Chebacco Wanderings: Fib - The Puff Wheat Boat Story

As with all sailors, at some time or another we will want to put ashore. No tides and a sandy beach, no problem. With Bluster’s light weight and shallow draft we just pull her up on the beach and maybe drop the anchor or tie up to a handy tree.

Crystal Beach on Kootenay Lake

The problem is when I want to anchor out I needed a dingy or tender to get ashore. A rigid hull tender that is large enough to ferry two persons I always thought would look disproportionally large when towed behind a 19.5 foot sailboat. Also because Bluster is primarily a trailer sailor there is the issue transporting the large, awkward tender. An inflatable dingy could be an answer and a popular option for some small boat sailors.

In the 1960s my father-in-law started up what was to become a very successful industrial fibreglass manufacturing company. In the early days of the company no jobs were too small. They were approached be a breakfast cereal company to manufacture a number of child sized fibreglass rowboats. These would be distributed to grocery stores throughout western Canada. As a promotion the boats were filled with Puffed Wheat Cereal and customers would guess the number of puffed wheat and the closest to the actual number would win the boat!

Kid sized

Our family always had a couple of well worn "Puff What Boats" as they were call at the cottage for the kids to play around with. This got me thinking that this little boat would be the perfect size for a rigid Chebacco tender. Unfortunately unless you are expecting to go a swim there it has a very strict two kids or one adult capacity rating.

Puff Wheat Boats

The original molds were still hanging around so I made up a nice new PWB for my Chebacco. My wife suggested that because our Chebacco has the slightly arrogant name of Bluster that the little PWB should have an equally boastful name of "Fib".

Bellingham Harbour

Fib, with her short waterline and flat bottom does not track worth a fig but with a little practise and a light hand on the five foot oars she will get you across the anchorage and back. She she is small enough to travel in Bluster's cockpit while on the road and I can hoist it onto my back, coracle or turtle style, to carry across the beach. .

Now if the situation arises I can drop off any passengers or crew ashore then anchor out and use what is very likely the smallest true production fibreglass boat in the world to get ashore.

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