Advice on installing padeyes in the floor of a Walker Bay dink?

[GnrlPatton]

And on removing the davit - it's not easy. I had grand ideas of using the extension for a grill mount when not using it for the dinghy. I even bought the Hurley attachment for the Magma grill. I haven't used it once. The davit is heavy and not easy to move around or store...

I thought that would be the case, given it weighs close to 100lbs. Do you find that it's in the way of using the platform when the dinghy is launched? We have grand ideas of using the platform with our beach chairs now that we have the room, but not sure if that will be realistic with the extension and now the dinghy cradle in place.

 

[Stee6043]

Thanks for the details, I thought that would be the case re: the power winch. For the tie downs, that's interesting, so you think you will need to use all 5 of those tie downs? Are all but that middle one on the edge/lip of the platform? I had 2 of them on my old platform and using the H2O, those worked pretty well, but that davit system didn't rotate like the H3O does. I wish Hurley had some kind of a locking pin to prevent rotation once the dinghy is on and rotated back into place.

I think the extension is the root of the tie-down difficulties. It pushes the centerline of the dinghy fully off the platform. It makes it nearly impossible to pull "down" from the port tube (in my configuration). With almost no pressure applied to that tube, and every strap pulling forward to the platform, the dinghy wants to dance. The H20 (and H30 w/o the extension) have the centerline of the dinghy over the platform which would/should dramatically change the angles on the straps.

My hope is that I can now secure the dink with only the 5 padeyes and no longer use the hooks on my Sea Ray. Criss-crossing the platform with 15' straps was super inconvenient.

I have 3 padeyes on the surface of the platform (new this year) and 2 on the face.

Even though the H30+ is rated for over 700lbs I feel like I'm at or almost beyond the limit for that extension to "work" at 500lbs. The more weight back there the more of a PITA it will be to properly secure it.

 

[Stee6043]

I thought that would be the case, given it weighs close to 100lbs. Do you find that it's in the way of using the platform when the dinghy is launched? We have grand ideas of using the platform with our beach chairs now that we have the room, but not sure if that will be realistic with the extension and now the dinghy cradle in place.

I have 3 kids that would tell you that new platform is the best money I've ever spent. It's huge. The davit in no way impairs swim time. I do drop the pin in it to lock rotation when not in use.

There's plenty of room to get around this thing. If I were rafting up for 2 days with a bunch of drunk adults I might consider taking it off. But for kids swimming it's a non-issue.

 

[GnrlPatton]

I have 3 kids that would tell you that new platform is the best money I've ever spent. It's huge. The davit in no way impairs swim time. I do drop the pin in it to lock rotation when not in use.

There's plenty of room to get around this thing. If I were rafting up for 2 days with a bunch of drunk adults I might consider taking it off. But for kids swimming it's a non-issue.

I hear ya, my old platform was just under 24" deep, the new one is 37". It feels like a new boat when I'm standing on it. My concern is that I now reclaim all of that newly found space for the davit. It looks like you still have plenty of room, even on top of the extension, so thanks for sending that pic.

So you are saying that there is a locking pin to stop rotation on it? I assume you can access that when the dinghy is on it, or no?

 

[Stee6043]

So you are saying that there is a locking pin to stop rotation on it? I assume you can access that when the dinghy is on it, or no?

That would be too easy.

The pin is in the middle of the davit, under the dink. It's not accessible when the dinghy is on the davit. I assume this is by design, actually. You'd have a lot of load on that pin in heavy seas. Those engineers probably want the davit to move a little...

 

[Strecker25]

I also did 5 straps and we have the h2o with the keel of the dinghy on the platform. I think I could have done four and been ok, but it is now rock solid.

Two on the dinghy transom pulling from each side of the outboard in a V down to the padeyes
Two on the inside tubes, looped over and latched to the eyes welded into the dinghy floor. These pull straight down
One on the bow attached to a padeye on the outer edge of the swim platform

I can release it very quickly and the only strap I remove from the dinghy side is the bow, the other four I leave on the dinghy and put aside on the floor and out of the way