Wow, were we lucky!Normally for the dinghy painter we make an eye splice in one end of the rope and loop that through the U-bolt in the dinghy so there is not a fastener involved. I don't remember why I backspliced a shackle into this painter, but it doesn't appear that we moused it... either that or the plastic wire tie came off.
This could have been very embarassing, not to mention frustrating and expensive, if it had come loose when tied to the back of So It Goes. Quite often I check to make sure that the dinghy is there. Especially if I hear a dinghy passing by too close at night.
So, check your dinghy's painter and make sure everything's OK.
