Admiral Dinghy

Article By Shorty


Daryl Colinot (Darrell Culineau - sp?) , aka "Admiral Dinghy", is a regular at the Lake Charles Yacht Club. This is a 9' boat he has been working on, in which he plans to cruise around the world in.

Guessing from the painted and non-painted surfaces, I think he made the white part of the hull first and then added the brown (bare fiberglass and epoxy) part later to expand his interior space. Later I poked my head inside while he was in there, and it has a TON of interior space.

He needed help getting his rudder installed so we helped pull the boat over.

She doesn't seem to have any ballast or a keel, I asked him how it would be able to right itself when knocked over in the ocean. Admiral said that he was going to add a mast head float, and that the cabin top would provide more bouyancy to pop her upright.

At the time, he was living aboard a derelict sailboat (a 50' concrete schooner, without masts) moored in Lake Charles, which is brackish water leading out to the sea, so it was a free mooring. He made his living by gambling at a local casino, and won enough that he could sustain his life style. He worked on his 9' boat when he could.

A year later when I revisited Lake Charles, he was gone, the locals had somehow figured a way to make him leave his mooring, they considered him an eyesore. I do believe he was sincere about his wishes to cruise around the world in his boat (not non-stop, just cruise).

A couple years later he launched his website admiraldinghy.com and did start off on his voyage around the world. He stopped by a Magnolia Beach messabout and we visisted some more, and then he continued his trek.
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