- Nov 26, 2006
- 7,628
- Boat Info
- 2008 44 Sedan Bridge
- Engines
- Cummins QSC-500's
Straight Drives
Hello,
My name is John and I am a Boataholic, and Constructionaholic. My wife and I bought a lot on the Bay just over two years ago. It was completely natural. Now, we live in a beautiful home with a view and a dock, and are working feverishly to finish painting the interior to qualify for a VA loan.
For the last two years, everything in our lives has been on hold as we try to complete this project. Now, we are very close. Our 44 DB has been out back for almost 2 years. In those two years, we have had 2 storm tear our dinghy from the lift on the back of the boat. The first one was a small tornado. The force straightened 6 SS clasps to lift the dinghy. It landed upright near our neighbor's dock - mostly undamaged. No repair necessary.
The second one was 65 - 70 kt straight line winds in the bay. The boat rocked left and right and the bow of the dinghy took wave after wave until the tie-downs were almost ripped off. Then, the lines broke and the dinghy flipped over backward. We were out of town, but we saw it on security camera. The dinghy was totaled.
Now that we are almost finished with the home, and we have lived without a dinghy for 7 months, we have ordered a new one. It is almost the same as the last one. 11'6", helm, 30 HP 4-stroke. It will weigh 500 lbs.
QUESTION: How do we protect it from storms? PWC lift? Regular lift? Which brand and size? We have ruled out floating docks. Our neighbor has one and has to take his PWC off for storms. We are considering a single piling PWC lift 1500# capacity, or 3000# capacity. The 2 piling lifts have gear in the water apparently, and this will get fouled. That may be ok though. We cannot set the dinghy on the dock - no room.
I've considered a 4 piling lift with room for expansion - small sailboat, jet ski..., but they are over $10k. I've just built a home - don't have 10k lying around for a dinghy lift. 5k, yes, but not 10k.
Any ideas?
My name is John and I am a Boataholic, and Constructionaholic. My wife and I bought a lot on the Bay just over two years ago. It was completely natural. Now, we live in a beautiful home with a view and a dock, and are working feverishly to finish painting the interior to qualify for a VA loan.
For the last two years, everything in our lives has been on hold as we try to complete this project. Now, we are very close. Our 44 DB has been out back for almost 2 years. In those two years, we have had 2 storm tear our dinghy from the lift on the back of the boat. The first one was a small tornado. The force straightened 6 SS clasps to lift the dinghy. It landed upright near our neighbor's dock - mostly undamaged. No repair necessary.
The second one was 65 - 70 kt straight line winds in the bay. The boat rocked left and right and the bow of the dinghy took wave after wave until the tie-downs were almost ripped off. Then, the lines broke and the dinghy flipped over backward. We were out of town, but we saw it on security camera. The dinghy was totaled.
Now that we are almost finished with the home, and we have lived without a dinghy for 7 months, we have ordered a new one. It is almost the same as the last one. 11'6", helm, 30 HP 4-stroke. It will weigh 500 lbs.
QUESTION: How do we protect it from storms? PWC lift? Regular lift? Which brand and size? We have ruled out floating docks. Our neighbor has one and has to take his PWC off for storms. We are considering a single piling PWC lift 1500# capacity, or 3000# capacity. The 2 piling lifts have gear in the water apparently, and this will get fouled. That may be ok though. We cannot set the dinghy on the dock - no room.
I've considered a 4 piling lift with room for expansion - small sailboat, jet ski..., but they are over $10k. I've just built a home - don't have 10k lying around for a dinghy lift. 5k, yes, but not 10k.
Any ideas?
