Scott et al, Your dinghy is your SUV once you've cut the docklines. Anchoring out isn't always close to where you'd like to be or in calm waters. A 10 mile trip to get some provisions or a part can be a bad experience in a small dinghy or a cake walk in a larger on. We have gone from 10' to 11' to 13' to our present 14' 8". It would be very tough to go backwards! We have the range and the freeboard to run in some pretty tough water and get there and back in a short time. Often there are others wanting to bum a ride as their dinghy can't handle the situation. Where we are in currently is 5 miles from the supermarket. It is in sheltered waters but still we run outside and get there and back in 15 minutes with 4-5 people aboard, aka hitch hikers, and we return with a ton of groceries for all. This is not an atypical usage. Taking 6 to 8 people off to snorkel a reef several miles away...another good use. There's only Nancy and I but as soon as we get the hock down Nancy has organized something for everyone in the anchorage. Perhaps this is why I try to anchor in the lonely places with no other boats ;-) We have anchored in open roadsteads with a 3-5' sea running onto a lee shore....not a pleasant place and not something we planned on but a 180 degree wind shift of the tradewinds. Going ashore and working with other boaters was not a worry with our large dinghy. Others could not even get into or in some cases launch there small dinghies. We are having a tube cover made here with a heavy push pad built in to the bow. This will add both sun protection, abrasion resistance and give us a little better bow protection when we are suddenly called to be a tug boat. So big is better IMHO, we tow it, have a larger motor (60HP 4 stroke), carry plenty of fuel for it and it has its own VHF with DSC, depth sounder, chart plotter, GPS, LED running lights, spotlight, flood lights and radar reflector. A tender not a dinghy is a better name for it I guess. We see so many folks come to the Caribbean over the years with a 10' or so roll-up or RIB and within a few months they have traded up to a 12' or larger. Its lots cheaper to do this in the US than in some island where you finally decide to bite the bullet. Unless of course you are in Venezuela where they make the AB Inflatable line....very good prices compared to the states ;-) No matter what you get you need a chain to lock it up. Cables are cut with impunity in most places. A minimum of 5/16 SS chain with 3/8" SS better, about 25' long will do nicely. Also the OB needs to be thru bolted to the dinghy or it will be gone. Those various OB locks rust so quickly in the warm Caribbean seas! Remember that your dinghy/tender let unlocked is way to much of a temptation. In many areas its fenced value will exceed the yearly income or more of a worker. You wouldn't leave a Lexus SUV parked with the windows open, doors unlocked and the keys in it in most places so don't do it with your dinghy. As always, YMMV Cheers Dave & Nancy Swan Song Roughwater 58 Puerto La Cruz Venezuela