Jim Turner, Makana Kai, 2000 C380 #227

Mainsheet February 2011

When we moved up from our Catalina 30 to a 380, the extra room and ease of boarding certainly made life easier for us, especially given our crew includes a 50lb Portuguese water dog.  The two nice state rooms and ample salon means there’s even room for friends.   This allowed me to justify a larger more stable RIB to carry all the people, pets, and supplies.  While the 11’ RIB tows well, its bottom quickly fouls with growth if left in the water.  I also don’t like hoisting a 120 lb. RIB on and off foredeck, squeeze around it, or trying to spot objects in the water over it.  Towing the dinghy also overly complicates arrivals and departures, or docking, since we must reposition the dinghy often.  My initial inclination that davits weren’t in our future dissipated quickly, and it