preventing chafe of RIB on davits

[vpbarkley]

We will soon have a 120 lb. RIB hanging from the solar arch that also serves as our davits. We have no experience securing a boat on davits.

To prevent swinging, I plan to strap the RIB in some way TBD using webbing. I also want to prevent contact chafing of the RIB's tubes.

Is there some form of chafe gear that is commonly used when securing an inflatable on davits? What do you use?

Thank you.

[Dsanduril]

On our RIB we always hoist in the same position so I used two patches (about 4” or so, from the repair kit that came with the boat) and glued them to the RIB at the chafe locations using the patching cement. Those patches have been on the dinghy for four years, and do show a minor amount of chafe, so glad they are there.

[R2boat]

Also you may want to consider securing the dink with adjustable diagonal lines, from the stb davit to the opposite end of the dink and vice versa, no lateral movement, I would agree some extra hypalon on the chafe area of the tubes...has worked for us for years

[fxykty]

In addition to what others have said, if you can hoist the dinghy so that one or both tubes touch and can be secured against the davits themselves, then that’s a good thing. Add patches to the dinghy or foam/pool noodles to the davits. If you have a cover for the dinghy, or chaps, put patches on that as well where it touches.

Separate line/webbing to hold up the dinghy is a good idea so you’re not just relying on the falls. A pair of typical webbing straps with ratchet will work, one for each davit.

Have a cover for the dinghy so it can’t be filled by water (rain or wave).

Cross straps are useful as well to prevent side to side swinging - from each outside corner of the dinghy to the opposite stern corner.

Take the engine off if possible - it reduces the swinging moment and reduces strain on the davits.

[SV DINGO]

Definately diagonal ratchet straps and a couple of 25 cm pool noodles with cable ties are doing the job for me.

[Tin Tin]

If you have canvass or sunbrella chaps made, this will prevent chafe on the tubes plus provide UV protection and dock rub for all the tubes. When you peel the chaps off in 5 years your tubes will look like new.

[bob fleege]

I often use throw cushions to attach to the Davits to cushion the dingy and then strap it tight. Split water hose with plastic zip ties can be put on your lifting harness where it can touch the dingy. A chain can also be used to attach to the lifting straps or wire to pull the ends away from the dingy to prevent chafe. After all this is done some lines can come from the eyes for and aft in the dingy can be used to adjust the dingy from chafe.

[j.g.evans]

I was not able to stop small movements with straps securing the dinghy. In bad weather the movement was fierce. I did use patches, but I felt that they would wear through too. My solution was to make a bracing system out of 1" OD AL tubing. Two tubes held the dinghy away from the davits and a diagonal tube prevented side to side to swaying. This was all one apparatus with plastic bimini parts for hinges. It worked for 8 trips to the Bahamas.

[sowwaninii]

Besides securing the dinghy with cross ties I also use tubular padding made for cartop racks for surfboards to cover the davit tubing where the dinghy could potentially chafe.

[doublewide]

browse for "stainless ratchet straps" and buy 3 or 4 of them. You will need enough straps to immobilize the dinghy tightly against the ship or the davits fore and aft and sideways with chafing gear between the dinghy tubes and the ship. I also applied hypalon patches to the tubes themselves at the contact points, and this was a good move. If your dinghy doesn't have enough anchor points for ratchet straps, it is a simple matter to add stainless eyebolts to the bow and transom where you need them.

[Jetx]

In addition to cross-tying when heading offshore, we put strips of this tape -- marketed as chafe protection, but very low friction so doesn't abrade whatever slides across it -- on the underside of the davits, where they contact the RIB tubes. No visible chafe so far.

[Whomda]

These solved the problem for me, and proved to be one of the most affordable yet useful improvements we made: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007XDB7O/

[mvmojo]

If you plan on sailing in rough conditions, the dinghy is gonna move and your davits will endure a lot of flexing, not to mention the chafe to the dinghy itself. After breaking 1-1/2" dia ss davits twice during multi-day passages, we fabricated some 4" x 4" box aluminum rails that attached to cars on genoa tracks on the aft rail. When making a passage, we raised the dinghy, slid the rails aft a few feet, lowered the dinghy on to them and strapped it down. The rails were strong enough that I could stand in the dinghy and bounce up and down without the rails flexing more than 1/4" or so. When slid forward, the rails just sat on top of the gunwales out of the way of everything. This completely solved the dinghy chafe and davit flexing problem.

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by Jetx

In addition to cross-tying when heading offshore, we put strips of this tape -- marketed as chafe protection, but very low friction so doesn't abrade whatever slides across it -- on the underside of the davits, where they contact the RIB tubes. No visible chafe so far.

Did it stick well to a hypalon dinghy? Bit expensive at $47.59 including shipping, for only 3 meters!

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by fxykty

In addition to what others have said, if you can hoist the dinghy so that one or both tubes touch and can be secured against the davits themselves, then that’s a good thing. Add patches to the dinghy or foam/pool noodles to the davits. If you have a cover for the dinghy, or chaps, put patches on that as well where it touches.

Separate line/webbing to hold up the dinghy is a good idea so you’re not just relying on the falls. A pair of typical webbing straps with ratchet will work, one for each davit.

Have a cover for the dinghy so it can’t be filled by water (rain or wave).

Cross straps are useful as well to prevent side to side swinging - from each outside corner of the dinghy to the opposite stern corner.

Take the engine off if possible - it reduces the swinging moment and reduces strain on the davits.

Agree with everything said here EXCEPT, never keep a dinghy on davits without pulling the drain plug - cover or not.