My wife and I recently purchased a 9 ft west marine inflatable dingy for our 99 340. I mounted the
6 hp outboard on the stern rail, attached a bridal to the dingy and off to Catalina we went. On the way over and while there we noticed several boats towing their dingys with the outboards still mounted. I am new to this but it seems to me like a good way to donate an outboard to the pacific ocean. Am I being overly cautious ?
6 hp outboard on the stern rail, attached a bridal to the dingy and off to Catalina we went. On the way over and while there we noticed several boats towing their dingys with the outboards still mounted. I am new to this but it seems to me like a good way to donate an outboard to the pacific ocean. Am I being overly cautious ?
My bridle attaches with SS carabiners to each d-ring. It is a fixed length with eye splices at each end for the carabiners. In the center I looped it through a strap on a snatch block. The yacht side is a long length with stopper knots at each end that passes through the block and is cleated to each side of the stern. The knots keep it from getting away if one side comes free. This double Vee arrangement always allows the dinghy to have equal pull from the tow boat (but not on the dinghy). At that point in a sharp turn its not really pulling that hard, but rather rotating. By adjusting the lines on the cleats, I control how far out it is from the boat. I have always found the sweet spot on the stern wake where it is coming down hill, reducing stress. The painter off the center attachment is the safety line (just a little slack of the bridle). When my swimming pool sweep died I took the four floats and put them on the dinghy side of the dual bridle. When I am going real slow or backing up I cinch up on one cleat and the lines to the dinghy float and really can't reach the prop. When I get home and back into my slip, I transfer the bridle to the bow and drag it in from there. 