Foldable/removable davits?

[massnspace]

Considering a sailboat purchase in “expensive mooringland”. (Pacific Northwest).

It seems I would save a fair amount of money if I could fit removable or foldable davits and get a shorter slip….just store the dink on the foredeck when arriving and decrease the overall boat length, instead of paying for all that stuff hanging off the back of the boat month after month.

Any ideas or recommendations for a davit system that could accomplish this? Yes, I did Google it and found some options but asking now for real-life experiences.

David
Seattle

[psk125]

If you're going to put the dinghy on the foredeck for arrivals, you will need some method of hoisting and launching it from there. Most people use a jib or spinnaker halyard. Once you've arrived and launched it, what do you need davits for? You can't use them for the dinghy or they'll charge you for the added length.

[RaymondR]

I have considered putting hinges on my davits to allow folding them forward and thereby "shrinking" the OAL when going into marinas but abandoned the idea because it would require the removal of my pushbike carry rack. However I am getting old and may need to spend more time in marinas due to health issues and if so will revisit the idea. Since the change would reduce my pen requirement from 14 to 12 metres the savings would make it well worth the cost and inconvenience.

[Cheechako]

Most marinas up here charge by slip length, not the length of the boat you are mooring. SO if a 45 ft slip is available, but you have a 40 ft boat, you're paying for 45 feet. Also, they will often go by the longest part, even if it's your rudder in back to your anchor hanging off the front.
OTOH, you DO need to be within their specified max length, so you may have to put a 46+ ft boat in a 50 ft slip!
Does removing the dink help in some way regarding those things?

There are rotating davits available I think.... or used to be. The boat in my avatar had them when I bought it. It would not be a difficult conversion if you needed to.
Some use a pin in the base, most davits require a cross bar to work well, so one end of that crossbar must disconnect and the other end of it be free to rotate at the fitting.

[shimari]

We had the same goals. I searched around and was lucky enough to find Atlas Carbon based in Lymington where we were laying at the time.

We had two baby davits added by Atlas Carbon products. They're built by Jeremy Rodgers Co. https://www.jeremyrogers.co.uk/atlas...-fibre-davits/

The davits turn in and they are completely removable as well. They look great also. The downside is that they are not cheap. But, the cost was approximately the same as a pair of Simpson series 10 as I recall. We think they look much better as well.

We're incredibly happy with the results. The Jeremy Rodgers team did excellent work!

[psk125]

These davits actually retract into the deck and disappear: https://www.osculati.com/en/11623-m-...lescopic-davit
Friends have them on their Beneteau. They seem to work well.