Securing Dinghy in Davits - Help

[MamaKube]

Hi!
We had our dinghy secured tightly to the davits, but it rocked too much when on the Atlantic causing the transom/sole to split. We tried crossing additional lines under it fore and aft which worked great, but the friction caused a split in :confused our rub rail. I want to stick with the concept, but I can't use traditional lines. I actually thought fire hose material would do the trick.
Any ideas?

[Vasco]

Two words... ratchet straps.

[ReneJK]

cross tie , not only up down but also left right (upper left to lower right and upper right to lower left side ) to immobilize the dinghy

[sck5]

cross tied ratchet straps. Yep. You can get good stainless ratchets with straps already attached or make up your own:

Stainless Steel Ratchet Straps & Stainless Steel Ratchet Tie Downs

[malbert73]

Great idea on the ratchet straps. Prob can save money/extra gear by getting just one. Use a static Dacron/etc line for one, tie up snug, and then crank down the other cross strap to tension them? Like spring lines for your dinghy.


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[KadeyKrogen38]

Never go to sea with a dingy in davits, just asking for problems.

[Davidhoy]

Originally Posted by sck5

cross tied ratchet straps. Yep. You can get good stainless ratchets with straps already attached or make up your own:

Stainless Steel Ratchet Straps & Stainless Steel Ratchet Tie Downs

Soooo much more affordable than any of the marine stores...

[furisgrampa]

West has some straps with stainless latches, i just use one, toss the hook end over the dink, grab it with a boat hook, and secure it to the davit. Also use a couple of lines with snap links and attach them to a tow ring on the dink, and cross tie them at the stern.

[CaptRory]

I too recently purchased davits and have been struggling to keep the dink still. The crossing of the ratchet straps works and pulls it back against the stern pulpit where I have secured a fender to stop chafe. The bottom line on hanging davits is that they are wonderful for fair weather coastal cruising, but have no place in offshore passages.

[Tortuga's Lie]

Originally Posted by KadeyKrogen38

Never go to sea with a dingy in davits, just asking for problems.

I second this, worst case scenario is that a following wave crashes down on your dink ripping your davits off entirely, maybe creating a hole in your transom plus the loss of your dink. Davits are typically rated at 300 pounds and the force of a wave plus the weight of your dinghy could be in the thousands of pounds..........store your dinghy on the foredeck.

[ReneJK]

Originally Posted by Tortuga's Lie

store your dinghy on the foredeck.

or vertical between the davits using the davits to secure the dinghy , letting it rest on the swimplatform ?
that way the dink is out of the way , foredeck is free in case you need to go up front

[sailingunity]

Agree with other folks here, never take your dinghy on open water in the davits. We braved it once or twice when doing day passages, too much work to haul it onto deck and back into the water on the same day.

Our system was spring lines for and aft to stop the swinging. Lines leading down to the boat, and lines leading up to the davits stops the rocking. We found even then we had to add spring lines leading from the far side of the dinghy to stop all of the movement. Ratchet straps are a good idea, or a bowline on a bight so you can double your effort.

[Cheechako]

Is your motor off the dink? If not, take it off for crossings.