Peep our first dingy, took her name as a baby Shearwater as the young of sea birds are generally referred to as peeps.  She was built special for us by Mako Inflatables in a factory on Paarden Eiland near Cape Town, in South Africa.  We needed a dingy on board the Shearwater II as we sailed her to the Caribbean since the ports of St. Helena, Ascension and other planned stopped require we anchor in the ocean and dingy to shore.

Unfortunately, Peep developed problems from the first day. Her weight and balance were incorrect due mostly to my insistence that we fit her with a 50 hp Yamaha engine with power trim and tilt.  In addition to being heavy, this engine had a long shaft on a boat that was designed for a short shaft engine.

Mark Lowe, President, Owner and Chief Designer of Make added two tube extensions to the tail end of Peep, two inches to the transom height, and tilted the engine closer to the transom to drive the bow down and make the boat serviceable with careful use of the trim and tilt when rising to plane.  Satisfaction turned to love as Peep shuttled us from shore to our boat in various ports we visited.

The love wasn't meant to last.  As we traveled, Peep developed a series of eight holes in her rigid bottom as rocks, boat chocks, strong waves, and unidentified objects cracked and shattered portions of the insufficient glass hull.  We got very good at hoisting the flooded dingy up, drying her out and patching the bottom.

Equally unfortunately, the hull was glued with something other than strong, waterproof glue that lasted a long time.  Every seem required patching on a regular schedule - sometimes daily. The dingy made two extended trips to dingy hospitals where professionals (that is folks who charged us) patched the leaks - only to have them and other leaks develop within a few days.

Pumping air into the three chambers before every trip became normal.

Finally, we had had enough.  We retired the old dingy to Budget Marine, Auto Nation of dingies, and purchased a shiny, new AB inflatable with a rigid aluminum hull. 

Peep II, the new tender, inherited the engine, console, and seat from the original dingy.  She easily holds six people and comfortably holds eight with no real problem.  The engine fits the transom as it belongs there - it does since the new dingy is built for a long shaft engine.

The hull is one piece welded aluminum - no rivets, no glue and nearly unbreakable.  The bottom shape raises the fully loaded tender to plane at a fraction of full throttle and she comfortably cruises at sufficient speed even in rough water.

Best of all, the new tender is nearly dry.  In calm winds, there is nearly no splash at any speed.  In higher winds, the elevated bow and very large inflatable hulls deflect most of the spray.  We try our best to think of Peep II as a tender rather than a dingy - since she explains that tenders have a higher status befitting her leak proof design.  We even repainted the engine to reflect the tender to status of the new boat.

While we believe US Coast Guard regulations don't require the registration of tenders, the photo above reflects the nice green sticker of US Virgin Islands boat registration - folks that were superior to deal with and fairly priced.

The new tender fit into the chocks and boom derrick arrangements we built for the original dingy.  She fits without any rattle, slosh or bump - leaving ample space to reach the barbecue grill and both engine access ports.

And, in the best news of all, she was able to pull our daughter, Rebecca, on a slalom ski with a comfortable wake.  AB conveniently provides two welded tabs intended to help secure the tender to a trailer.  We use these tabs to hold her in place when she is on the back porch for storage.  We also use these tabs to attach a harness for towing water toys and water skiers.