Davits

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by rtbates

My little Cape Dory can't handle all that weight on the stern for sure, but I'm curious as to what an inflatable would weigh full of water. Has no one ever worried about being in a down pour that fills the inflatable back there? Seems like it would be a lot of weight, and in the worse place, even for your big boats.. Covers??

Dunno about Davits, but we used to stow an inflatable in the cockpit resting on top of a wraparound pushpit - pretty much like Davits - except inboard!.........simply used to stow the dinghy upside down.

[Pblais]

Seems like it would be a lot of weight, and in the worse place, even for your big boats.. Covers??

60 pounds per cubic ft or 7.48 gallons per cubic ft. Most dinghy's can hold more than is a safe load for the davits. Covers are popular for UV protection as well as rain. I always leave the plug open. It's easy to remember to put it back after you forget the first time. A big wave beats everything even with a cover. No davits can hold a wave.

[slomotion]

I have no opinion on davit manufacturers - ours were custom made in the Bahamas. IMO, davits are the one of the single best add-ons for Bahamas/Caribbean cruising. Without them, you will sooner or later and inevitably wind up with your dinghy in the water when it shouldn't be -generally upside down with the motor head under water.

We did the drain plug thing for a nearly a year. When our Avon died, we got a new Caribe in VZ together with a custom made Sunbrella (well, probably not genuine) cover ($120 U.S. circa 2000) - whatever it was. it worked and was well worth the money.

[rtbates]

Originally Posted by Benjamaphone

That can become an expensive solution. Always keeping the drain unplugged will prevent this risk. Just be sure to put the plug back in before you go for a ride!

However, people can be forgetful and drains can get clogged. The added weight of water, fuel and gear should be included in your davits safe working load. A davit that is designed to handle every variable will ensure that this will not be a problem.

I've never seen an inflatable with a drain.

[Benjamaphone]

Originally Posted by rtbates

I've never seen an inflatable with a drain.

Many "soft bottom" inflatables do not, however almost all ribs do. If you don't have a plug, and even if you do, just make sure that you take the extra weight into account when determining what your safe-working load should be for the davits.

Imagine that your tender is as heavy as it possibly can be. A dinghy filled with fuel, paddles, coolers, misc. gear and lots and lots of water adds a considerable amount of load. Your davits will be able to handle that extra weight if they are designed to have a higher safe-working load. Just take that into account when you are designing/buying a new set of davits.

[Southern Cross]

We just installed our davits last summer and love them. Sure wish we had not waited so long to install.

We bring the dink up every night for security and to help keep the bottom clean. Our tender is a Porta-bote, so it simply folds up and we stow it on top of the cabin when we go off shore or will be on a long passage or rough weather. For short, quiet hops we leave the outboard on, take the plug out, but for anything longer we take the outboard off and stow it on the rail.

The davits themselves do not present any problems in bad weather.

D & Don

[Holding Pattern]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

You can always stow the inflatable on the deck for ocean crossings. Davits would be hard to live without once you have had them.

I agree 110%. Running inland or a short, calm day it is fantastic to have the dink on davits able to be dropped quickly. Offshore we deflate and stow and then we're golden.

[CapnZiggy]

Beside the regular use of davits, I managed to make nice hammock seat from it. It is surely head turner in marinas.
Is any one out there who managed to install wind vane which is usable with dink on davits?
Another good use of dink on davits; it serves well as the trash hold during longer passages.

[defjef]

Ziggy,

That's a hoot! Very clever.

[defjef]

Davits seem rather iffy for offshore passages. One poop and you lose the dink and twist the pushpit to boot. In protected waters absent big seas they seem handy.

[Hope Light]

We carry a Caribe 10 RIB on Kingston davits, on our Cabot 36 cutter and it works well. for convenience and security. Anything offshore would have it upturned on the deck. I have first hand experience as to why.
While heading for Bermuda from Newport, (without a dinghy on davits), in Oct., years ago, I was alone on deck at the helm of a CC48, surfing downwind at 12 knots with no sails up in 50 plus knots, at midnight, when we were pooped by a monster wave that overcame us. I couldn't see it but heard it at the last moment and hung on (as well as being tethered) as the wave landed on my head. I was totally immersed as was the entire cockpit. In the midst of that we broached but she quickly threw out most of the water and we were on our way again. I have no idea what would have happened if we had had a dinghy on davits and dont want to ever find out. Major damage to be sure. In the event we had none but a bad scare.
It sounded worse to the people down below as they didnt know what was happening. Stow it on deck.
David

[harryrezz]

I wouldn't be without davits, for the reasons Hud cited. Mine are custom made from heavy polished aluminum tubing and are very securely throughbolted to both the transom and aft deck. A framework between them provides a home for my two solar panels. I have never had the need for folding davits, but I can see there might occasionally be a problem if one often goes stern to. For longer passages the dink gets deflated and stored on the aft deck. I've had my 10.5 foot aluminum hulled RIB complete with the 15 HP Yamaha in place on those davits in some pretty nasty conditions with no problems. I use ratcheting straps like those used to hold boats on trailers with small fenders between the dink and the transom and once in place the dink never moves at all.

[Samadhi V]

We will not give up our davits.

Ours are custom stainless davits mounted to 4" stainless tubes extending down through the transom. The davits are extremely strong, as proven by the previous owner when he backed a davit into a piling and it stopped the boat without breaking or bending. We have 400 watts of solar panels mounted on top, with room for another 400 should we decided to mount them.

[Pblais]

I've had davits on the the current and past boat. I won't be removing them any time soon. They are a PITA, when you need to back out of some place. You just fell better knowing where the dinghy is and how easy it is to deploy. Ours were included into the original design. Well built davits make a difference. Our last boat had them as easily removed.

About the only bad part is some marinas will charge by the foot to dock them but I've found it more rare than the case. I would agree with those that will claim they are not appropriate on passages. A following sea could rip it off and cause you to lose the dinghy and more importantly rip a hole in the boat where the davits used to be. Nothing works for every things but davits cover most of the time.

[Holding Pattern]

Davits are great but you've got to have your head about you... take the dink down offshore...even the best forecast can turn.
Just a couple of days ago we overnighted it from Charleston, SC to Cape Fear, NC...out of 8 boats that left and we could see, 4 had dinks on davits.
WX was for 2-3' with weather approaching late Thursday...of course, the weather began arriving early and by the time we got to the inlet it was blowing stink and seas were building. We watched one boat (don't know if they were trying to strictly sail in or having engine trouble but only jib out, wallowing in a 6 foot short chop (tide was still running out a bit) and their dinghy was taking on considerable water.
It takes us 30 minutes to unpack, assemble, inflate, and launch the dinghy...we're sitting on the anchor during that time anyway so it's just busy work.