She needs a boom job!

[thomm225]

Another option is a kayak which would fit on your deck the long way.

My kayak is a Folbot Cooper foldable 16'6" kayak (24" wide X 12" depth) that weighs about 40 lbs.

It fits in a back pack, but I usually leave it assembled and on deck. In Winter, I take off the "skin."

They are great if you re agile enough to be able to enter and exit from the boat.

Weight capacity of this one is 275 lbs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq1bSb7J8VE

[TrentePieds]

Judging by the profile drawing in post #4 the longest dinghy you could carry on the house would be 7 feet. Are you sure so small a rigid dinghy would serve your purposes?

Towing a rigid dinghy in any kinda "weather" would not be a viable option, so perhaps, whatever you might prefer to do, using a roll-up seems to me to be your best option. If you are going transoceanic, do make sure that your O/B for the dinghy can be SECURELY lashed down. A loose O/B rattling around can be quite a destructive hammer!

TrentePieds

[Manateeman]

Hi. I really think it’s worth doing the calculations for a gaff rig. Lot of guys here could help or go on boat design.net. Could you fit a very small pea pod on the side deck? Maybe something that is wood frame and a flexible skin. Not difficult to design or build. A gaff rig would have a lot of advantages and look perfect.
A wishbone would give you another option but a gaff rig with a pea pod ...just perfect. I’ve lost contact with a lot of fellow builders in RI, but ask around and I bet you can find info on the few gaff rigs built...it’s a small State !
Happy trails to you.
Captain Mark and his crew of “stuffed clams and linguica pizza” manatees

[Manateeman]

Hi. I forgot to add what I was referring to as frame and skin boats.
Please see Nestaway boats and Seahopper dinghy.
You can make your own to fit your desired size and storage area. They all break down to fit almost anywhere.
Happy trails to you.
Mark and the manatee crew.

[psk125]

As 30' points out in post 17, there isn't a lot of room for a dinghy on the cabin top. Raising the boom so you can put one there is going to be expensive: new sail, new mainsheet arrangement, new gooseneck... Raising the center of effort of your mainsail may mess up the boat's handling characteristics as well. Looking at the drawing, it seems like there might be more room at the aft end of the cockpit for a dinghy to be lashed down athwartships. The boat's beam seems to be carried well aft; how wide is the transom? The dinghy might be able to rest upside down on the boomkin and cockpit coaming, covering the rudder head. Based on the mainsheet setup shown in the photo here:https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/aq...4-pilot-cutter, that would allow the mainsheet to stay on the cabintop, and the boom wouldn't have to change, and you'd be able to see forward. It might require a new tiller, curved to avoid hitting the dinghy. That would be a lot cheaper than a new sail.

[TrentePieds]

Let no-one tell you that gaffers can't pick up their skirts and get a wiggle on :-)!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt04FxrqsfI

They take a different knack, of course, but if had twenty more seasons left than I can rightfully expect to have, I would re-rig TP. I would bring her "all sail" SA/D up from the 13 ("permanently reefed") that it now is to about 22, even 26 if I could get away with it :-). I would also give her a square topsail for running. Spinnakers are IMO an abomination.

If time affords over the next few days, I'll see if I can sketch a feasible and aesthetically pleasing gaff rig for for the Aquarius. Sketching and dreaming costs nothing ;-)!

TP

[Chancesail]

Thank you Thomm, kayak looks good on your vessel. My gal is bit more diminutive and I like to keep my decks clear for off-shore work.

[Chancesail]

Hey TP, what a beautiful Gaffer! No-kidding she can move! Great video. U r correct 7’ max, hence the nesting idea, should give me 8’-9’. I can drop both pieces overboard and bolt them 2gether the water. I have the line drawing for the topsail gaff-rig. She is beautiful. I have not been able to find how to post pics here or I would put it up for you.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Chancesail

Thank you Thomm, kayak looks good on your vessel. My gal is bit more diminutive and I like to keep my decks clear for off-shore work.

Are you still living in Pigeon Forge? That's a beautiful area.

I believe I remember seeing signs on I-40 for that place when I used to be coming and going from Memphis, TN where I lived on and off for about 20 years.

I actually learned to sail in Tennessee and Mississippi on the TVA Lakes.

[Chancesail]

Appreciate your enthusiasm, I have the line drawings for a topsail gaff-rigg that I would love to post for you if I could figure out how. Better at regular navigation than plotting a course across a website...

[Chancesail]

Oh, and Manateeman, thank you for the dink info!

[Chancesail]

PSK, thank for the athwartship idea. I’m replacing the Hydrovane she once had that comes up inside the boomkin. Her cockpit is smallish at best and transom mount would leave both ends of dinghy sticking out port and starboard. A noble thought though, thank you.

[Chancesail]

Thomm, I think I might pick up the Folbot as a spare backpack size is about right 4 my little gal. Thanks for the recommendation. As for the agility part, I’ll still have to work on that. I’m 64 and toooooo long on shore!

[Dougtiff]

Well i guess it comes down to how much work you want to do, so you can have a rowing dinghy, for the size of your boat, carrying 2 dink's is a bit much, a nestling dink might fit fwd. of the mast or believe it or not a hard bottom inflatable rows well, using good oar's, not the two piece supplied with an inflatable, i found this out quite by accident, plus if you deflate the inflatable, the profile is quite low, I'll bet it would be low enough to fit under your boom, with room to spare, i.e., reefing,ect.

[adjo]

"the mainsheet is on the cabintop just forward of the companionway hatch"
Main sheet? Sounds more like a vang?
What length of dinghy are you talking about?