Hanging dinghy from davits

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by thinwater

SNIP

Personally, I believe removing the engine defeats the purpose of having davits. I've never heard an explanation that made sense to me. The transom and motor are generally very easy to secure. The only exception might be if the lower unit is catching water; mine does not, other than a few splashes in near gale conditions.

SNIP

In my earlier post I asked about the reason for raising the inflatable on davits. If it is just at a dock or on a ball the process is often very different than if you are on a daysail which is different than if you are on a passage.

On my last trip to DT I was buddy boating with someone. The normal weather is wind out of the East so running from Boca Grande to the DT around the Quicksands was almost directly before the wind. I went North of the Quicksands while my buddy went South of the Quicksands; even though there was a small wind fetch from the South resulting in 5/6 foot seas.

Bottom line he broached and a wave crashed over the stern of his boat and flooded the cockpit for a minute till it drained. His inflatable was filled with water, which took a little longer than a minute to drain out.

This is a fairly short 45 mile passage with good access to NOAA radio for weather and can easily be done in daylight. On a longer passage across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas I would not consider leaving the outboard on my inflatable. On a longer passage (does anyone really think a passage entirely in daylight compares to one that lasts days or weeks) I would take even more actions to not only remove the outboard but secure and protect it with covers.

Few boats have five feet of freeboard; especially at the stern where the inflatable is stored. On the other hand five feet waves are very common once you start sailing out of sight of land; even if it is only a day sail. Not to mention things like line squalls that can pop up at the worst possible time.

When taking my boat out I always consider what the worst possible sea state could be and secure the inflatable accordingly. Sometimes this means taking off the outboard and covering it with protection; at other times it means just raising it so the lower unit of the outboard is out of the water.

[jessehunt]

I used eye bolts in the transom with hooks spliced into a piece of line and lashed a loop in the middle to hook to the falls for the davit. For the bow, I got a $15 tow strap from Harbor Freight, cut the hooks off of it and sewed D-rings to each end. It goes under the front of the inflatable and both hook into the downfall on the davit. I use a short piece of line around the strap at each tow point on the dinghy to keep the strap from sliding.