Also not all sea is equal. When my sister and I were young, we messed about in an inflatable dinghy in a sheltered inlet on the Adriatic (but not during or after strong winds). When we went to the Atlantic coast of France, we enjoyed swimming in the surf, but didn't take the dinghy.
Also depends how good at swimming the children are. If we had been blown out, we could have swum a mile back to land, not that we'd have left it that long to try anyway.
I would say you need to make a decision taking into account the actual place you are going to use the thing. Some coastal areas pose more risk than others...
Being realistic, its difficult to capsize an inflatable rowing boat unless you are very close to the beach and a rolling wave can flip you over (DAMHIK!)
Obviously if you move up a to a proper dingy with a sail, then its a different matter.
In my case, growing up frequenting the beaches around Westcliff / Chalkwell etc in the Thames estuary, tides did not really pose much risk
- when coming in, they pulled you to the right, and when going out they took you to the left. So even if the current was strong enough to take you somewhere you did not want to go in spite of rowing in the other direction, you could always get back to shore - even if not the bit you left from.
Wind was more of a problem than tides, but was generally coming inland or again to the side. However if the wind was from shore to sea, then one would need to take significantly more care.
As long as you are a decent swimmer, and don't paddle out further than you can swim back, there ought not be too much risk. If for whatever reason you can't row back, jump out and swim back.
(I used to like to paddle out to one of the deep water posts at the end of the breakwaters, and tether the boat there - you could then go for a swim, have a sunbathe etc and have your own clear bit of water without being hemmed in by others ;-)
Tim Watts scribbled...
And a couple of children are ideal testers.
Nightjar scribbled...
You've not been looking very hard - these are all very recent
Exactly where, in any of those, does it suggest they started off tied to the shore? Indeed, the only mention I can see of anything like that is in the last, where the RNLI specifically recommend tying a long strong rope to an inflatable, to stop it being blown out to sea.
Colin Bignell
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