dinghy or kayak on deck?

[fried fish]

Has anyone tried carrying a dinghy of some sort on the deck of a CP-23?
How about extra gas cans on the deck?
I am planning a trip in the Florida  Keys in Jan/Feb.
Might be handy.
Thanks,
FF

[HeaveToo]

I will be towing my 8 foot hard dingy on my cruises. 

On my old Catalina 30 I carried the fuel in the anchor locker.  This worked well but I don't have the room on the Compac. 

If you are using a small fuel can it couldn't hurt to tie it into the dingy and pull it.  My dingy is very stable when she isn't loaded and never flipped in tow.  It is where I sometimes keep it.  Tided down it is a little like ballast too and it won't hurt too bad with speed.

You would be hard pressed to store the dingy on deck.  A kayak would be the same way and I am guessing you could tow a kayak if it was set up properly.

if you tried and inflatable dingy on deck I am not sure where you would put it.  It may be in the way of things or a pain.  Just tow it!

[fried fish]

Hey Heave Ho,
Thanks for your idea. I have never towed a dinghy. Just no reverse motoring......yikes!
Perhaps that would be the way to go.
I'll have to think about gas can issue.
The reason I asked this was because of limited deck space.
Thanks again,
FF

[HeaveToo]

Get a good can and seal it well.  Let it ride in the floor of the dingy, lashed down.

It is rare that you reverse.  When you do make sure that you are towing off the side of the boat opposite the outboard.  Use a floating line.  Also, draw the dingy close when you are setting an anchor to avoid any further issues.

My dingy has more miles on it than most boats.  Most of them are behind my old Catalina 30.  She has been towed through really bad conditions.

Look up information on towing.  I like to let mine run in the second wake back from the boat off of my starboard side (port side is where the outboard is located). 

If you are in following seas you can to it slightly further back.  Another trick that a seasoned cruiser told me is the take a longer piece of floating line and tie a series of knots in the back of it.  Trail that line from the back of the dingy in high following seas.  It is supposed to help prevent the dingy from surfing the wave and striking your transom.  It is like a very tiny drouge behind the dingy to keep the stern right. 

I keep a line tied to the stern of my dingy.  I use it to steady the boat when loading and unloading it beside or behind the boat or to a dock.  If it will be rough and following seas I put a few figure 8 knots in it and then throw it in the water before I leave port.  It seems to have a good effect on the dingy.  The line is only about 8 feet long and it centers itself to the back of the dingy via a small bridle from each stern corner of the dingy that I placed there.

[HeaveToo]

Here are a few pictures of my dingy behind my old boat:  This was in higher winds and a following sea:

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm199/HeaveToo/June08098-1.jpg

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm199/HeaveToo/June08103-1.jpg

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm199/HeaveToo/June08104-1.jpg

This picture has the dingy cut out of it....Note the waves in the waterline:
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm199/HeaveToo/June08091-1.jpg

This one is under normal conditions:
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm199/HeaveToo/June08033-1.jpg

This one shows the amount of spacing that I like to use:
http://s296.photobucket.com/user/HeaveToo/media/June08094.jpg.html?o=85