Dinghy Davits for Med Cruise

[tgrimmett]

Hi: I am interesting in hearing from others that have cruised in the Mediterranean about whether they have used davits to store their dinghy. Do they work OK when you Med moor, or are they in the way and a pain? We are buying a 44' Jeanneau and I'm trying to determine whether I should install davits for our 9' inflatable RIB, with a 15 hp 2 stroke outboard. It's a lightweight aluminum model, so I could hoist it on a halyard and place it on the foredeck, but unless we will be crossing oceans (which we will eventually), I think it would be easier to pull up on davits. But I have never sailed in the Med, and in none of the many videos I have watched on med mooring have a I seen a boat with davits. Thanks in advance for your perspective!
-Tom

[boatman61]

Having a dinghy on davits will be a pain when using the pasarelle... stooping or crawling under.. so it would be likely you'll have to put the dinghy on the foredeck when Med mooring.. or clamber over the bow to get ashore.
Maybe wait till just before you leave the Med before fitting davits.. in say Gibraltar.

[2big2small]

I would say go for the davits, preferably retractable or pivoting ones. Store the dinghy on the foredeck, or leave it in the water attached to the bow when you’re at the dock. And otherwise at anchor you have your davits and can easile keep your dinghy from fouling by lifting out for the nights.

[Rapanui]

If you intend to anchor or use buoys a lot then davits make your life so much easier, but the dinghy swung in them is a pain if med mooring. Drop the dinghy and secure to bow when med mooring, it's sometimes still useful to have the dinghy available for ferrying to beach, across the harbour, fetching supplies and so on.

[Alita49DS]

Having spent the last 15 years or so in the Med, I agree with everyone who says that having a dingy swung on the stern whilst moored stern to is an absolute pain.

A pain getting into the mooring. A pain tying up, a pain getting on and off the boat.

However, note the qualifier. At times it would be nice to have some davits. Swinging. Removable. Attached to a frame. For example when anchored or moving from A to B and not inclined to stow the tender. One day I will persuade myself there is a business case.

It might help to start at the other end of the equation. What do you need a 15hp engine for? The likelihood is that the furthest you will potter is a few hundred metres to a restaurant on shore. 3hp is enough. What do you need a RIB for? A small tender with an inflatable floor and a V is just fine. You have a 44ft boat. Not a massive thing needing a Williams show off.

Simple, light and cheap you might find to be more than adequate. An engine you can lift off with one hand and leave on the rail. A tender you can use a spare spinnaker halyard to lift over the guard rail forward and then stow the tender tied down flat on passage and lifted up against the mast so as to be away from the forward hatches when tied up or anchored.

Sorry to be a spoil sport. It is such fun to spend money on kit.

[Mark Thurlow]

We have a rib on davits and are cruising the med. We med moor stern too with the rib on the davits. This relies on someone to take our lines. Once moored temporarily we drop the tender to the sea and deploy the passerelle over the top of the tender. In this way tender very secure.

If we have no one to take lines, and this has only happened once in a year, we do the same operation but when we drop the tender to the sea we use this as the stepping stone to the pontoon.

Having davits adds security, keeps deck cleared and saves heaving and lifting which in turn reduces damage/wear on the tender.
Fit the davits!

[Half Moon Ecat]

Think catamaran, add med-moor: you can tie up bow-to! You have a wide stable platform to deploy a passarell from, either bow. Your rudders are in deeper water away from any rubble near the quay. Your dink is accessible for Harbor exploration while safely hauled up on the davits when not in use. The only downside is that you have to rig for a stern anchor setup. Not a bad thing as you want be able to deploy fore and aft anchors in certain situations anyway. I agree that “dink on davits” coupled with “stern-to med moor”:smile: creates issues. However, think catamaran...many cats have sterns that incorporate steps that extend aft. You could deploy a passerell from either stern without the issues of a mono’s access ( needing to climb under the dink ).

[keithw88]

I have been in the Med for five years or so, have davits and moor stern-to.
It works for me - possibly not least as I have a hydraulic passerelle, so we lower the dinghy down to close to the water when we get into harbour and lower the passerelle over it (this works because the dinghy in this situation is just clear of the water). We hang our stern lines (which have loop ends) over the ends of the davits with the boat-ends on the winches with enough line out. Once we have reversed in close enough one of us can walk down the passerelle, take the windward stern line off the edn of the davit, step off and cleat it as as necessary; at this point the driver goes ahead against the stern line to keep the stern/dinghy from scrapping the wall and we can then take our time about sorting out A) a bow line (anchored or picking up a guide line from the stern) and then B) the other stern line and then C) tightening-up all as necccessary.
I did have the davits off for one season, when we were using a simple small dinghy with an inflatable floor, but it became too problematic - especially working single-handed. A) the dinghy flies all over the place in even half a breeze, B) the thing scrapes nastily over the topsides and esp the guard-wires, C) the rowlocks catch the guard-wires, D) lifting using a winch and controlling the dinghy needs four or even six arms - beyond what I have been allocated with. And after all that, if you don't have chocks and a really good tie-down system you have to make up a cat's cradle of lines to hold the dinghy in place which is fatal when going forward to adjust the rode, check nav lights, etc, etc.
I got the davits put back on over the next winter .
I guess each boat and each owner can find a solution which works for them; but davits are on more than 60% of the boats on my pontoon right now in Palma de Mallorca.

[tgrimmett]

Thanks Keith. Yes I realize that the dinghy and outboard are likely oversized for the Med. We had the 15hp on another larger dinghy and being a 2 stroke and lighter, I couldn't part with it! And we got a RIB because we intend to cruise beyond the Med eventually and they have been handy for us in the Caribbean and other locales. Appreciate your input!

[robert sailor]

If you had a large solar arch with Davits built in then you could simply choose not to use them when Med mooring, at least you have proper headroom for walking the rear plank and proper access for passing your lines etc. Med cruisers do in fact prefer little dinks and little engines because the trips are usually short but if your trip to the Med is going to expanded to the Caribbean or it's part of a circumnavigation then get your RIB and 15hp 2 stroke, much better choice. We spent a couple of years cruising there and one thing i noticed was so many near new boats with dings,chips and scrapes in their topsides. Watching them Med moor in a good crosswind or tucking into a space 2 ft smaller than their beam answered most of my questions. Two years wasn't enough time, by the way.

[tgrimmett]

Originally Posted by keithw88

I have been in the Med for five years or so, have davits and moor stern-to.
It works for me - possibly not least as I have a hydraulic passerelle, so we lower the dinghy down to close to the water when we get into harbour and lower the passerelle over it (this works because the dinghy in this situation is just clear of the water). We hang our stern lines (which have loop ends) over the ends of the davits with the boat-ends on the winches with enough line out. Once we have reversed in close enough one of us can walk down the passerelle, take the windward stern line off the edn of the davit, step off and cleat it as as necessary; at this point the driver goes ahead against the stern line to keep the stern/dinghy from scrapping the wall and we can then take our time about sorting out A) a bow line (anchored or picking up a guide line from the stern) and then B) the other stern line and then C) tightening-up all as necccessary.
I did have the davits off for one season, when we were using a simple small dinghy with an inflatable floor, but it became too problematic - especially working single-handed. A) the dinghy flies all over the place in even half a breeze, B) the thing scrapes nastily over the topsides and esp the guard-wires, C) the rowlocks catch the guard-wires, D) lifting using a winch and controlling the dinghy needs four or even six arms - beyond what I have been allocated with. And after all that, if you don't have chocks and a really good tie-down system you have to make up a cat's cradle of lines to hold the dinghy in place which is fatal when going forward to adjust the rode, check nav lights, etc, etc.
I got the davits put back on over the next winter .
I guess each boat and each owner can find a solution which works for them; but davits are on more than 60% of the boats on my pontoon right now in Palma de Mallorca.

Thanks Keith. It is helpful to hear your process, and also interesting to know that so many boats in Palma de Mallorca have davits. My fallback plan was going to be to google as many images of the med as i could find and count the percentage that have davits!

[steve77]

We have davits, a 10 foot Avon RIB, and a 15 hp outboard. When we are stern-to at the dock the Avon is on deck. The davits have never been an issue for us when docking. At anchor I think you will be happy to have the davits for dinghy storage.

I have seen people leave the dinghy on the davits when stern-to. To get ashore they clamber onto the dinghy and then step onto the dock. I would never recommend this, but I have met at least two people who use this method. Their boat, their choice.

Best of luck outfitting for the Med. Lots to see and do over here.

Cheers!

Steve

[SaltyMetals]

I had a stainless arch built and can pull the dink up under it. At the same time it hides some solar panels and supports a wind gen as well as being able to get all the rest out of the way like antennae, safety horse shoes, danbuoy , etc. I find I am only visiting a marina max once every 10 days and on those occasions I drop the dink in th water and tie it near the bow before entering the mooring space. Works well for me bec most of the time I am at anchor somewhere so à dink stored this way is ideal.

[tgrimmett]

Thanks very much everyone for your responses and your perspective. I am going to go ahead and order some davits for the boat. The models I found that were rotating ones didn't seen to be very sturdy and required extra tubing and/or wire lashings to keep them in position, which would only make getting off the boat med moored much more difficult. So I opted for a pair of fixed davits from Atkins/Hoyle, and will install them this spring. If anyone wants info on how they work and our experience using them, feel free to message me directly.