Yeah that is wonderful surface area... just not available for me.

BTW when I mentioned the push pit tie, I described it upside down... I actually tie the bow high to the lifeline rail a bit toward the port side. (my exhaust is on the starboard side). This puts the stern of the dink in the water... essentially two narrow "stubs" that have minimal wetted surface area. This seems to work well for me, but I won't do it much further than about 10 miles.

My stays'l somewhat limits my deck area forward... hence the reason for partial deflation when I haul the inflatable on board. Even partially inflated it still provides quite a bit of buoyancy... it just isn't row-able. That fall back as a life raft is probably something to consider and really keep in mind. I'll have to work on exactly how much to deflate and what not to deflate.

You guys seem to be hinting that you probably wouldn't tow for any significant distance with a painter or bridle. Makes sense to me.

As far as the engine or even hauling the dink aboard... I use either my spin halyard or my main halyard and a 4:1 set of blocks to haul stuff on board. A touch awkward due to the angle toward the top of the mast... IE not as convenient as a crane on the afterdeck; but it does work. Bit ironic... when I set up that 4:1 "handy billy" I put on a ton of line... I think 100' of 6mm line. Well the reality is that I never have to lift anything but about 12 feet... so I have way way too much line on this thing. Oh well, no doubt some day I'll need to lift something much higher and be glad for all the spare line.