Glenn, under NO circumstances would I tow a dinghy at sea. Even in a
moderate chop astern, it will surf into the back of your boat. I know from
experience. We were sailing south in the Strait of Georgia toward Vancouver
in our Westsail 32, with a 12' Duroboat trailing astern. No matter how we
tied it--long painter, short painter, dead astern, to port, to starboard, it
surfed, and the seas were no more than about 4'. Finally, on a bigger
wave, it smashed into the Monitor windvane with enough force to dislodge the
blade, which then flailed around, bashing the stern of the sailboat. No,
you will be forever sorry if you try this. If you don't have room for a
hard dink in chocks aboard your boat, go with an inflatable.



"John Glynn" wrote in message
news:aYwBf.441166$ki.372111@pd7tw2no...
Okay...so I have a crazy question for y'all. Please be patient with
me...just want some of your experience/wisdom.

I have been using a 12' Portabote for my dingy & thought it's not perfect,
I like it. I just had an idea. I have an older 15.5' family 'speed-boat'
of '70's vintage. It has a 70HP outboard, convertable top etc.

We are considering sailing from the Florida Keys towards Mexico and then
cruising south to Guattemalla. Had the idea of (in addition to the
Portabote) towing the 15.5' boat along. I thought that it would be great
to load my wife and kids into a larger faster boat to be able to explore
further afield from our chosen anchorage. No, I am not one of the folks
that roars through anchorages rocking everyone's home...done my share of
screaming at those (given up on that now). Just thinking it would be sure
handy.

It will significantly slow us down our 41' Gulfstar , I know. I thought I
would put the convertible top on it to prevent the collection of rainwater
and install a couple large bilge-pumps and solar-panel to keep batter
topped up.

Please forward your honest comments and experiences...no flames please.

Thanks! :-)

Glenn.
s/v Seawing
www.seawing.net