Air floors on davits

firecadet613

Well-Known Member
May 10, 2007
5,253
Indiana
Boat Info
SOLD - 2007 Four Winns V358
Engines
Twin VP 5.7GXi V-Drive / ZF63s
The previous owner of my boat used the Nutley Dinghy Ramps with his Mercury Air Deck 270 and a small Lehr 5hp. In the one photo of his setup I have, I can't see the bottom of the dinghy to see if this is an issue.

I'm using the "DinghyDavis.com" setup (essentially the same thing - not naming names, but some idiot sold the Nautleys last year after swearing they'd never own another dinghy).

On them I have an air floor, air keel 10'3" Newport Vessels and a Mercury 9.9. Just at 200lbs with the fuel tank in there.

Noticed a "bend" in the bottom of the inflatable by the transom end where the davit hits it. I can bring it closer but as the transom is only an inch wide, I'm really not comfortable trying to line them up.

Is this anything to worry about? Can anyone with an all air inflatable confirm if this is the same on your boat?

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The previous owner of my boat used the Nutley Dinghy Ramps with his Mercury Air Deck 270 and a small Lehr 5hp. In the one photo of his setup I have, I can't see the bottom of the dinghy to see if this is an issue.

I'm using the "DinghyDavis.com" setup (essentially the same thing - not naming names, but some idiot sold the Nautleys last year after swearing they'd never own another dinghy).

On them I have an air floor, air keel 10'3" Newport Vessels and a Mercury 9.9. Just at 200lbs with the fuel tank in there.

Noticed a "bend" in the bottom of the inflatable by the transom end where the davit hits it. I can bring it closer but as the transom is only an inch wide, I'm really not comfortable trying to line them up.

Is this anything to worry about? Can anyone with an all air inflatable confirm if this is the same on your boat?

View attachment 107383

View attachment 107384

Ours has the same issue. I don’t have it on the new boat yet so I don’t have pics but I used to offset it so the transom was very close to the davit.

I want to go to a rib next but until I do ive thought about joining them using two lateral boards, one on each side of where the keel sits, to support the bottom. It would turn the assembly into one piece as you lift it on. Issue is disconnecting them for storage so it would have to be some kind of quick release
 
I don’t have a air floor dinghy but did have the extended undermount version of your davits. I mounted the transom side just a tad too far outboard and had a little trouble with the back end of the dinghy slipping off when securing it. I would suggest not getting the arm too close to the dinghy transom for that reason.
 
I don’t have a air floor dinghy but did have the extended undermount version of your davits. I mounted the transom side just a tad too far outboard and had a little trouble with the back end of the dinghy slipping off when securing it. I would suggest not getting the arm too close to the dinghy transom for that reason.

Thanks, Brad. That was my fear. The last thing I'd need in rough water is to hear a loud bang as the dinghy transom slid forward.
 
Ours has the same issue. I don’t have it on the new boat yet so I don’t have pics but I used to offset it so the transom was very close to the davit.

I want to go to a rib next but until I do ive thought about joining them using two lateral boards, one on each side of where the keel sits, to support the bottom. It would turn the assembly into one piece as you lift it on. Issue is disconnecting them for storage so it would have to be some kind of quick release

That's a great idea, not sure how it'd be best to rig it up.
 
Going to try something. I'm thinking making a wood support (for now, starboard once I have it dialed in).

Essentially a "u" to go around the stern davit, about the same height. So when the dinghy is pulled up, with the transom a few inches behind the davit, it'll be supported but this vs hanging loose.

Any thoughts or suggestions?
 
Its a pain the the A$$ but maybe take the motor off while underway? It seems like the weight is popping the bow up and sagging the bottom. You might be able to make a wooden "pad" that could sit in the bottom of the dinghy under cover to distribute the weight over the two davit arms with a vertical support to clamp/secure the motor to.
 
Its a pain the the A$$ but maybe take the motor off while underway? It seems like the weight is popping the bow up and sagging the bottom. You might be able to make a wooden "pad" that could sit in the bottom of the dinghy under cover to distribute the weight over the two davit arms with a vertical support to clamp/secure the motor to.

Yep, that's the exact problem. The weight of the motor on the transom isn't supported, causing the "sag/bend". Here's a horrible drawing, of what I'm going to attempt to rig up.

upload_2021-7-5_17-24-28.png


Just something small, U shaped, that will be roughly the same height as the davit - but extend out far enough the dinghy transom will rest on it, in essence propping it up vs letting it hang unsupported.
 
To close this out in case anyone searches this thread in the future...

We keep the boat just over two hours from home, so I made a template out of some scrap wood I had. Marked it well and put this together out of wood, then covered it with indoor/outdoor carpet to look more presentable.

It's essentially locked in place, butted up to both the weaver davit face and the support of the davit itself. HUGE improvement now that the dinghy transom is resting on that vs just hanging loose...

I did not walk on the dock behind me for pictures of the finished product...but with the template it looked perfect with no sag!

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