Low-buck improvement

$3 for some foam noodles at Lowe's meant for piping. Now I won't have to use beach towels to pad the dinghy while stored on the deck.  

Elbow piece fits perfectly for the bow

This is only about 1/4th of the length that I bought for about $1.50, so there's some spare foam left over for anything else.  

A cradle for the dinghy would be awesome, but probably difficult to store while sailing and the boat would sit higher up in the bow. This seems good for now.