Dog Dinghy
We have a 282 and cruise with our 7 yr. old corgi for 6-8 weeks at a time. We intruduced her to a 3' x 2' putting green which she uses for urination but will not poop on. We have a west marine inflatable dinghy powered by a 2.5 hp yanaha. If we are operating at up to 12 mph and not fishing we tow the dinghy behind us. Faster then that or if we are fishing we deflate it and carried it rolled up on the foredeck and secured to two of the stanshions. Because I was cheap and lazy I used to carry the motor lying on the deck on a foam exercise pad and secured to the gunnel. My wife constantly reminded me how much room it took and how unsafe it was. Well once again she was right. She was at the helm while I was setting out a trolling spread and she had an autopilot malfunction. It threw me into the outboard where I promptly bent a toe 180 degrees in the wrong direction. No, it wasn't dislocated. Yes it was broken. Do you know how much sympathy I got? Needless to say I had a bracked made to mount the outboard the rear of the transom ahead of the motor well. I also bought a 12v air pump to inflate the dinghy. I used a west maring 2stage HP because of the floor but Jabsco sells a great small one that will handle everything not needing HP. I replaced the battery clips with a 12v plug and everything works fine. We make a trip twice a day to shore for her to do her paper work.
