LIfe boat, Inflatable raft or Dingy for Baby on boat

[Zricky]

I have a 2120 sport cabin and I would like to take my 4 month old son fishing with me. I got him a life jacket, I was wondering if I should buy a raft to keep him out of the water incase anything were to happen to the boat. The water in California is pretty cold. Also would I strap this to the roof of the pilot house or just tow it behind the boat, thanks

 

[cpenrose278]

Dang! Talk about starting em off early!

 

[Brent]

Do you have a kicker?

 

[Bryan 2530]

Dang! Talk about starting em off early!

Mine were on the boat from day one, literally.

That being said I wouldn't do anything different than you would do for yourself. Stay safe, lifejackets, flares, epirb or plb, etc.

Are you talking inshore or offshore??

Towing an inflatable around can really be a hassle, I have one that fits on my pilot house, but not because I'm scared of sinking, mainly so I can get the kids to the island to let them run. :mrgreen:

 

[cpenrose278]

I love that inflatable setup :mrgreen:

 

[Zricky]

I have a 4hp kicker, it would be cool to mount it to the raft, I just dont know where I would keep the kicker at on the boat

I would be using off shorre and in-shore, there is a Island (Catalina) 30 miles off the coast. It would be nice to have the raft double as a water taxi so I can get to the island. Any raft recomendations? there doesn't look like a lot of room on the roof, Im thinking just bugie it there

Bryan that is a nice setup, what kind of raft is that? how long is the raft?

 

[miky2884]

its a shrink a dink :mrgreen:

 

[cpenrose278]

Dont take this as like proffesional advice or anything but you could put the motor in te raft on the roof :wink:

 

[cpenrose278]

Search exaclty this on ebay. i think it would be perfect :arrow: New Inflatable boat Aqua Marina 2.7 Meters

 

[Bryan 2530]

Dont take this as like proffesional advice or anything but you could put the motor in te raft on the roof :wink:

Thats what I do with a 2hp Evinrude.

The "Shrinkydink" is a 6 foot Mercury Inflatable. Its tight, but gets the job done. Bought it as a scratch and dent at Defender cause it was missing oars, but I made another employee find me a set anyway.

It fits up top perfectly on mine between the rocket launchers and radar tower, mainly because the 2530 obviously has a longer pilot house.

 

[cpenrose278]

I feel smart :mrgreen:

 

[Zricky]

Thanks for the input, Im going to go with the westmarine 260, or the zodiac 275. I didn't know rubber rafts would be so expensive

 

[Parker 2310]

If you only want it for emergencies then get a Revere 4 Person Costal, they can be stored in many different places. I run offshore out to about 60 miles and have the Canister type mounted on the roof, it is designed for longer waiting time and for offshore. Anyway, add the EPIRB for quick locating.

If you plan to anchor in the harbor for a weekend and head into Catalina during the evening, then get an inflatable and throw it on the roof.