How to support bow of dinghy on Davits?

[paulg222]

I have a new Zodiac Cadet 270 ALU (aluminum floor, but not a RIB). See the catalog picture of the newer boat attached. Wondering best way to hoist it on davits.

The lifting points according to the manual are meant for when the boat is empty (no outboard). That would not be my typical scenario when taking the dinghy with me for my coastal cruising (not blue water), where I would want to leave the motor on.

Could I use those bow handles in addition to the lifting points, or is it better to rig some webbing like in the other picture shown?

Only downside of the webbing approach is that if the tubes are not fully inflated there is a risk of the floor pulling out. Since I wouldn't be leaving dinghy on davits for long periods this is probably fine. Also would mean I have to deflate it, attach webbing some how, re-inflate. Since the first board in the floor of the boat is wood, would it be better to just put 2 eye bolts in there and make sure the bottom of the eye bolts is not "pointy"? When keel tube is inflated there should be space under the sides of that floor board. Or just glue the webbing on with wood glue or something?

What are other techniques?

[a64pilot]

Couple of things, first they say that as the lifting points are not rated to carry much weight above what the dinghy weighs, however it’s not the bow that you should worry about, it’s the stern, the bow will weigh less when the motor is on, because the lifting point in the stern are ahead of the motor and the motor will act like a fat kid on a see saw, lightning the weight on the bow.

My advice is to get an outboard mount on the rails and always take the Motor off of the dinghy whenever you are going to do any kind of crossing and only leave it on when your going a short distance in protected waters.
Also your going to find that even if you find a way to support it so that everything is good, the excess weight is going to cause the dinghy to swing back and forth more aggressively and your going to have to really lash it down good to hold it tight. The extra work in lashing off down pretty much equals the work to remove the motor, so just remove the motor.

Those handles are soft and flexible and you can’t use them for support for that reason, and they could rip a hole in the tube. If your bound and determined have someone weld strong lifting shackles to the hull, onto large support plates to distribute the load, say 6” square 1/8” plates.
But I suspect your much better off removing the motor, your davits can hold it, but over time things fatigue, maybe the railing the davits are connected to.

On edit I see it’s not a RIB, just take the motor off.

[sailjumanji]

Does the stern have lifting eyes? On my Avon RIB, those eyes pass thru the stern, and are quite hefty. The front eye is a single point attachment in the bottom near the bow. We have an Avon 310 Lite and regularly carry it with our 8 hp 2 stroke Yamaha on the stern. On the last cat, that is how it rode for years, including Bahamas and Gulf of Mexico crossings. On this cat, 2300 nm and Gulf Stream and Gulf of Mexico crossings. I dont think you said what motor you are using. If you are just coastal hopping, and the motor is light, i dont see a problem.

Oh and in addition to the lifting tackle, we have three fixed-length sections of line that we attach when hoisted to steady it in seas. Each have large snaps that make it quick and easy. And then a fourth line with truckers hitch to snug it all up. We stop, anchor, lower the dinghy pretty quick. You dont want the launch time and effort to be a disincentive from stopping. At night, we hoist it for security.

And before the clamouring about how dangerous this is, and possibility for rogue wave flooding, blah, blah, blah ... everything is a risk vs reward situation. If you want to minimize risk, deflate, roll up and store the dinghy.

[sailjumanji]

Oh, and when Zodiac says only hoist when empty, i wonder if they mean without gear and people inside.

I once saw a woman climb into a RIB hanging from davits and start cleaning. Her husband saw what she had done and quickly got her back down. Luckily she was petite, and it didnt come crashing down.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by paulg222

I have a new Zodiac Cadet 270 ALU (aluminum floor, but not a RIB). See the catalog picture of the newer boat attached. Wondering best way to hoist it on davits.

The lifting points according to the manual are meant for when the boat is empty (no outboard). That would not be my typical scenario when taking the dinghy with me for my coastal cruising (not blue water), where I would want to leave the motor on.

Could I use those bow handles in addition to the lifting points, or is it better to rig some webbing like in the other picture shown?

Only downside of the webbing approach is that if the tubes are not fully inflated there is a risk of the floor pulling out. Since I wouldn't be leaving dinghy on davits for long periods this is probably fine. Also would mean I have to deflate it, attach webbing some how, re-inflate. Since the first board in the floor of the boat is wood, would it be better to just put 2 eye bolts in there and make sure the bottom of the eye bolts is not "pointy"? When keel tube is inflated there should be space under the sides of that floor board. Or just glue the webbing on with wood glue or something?

What are other techniques?

If you like the convenience of leaving the motor on your dingy while coastal cruising then you might want to consider an electric outboard such as the Torqueedo or E propulsion motors which weigh less than 50 lbs without the battery (which you'd probably take off for recharging anyway). These are fine for inner marina transit where you can't really fire up a traditional out board anyway due to "no wake" restrictions. I think I'd mount the gas outboard on the rail in case you need to get serious.

[KadeyKrogen38]

You should not be going to sea with a dingy in davits anyway, not smart and certainly not with outboard mounted. A Dingy belongs tied down on the foredeck or stowed below for passages.

[paulg222]

Originally Posted by KadeyKrogen38

You should not be going to sea with a dingy in davits anyway, not smart and certainly not with outboard mounted. A Dingy belongs tied down on the foredeck or stowed below for passages.

Yeah not going to sea really. Maybe 10-13 mi off mainland at most but often less than that (1-2 mi), and always would be heading towards some other island so probably always < 5-6 miles from some land.