A little back story:
When I left home port the first time to go up Big Creek I took along an inflatable pontoon boat. I thought this would be a good dingy and excursion boat I could use to explore while moored. It came with oars, which I am really good at if I need to go around in circles, but I also had a small outboard I planned to use. When I tried this boat for the first time I realized how impractical it would be to inflate it each time before use. I tried leaving it inflated and towing it. This too did not work well. The only way I could imagine to store the boat when not in use was to construct a special rack, probably on the back, to hold the boat in ready condition less the motor which I could mount before use. I decided against this because of problems I encountered with the motor.
In order to use the motor in a practical way was to devise a new mount which might entail a bit of welding that I had neither the time nor the resources to do. This was because the mount on the boat held the motor too high in the water. When I angled the motor in a useable way I ended up riding with my "arse" in the water. I am not fond of being wet every time I land somewhere to go for groceries or gas. I abandoned the inflatable when I stopped off at home port. I left my dingy and my first mate behind. One by choice and the other against my will.
My solution was the kayak I already carried aboard. I had some regrets about this change when I landed at Loyston needing boat parts and fuel. The little kayak could only haul a limited amount of 'things' along with me. A partial solution was to buy an inflatable float toy that I used as a towed trailer behind the kayak. I'll get to that story and the tribulations I was soon to encounter in a future post.
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