PVC material, 66 lbs (vs. Piglet IV's hefty 100 lbs), a 10hp motor rating. So while our new Piglet is the same size as the old, she weighs a lot less. I doubt that 10 years from now the PVC will be in nearly as good a condition as her predecessor, but we will worry about that on another day. The one incomplete aspect of the acquisition of Piglet V has to do with Tax. The tax in Norway is 24%. The chandlery completed the paperwork so that, in theory, when we leave Norway, customs will place the proper stamps and signatures on the papers and we can get the tax refunded. I will report on this later. Meanwhile thanks to all wrote us. End of PB Rpt 2003-3, The Rest of the Story Bob & Judy (aboard s/v Pooh Bear in Oslo, Norway)