Where should I put my dinghy?

[Northoceanbeach]

I have a 9.5 foot hard bottom inflatable with and 83 pound outboard. Is there anyway I can fit this to a CD28? I thought about selling it for what I really need, which is a smaller roll up inflatable and a 2.5 hp engine, but it's what ove got. I'm not really a big fan of buying and selling stuff. So let's make this work!

I've got a really nice engine hoist and a dinghy three point hoist to get it on and off deck. It deflates to about 7 ft. Long, 4 feet wide and 2 feet tall. I could try to put it on the fore deck, but that is going to get banged on by the jib boom.

What do you guys thing about being the mast? It would fit there. It would block my hatch, not the one to get in and out of the boat, but the regular hatch, I think all 28's have. Do you think this would be a pain?

Where could the engine go? That's a lot of wight in the lazarette, but I have batteries in the other one. Maybe it would offset the weight?

The other option is on a bracket on the transom.

[Neil Gordon]

If it fits but for the blocked hatch, then it fits. On many/most 28s, that's not an opening hatch, anyway.

The motor weighs about half a passenger... I think you could stow it in a locker and just offset the change in trim by moving other gear around. On the transom provides the most leverage for a trim change, but you can offset that by compensating with gear, too.

Best long term solution seems to be downsizing to the minimum functional dinghy based on your needs.

[Northoceanbeach]

Thanks, good answer. I forget that the boat was made to carry more than just me in the cockpit, they aren't always designed to singlehanded. So the analogy of half a passenger was a good one.

I want this dinghy when I'm anchored or in a slip, I love it, it's so fun, and such a good quality one compared to a lot that you see. It's hypalon, and just doesn't have that cheap made in China look you see sometimes these days. But when it comes time to go on deck, or eveb think about it going on deck,mthen it's not my favorite and I want a new one. A small roll up in a bag.

It's really hard to decide. I like the planing aspect, I won't get that if I go below a six hp engine depending on the dinghy.

I wish I could see an original cape dory 28. I didn't know that that center hatch originally didn't open. Mine is a newer Lexmark hatch, but I don't know what all the differences my boat has between when they were first made.

[Sea Hunt Video]

This website should show you a photo of a Cape Dory 28 from the Cape Dory brochure. It does appear to show the center "hatch" as non-opening.

http://www.floridaboats.net/archive/cap ... 20081.html

I would be interested in the details of your dinghy (make, model, etc.). Also, to me, someone who knows very, very little about this stuff, an 83 lb. outboard seems really big/heavy. What size is the O/B

[casampson]

The solution is obvious: you need a bigger boat to go with your dinghy.

[Jim Walsh]

The solution is obvious: you need a bigger boat to go with your dinghy.

[Northoceanbeach]

The dinghy is a hypalon rib that was made by a manufacturer at the same place that makes Mercury and a couple other mid tier dinghies until they decided there was too much competition. They still make dinghy wheels.

Danard.

The outboard is a four stroke 7.5 hp.

It's a great setup for a forty foot boat. I went crazy after my first summer of cruising and rowing a crappy old inflatable in the PNW when all the other cruisers had bid fancy sailboats and fast dighies so I couldn't get the big fancy new sailboat but I could get the dinghy! Peer pressure I guess.