shinsr
Member
:smt038I struggled for months which Davit system to buy - the biggest issue being the high (2' off water) platform on my 44DA. Items that factored into my decission were as follows: 1. I have a 9'6" RIB with a 9.9 four stroke, and that I know I am not looking to go much larger or heavier in the near future - when kids grow out of this I will get a boston whaler. 2. Safety - wanted something that was not going to throw out my back trying to retrieve, and wanted something safe in case retreival was necessary in some rougher seas 3. Swim platform - needed to maintain as much platform access as possible so crew could access storage and starboard side of boat 4. Structural integrity of boat / removable - although a lightweight set up, I dont want to worry if I hit some moderate seas that I have to worry about my platform / transom and also wanted something removeable for when we dont want to travel with the dink, and finally 5. Cost. After looking at every conceivable option I went with the St Croix system. It really was the only system that hit middle or high scores on all of the above. Granted if money was no object I may have gone with a sealift, but could not justify a 25k install for a 5k raft. Bill from St. Croix was fantastic to deal with - they made custom support mounts for the underside of platform to spread the weight while dealing with a not level undermount surface and needing to vary the height to clear stringers - really a tremendous amount of engineering involved. Shipped everything I needed to complete both the install as well as the hardware / strapping for retrieval. Once the fear of drilling through the fiberglass was gone, it really was not difficult, however it was quite time consuming. Key is in the initial measurements. The hardest part (again, Kudos to Rocket for his help) was manning the underside of the platform while installing he mounts and suring up the underside brackets. Bill reccomended the 18" risers (see picture) - the benefit to this is now the dink is aft and high, secured against the arms, so the dink is higher than my floater, and also is high enough I will not have to worry about high seas lifting the dink while underway. When removed, the only thing remaining is the spreader plate / shoe on platform. The risers and arms each store easily in my transom trunk. With the addition of the winch on the starbord arm, retreiving is truly effortless, pretty sure my 7 year old could do it. The system itself is finished flawlessly, high polished stainless end to end.
