Dinghy Davit

Here are some pics of my setup. Masterfab built the hinges.
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Scott,

Normally, the side plates are positioned such that one rests on each side of the davit extension, surrounding it, so to speak. You have them the other way. While this appears to work fine, it will be a more rigid setup if you flip them around and re-drill the bunks. That way, when the dinghy is stowed, the side plates wrap and extend down on either side of the extension, and prevent movement. The previous post shows them mounted in that fashion. Otherwise, the install looks great. I hope you enjoy having them.

Dale
 
They look great! But you have to tell me how hard is it to get the dinghy back on the davit? Mine is a 9.8 RIB with a 6 hp merc that will bust a nut trying to get it back up!

Bow Tie
 
Lifting the tender is all about technique. Our swimplatform is more than 2ft off the water. We lift the bow into the front davit first and cleat it off. I then take a rope tied to the upper transom, loop it down the transom and UNDER the tube. This makes it a one person job. UNDER the tube is critical. It makes the tender tip down on the opposite tube and slide up the davit. If you're pulling from the top you're not really lifting it at all and the friction is much higher.

Our tender is a RHIB w/ 15hp....
 
MasterFab said:
Scott,

Normally, the side plates are positioned such that one rests on each side of the davit extension, surrounding it, so to speak. You have them the other way. While this appears to work fine, it will be a more rigid setup if you flip them around and re-drill the bunks. That way, when the dinghy is stowed, the side plates wrap and extend down on either side of the extension, and prevent movement. The previous post shows them mounted in that fashion. Otherwise, the install looks great. I hope you enjoy having them.

Dale
Click to expand...

Thanks dale. Good idea. I'll fill and re drill them in the off season. Your work was excellent on these.
 
Bow Tie said:
They look great! But you have to tell me how hard is it to get the dinghy back on the davit? Mine is a 9.8 RIB with a 6 hp merc that will bust a nut trying to get it back up!

Bow Tie
Click to expand...

I have a very light setup with a baltik 8.5 dink and a Yamaha 5hp 2-stroke. I made the bunks a little longer than others so that they'd sit in the water and make loading easier. I can easily pull it up even with about 10 gallons of water in it. I just grab the ropes and it slides on. I'll take some shots with the dink on.
 
Bow Tie said:
They look great! But you have to tell me how hard is it to get the dinghy back on the davit? Mine is a 9.8 RIB with a 6 hp merc that will bust a nut trying to get it back up!

Bow Tie
Click to expand...

I decided to stop bustin mine by getting a "block & tackle" with a one way lock. It's a small one that I purchased at a boat show (from a sail boat booth no less) that has two little pulleys and a locking cam. I have a 8.5' RIB with a 9.8 4 stroke Tohatsu and can get it back on the davits very easily without assistance using this great little device. No more heaving and panicking, just pull it taught, line the dinghy up, then pull a bit at a time until it falls into place. So much easier!
 
Yup, I've been using a small winch with a ratchet handle and a strap. Works good but still hard with just my wife and I. I'll try putting the bow in the cradle and then winch it up, might be easier. 40 years ago I'd just pick the damn thing up!

Bow Tie
 
Where are you guys attaching the winch/ratchet rope, I assume to the hardtop/arch or do you have some other mount or cleat on the transom?

I am going to try the bow first\line under rear tube trick but the ratchet pulley I can see as a big help no matter how I end up doing it.
 
I just attach a line to the stainless rail on the beverage centre (behind the helm seat). Not sure where to attach on a Sundancer though...
 
Transom locker rail
 
Jimmy Buoy said:
I decided to stop bustin mine by getting a "block & tackle" with a one way lock. It's a small one that I purchased at a boat show (from a sail boat booth no less) that has two little pulleys and a locking cam. I have a 8.5' RIB with a 9.8 4 stroke Tohatsu and can get it back on the davits very easily without assistance using this great little device. No more heaving and panicking, just pull it taught, line the dinghy up, then pull a bit at a time until it falls into place. So much easier!
Click to expand...

That's exactly what we are in the middle of installing on ours too, we got the idea from a blow boater as well: http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php...dinghy-pulley-) It worked so easy when he wanted to retrieve his dinghy.
 
After a little experimenting I wanted to share a method of strapping that I came up with for the Dom's Dinghy Davit system. This might not work for everyone, but it works great for me, and the dinghy is extremely secure. I have an integrated platform, so getting bolts through the platform is a bit of a pain. I also wanted to limit the amount of hardware I put on the platform to avoid toe stubbing. The picture below is not to scale and shows the solution from the side (facing the end of the dinghy).

First off, my base solution is pure Dom - it uses the Weaver receivers which are through-bolted to the platform with a 1/4" backing plate inside (that was fun putting on). The stainless work was all done by Dale (Masterfab), and he did a great job (see prior pictures). I made the bunks myself from 1" starboard.

I ended up finding some nice stainless D-Hooks (like these), that I was able to mount in a very inconspicuous place at the base of the transom. I also put the same hooks on either side of the end of the bunk (one on each side, bolted through each other with 1/4-20 stainless bolts). The picture below shows the setup. The key thing I found was to add what I called the "cinch strap" to the underside of the boat. This is just a simple locking strap (no ratchet on this one). This strap, combined with the ratchet strap over the top, pinches the dinghy into a very secure posture where most of the pressure is being carried by the weaver receivers. The cinch strap connects to a couple of small eyes on the side of the dinghy. When you get straps, remove the standard steel connectors and replace with stainless carabiner hooks where it connects to the D-hooks like these so that the strap stays on when you're wrestling the boat onto the davits. I'm hope Dom is looking down and smiling.

Davit Straps r1.jpg
 
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Mine are on the boat right now, in storage, but I can take a picture with a tape measure next time I'm there.

What I did was inflated the dinghy, flipped in over, and then made a template out of cardboard and made sure it fit the bottom of the dink. I then traced onto 1" starboard and cut with a sabre saw, and then sanded with a palm sander.
 
sb - I like that idea. How long would you say yours are roughly? Would a 12" x 36" piece make one? Where did you buy your plastic? Thank you.
 
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