thanks for all the tips!

boat is a Nordhavn 35. see attached pic. pilothouse is only steering station, but visibility is pretty good (better than cockpit of our Niagara 35). Have all the electronic bells and whistles (radar, computer/chartplotter, autopilot). Wife can help lookout but won't want to do that all day! dinghy goes onboard except in a harbor or very short trips, I'm guess we will be doing shorter day hops, with maybe 1-2 longer passages to get there? As you can see prop and rudder are protected somewhat. No spurs or cutting utensils on shaft. The only time I've wrapped something in this boat so far is when I cleverly backed over my own mooring line!

thanks again

Van