The Zodiac
The Zodiac
Sept 6 2025
Having arrived in the early afternoon in Brent Cove, we had time to kill before dinner. As noted in the CCA Cruising Guide to Newfoundland, a now-abandoned hunting lodge had been built in 1996 on the shore of the Brent cove in Facheux using funds from a government grant. From a distance it still looked in good shape, motivating the decision to prepare the zodiac for launch and a visit. The zodiac was still in “travel mode,” i.e. slightly deflated and lashed upside down on the foredeck between the mast and the bow. Moving the zodiac off the foredeck and down into the water has evolved into a practiced ritual requiring attaching it to the old spinnaker halyard to hoist it high enough to clear the lifelines as it is pushed out over the water. Once the craft is clear of the lifelines and suspended over the water, the halyard is released to allow the boat to splashdown …hopefully right-side up. Prior to adding the oars, the thwart, and the motor, the boat needs to be reinflated. Normally it would have been inflated using a hose purchased from West marine, specifically designed to attach to the valves on the zodiac. Unfortunately, that inflation tube had been MIA since the scramble to get the zodiac in the water during our late-night arrival in Saint Pierre. Either it fell off the boat or we carefully stowed it away somewhere where we have yet to find it. Not wanting to motor across the bay in a deflated dinghy we used duct-tape engineering to create an inflation device from a tube used to siphon fuel, a sewing needle used to mend the sails, and, of course, duct-tape. The result is shown below.
Homemade inflation tube
When pressed against the valve on the zodiac, the needle pushes open the valve and the duct-tape encased end of the siphon hose creates enough of a seal that blowing by mouth into the other end of the tube inflates the zodiac. Adding the oars, the thwart, and the new electric Torqueedo motor we were ready to go.
As it turned out, the motor lodge was little more than a disappointing shell of plywood. But now the zodiac was in the water. Since the distance is relatively short between fiords, we plan to tow it from one to the other, versus returning it to the deck, so it will be ready for future exploration. As it turned out, that may have been a mistake.