On 2007-07-11 15:50:36 -0400, Stephen Trapani said:

We have a Hunter33 with a ladder on the transom, and a fairly stable
10f aluminum dinghy. We are thinking of taking our 70lb dog cruising
this weekend but for the life of me I can't see how to get the dog into
and out of the dink from the boat. I given up on trying to stand in the
dink while carrying the 4hp 4stroke Tohatsu and that doesn't weigh any
more than he does and it doesn't wiggle!

Anyone have a good way to handle this?

Let the dog swim! Then the difficulty becomes getting the dog back
into the boat. Let the dog splash into the water and swim to shore.
(You didn't specify you wanted a DRY dog.) At shore, it's easy to get
the dog into the dinghy. Getting the dog from the dinghy to the boat
may be a problem, although mine could climb a ladder, if that helps.
Place the dinghy up next to the swim ladder and the dog will follow you
up the ladder. (They do have difficulty going DOWN a ladder, and I
remember my father cursing up a storm as he carried a 60 pound dog down
the ladder when he'd left it up against the side of the house and the
dogs climbed it.) My sister swears her malamute went swimming with her
off the boat and climbed the swim ladder from the water back into the
boat, but I've never actually SEEN that!

My difficulty is in convincing the standard poodle that she wants to SWIM.

Ruby
--
Ruby Vee

Focusing on the negative only gives it more power -- Chinese fortune cookie