Cold weather mooring

[davidpm]

Originally Posted by klem

The two key points are launching the dinghy and boarding the vessel on the mooring. .

That is exactly what I'm visualizing as being the hard part. Thanks for such a complete post.

[CrazyRu]

Originally Posted by davidpm

This sounds good but how do you get from the kayak to the boat.

You are sitting down and standing in a kayak is maybe not so easy?

Which kayak's have you had good luck with?
Do you have a full skirt sealed around or is it more open.
How do you get in the kayak from a boarding ladder?
How do you get from the kayak to the boarding ladder?

I use cheap Sevylor Colorado two sitter. Inflatable Islands and floats, enjoy the lake or pool with Coleman water products
Technically speaking it is canoe, and it is more or less sit-on-top meaning it has inflatable floor and I sit above waterline. It is very stable boat. It is not a pleasure paddling the thing, it is slow and ugly, however it worked surprisingly well as sailboat dinghy - lot of buoyancy, and enough room for provision, or second person, or dog... Getting onto my sailboat is easy. I can reach a cleat on sailboat and secure a rope. Then, I hold on ladder and stand up. Inflatable floor is firm enough to stand. And I just climb up.
Getting back into canoe is trickier at first. Basically I just fall in sitting position, aiming my ass into center on the canoe. It works and after a few tries it becomes a routine.