A huge thanks to Graham Norbury and Brewer’s Oxford Boat Yard and Marina for donating the Oxford Dinghy that is now a feature of our Pollinator Garden. The dinghy had been abandoned on the storage racks many years ago. The Oxford Dinghy was designed and built by Dale Denning.
Dale was a retired mechanical engineer and long-time cruising sailor. He had grown weary of the unstable dinghies he’d owned in the past, so he decided to build his own. Before long, others saw his creation and said they’d like one too. The end result was Dale Denning Inc., an Oxford-based boatbuilding company with one employee and enough Oxford Dinghy orders to keep five people busy.
(from online article at http://www.sailmagazine.com/cruising/opinion/windshifts-a-sail-to-remember/)
An Oxford Dinghy underway.
Dale also had a wonderful connection to Oxford Kids Camp. A Bachelors Point RD property owned by Dale and his wife Kay had long been used for afternoon all-camp swims. It was also a favorite camp out site overlooking the Choptank River.
To prepare our Oxford Dinghy for planting we had to first drill many holes in the bottom for drainage. The Week 2 Art group painted the inside with a background of blue and bright pollinator-attractors. It was filled with dirt donated by Yard Works on Llandaff Road. The week 3 Nature group planted the garden. The mast and boom were stepped and rigged to allow a climbing vine to use them for support. Grasses (some donated by Trudy Norbury) were planted around the hull so that our dinghy is sailing in a sea of grass.
Photos of the preparation and planting:
The finished Dinghy Garden – we hope you will stop by to see it! Thanks again to Brewers Boat Yard and Marina for donating our dinghy.
