Hey Tom,

...particularly for a place like the Bahamas, where one might often cover some pretty long distances in a tender...

I took a nesting dinghy south one year, and was so sick of dealing with it by the time I arrived in Florida, I bought an Avon Lite at the Miami Boat Show... (grin) My rigid dink only weighed about 70 lbs, I can't imagine having to bring something that weighs twice as much aboard regularly...

Perhaps the worst consequence of such a boat, however, is how much placing it on the foredeck will impair visibility forward... On a smaller boat, one will basically have to be standing at the helm constantly, you'd be flying blind whenever sitting in the cockpit... I just delivered a 35' Wauquiez Pretorian (a VERY sweet boat, btw) that had a liferaft stowed on top of the seahood in front of the dodger, it drove me INSANE (grin)... I can't believe people actually cruise with such impediments to visibility forward placed on their decks...

best regards,

Jon