28TE - dinghy on roof

[Nancy]

RobS, I noticed in your for sale thread that you carry your dinghy on the pilothouse roof. What's your technique for getting it up there? Are you able to do it yourself or is it a two-person job?

[RobS]

Standing on the Albin bow, lift the rope attached to the dinghy bow up and hold her upright to drain any water, then pull her up over the bow rail. With the wet soft bottom she slides right up the rail. Stand it on it's nose, rotate, and lower the transom down onto the roof. I have a rubber mat I lay on the roof to avoid any rubbing of the dinghy transom onto the roof. It's a breeze with 2 people but I have done it alone a few times, that's not easy but doable when needed. That's an 8'6 up there and she fits perfect.

[Old School]

We put our inflatable on the pilot house roof as well for longer rides. For short hops it's on the motor box.
Now just tell me where to stow the outboard.

[Nancy]

Thanks, Rob. That's what I needed to know. Our dinghy is also 8'6". Sounds like a very manageable 2-person job. We do have one obstruction: the anchor light is mounted at the front of the pilothouse roof. The challenge would be for me single-handling. I think we should mount the Weaver davits (that we already have) and use whichever storage technique is more appealing.

I like not having the dinghy at the transom when we're at the dock. We dock stern-to, and it's a lot more sociable not to have a wall between the cockpit and the dock.