Davits: Do You Use them on Passages ?

[thinwater]

Most catamarans are designed from the ground-up for davits, and the dingy nests neatly between the hulls. Very safe.

If I had a monohull and thought I would put the dingy on the deck with any regularity, I would adapt the spinnaker pole and halyard, make a purpose-built bridle and chocks if needed, and make it into a simple one-person job, with the motor ON. I have seen this in practice, and it's a pretty thing. The mods were minor, but well thought out.

[AnchorageGuy]

That is exactly how we secured ours. Chuck

Originally Posted by Vasco

Four ratchet straps. Absolutely no play in the dink.

[thinwater]

These can loose air and benefit from the extra support. Basically, lines are cris-crossed under the dingy; the exact geometry depends on the boat and the davits, but it can be VERY secure. I've had 30 inches of snow fall on this tender.

Sail Delmarva: All Triced-Up

[larryb]

While cruising the CA and Mex coast from SF to PV and back, we not only strapped our West Marine roll up floor dingy on deck, but also deflated. 10 to 15 minute job getting it up and ready for sail or off deck, inflated and motor mounted ready for getting ashore. The motor was only a 3hp nissan, very light, mounted on stern rail. Thus the foredeck of our 30' Tartan was always clear. The rolled up dink, rolled up, could be stepped on or sat on mounted right in front of companion way.
However, on my next boat, which looks like it will be a Catalina 36, I will install davits if I can't find one with them already installed. I have in mind a hard dink that will be lifted and and secured upside down for long passages. Coastal cruising I am planning on towing most of the time with a cover. I may find in practical application this may not work, but then again it looks like it should. Kayaks along with possibly surfboards will be a back up shuttle to shore if dingy needs to be cut free or jettisoned off stern in dangerous seas.
LarryB

[rusky]

We have davits but when travelling, the dinghy goes on the foredeck, outboard on bracket at the stern.

I have seen the result of a dinghy being on davits and it was washed away, along with half the davit, all the solar and vhf antenna. I dont think you can tie a dinghy onto davits enough to say you have 'stopped' any movement.

The davits are used if we are in places where we use the dinghy eveyrday. I always pull the dinghy out of the water every night. [thats learnt from experience]

We are in Moreton Bay for a while and I leave dink on davits, but heading north - to cross the wide bay bar - dink onto foredeck.

[impi]

We keep ours on the davitts. 30hp Yamaha, semi rigid 3.8m. I have had the transom on the dink strengthened with stainless steel bracket and made sure the pulleys and rope haul the dinks pontoons well up against the davitt tubes.
In addition we have two cargo ratchet straps that pull the dink nice and tight as well as a small air compressor nearby to inflate the dink pontoons every 3 days (for safe measure).
Been in pretty rough stuff with that (including my solar panels mounted there) - seems to be a solid mount with no scary motion.
We also make sure to keep all bung plugs open so water can drain freely.

[Boracay]

I had another look at your current dink and it's got to be the world's best tender.

I know it's a risk but what about keeping and using the one you've got? Particularly if you can pull off the outboard and store it below for long passages, have a custom cover made to keep the water out, beef up the davits if necessary and have lots of straps to keep it from moving.

You might need some custom pads below deck for the outboard. It may even be possible to rotate the dinghy in so that it sits across the transom at an angle, partly upside down.

You're probably going to have to sell it quick so what you might get won't be that much, so even if you go with another dinghy is it possible to put it into a container and ship it back to Oz? A good agent may be able to help customs to understand your situation.

All of the above is on the assumption that you have a liferaft.

[callistov42]

Never (anymore). I used to. Crossed the Gulf Of Mexico 10 times with dinghy hanging off the stern (engine off the dinghy on a rail mount). Dropped one end or the other three times. I used to replace davit lines religiously and check them frequently but they will still chafe through on a long, rough passage. We ALWAYS secured a dinghy cover on the dinghy when it was on the davits for a passage so if we did get pooped, the dinghy wouldn't fill up (visions of tearing the whole transom right off the boat). Finally after dropping the dinghy for the third time (and always at night in nasty rough weather) we started tying it down on the fore deck. That works great and it feels A LOT more secure up there.

[ReMetau]

We do for small predictable trips.

We made a mistake of doing it across the gulf steam once. They were forecasting a really smooth ride, but then the wind shifted to the east about 20-25, and that did it. We ended up snapping the cross bar on the davits, but we had it tied up good enough and were close enough to shore at that point, that we didn't lose the dinghy.

[dennisail]

Originally Posted by Boracay

I had another look at your current dink and it's got to be the world's best tender.

I know it's a risk but what about keeping and using the one you've got? Particularly if you can pull off the outboard and store it below for long passages, have a custom cover made to keep the water out, beef up the davits if necessary and have lots of straps to keep it from moving.

You might need some custom pads below deck for the outboard. It may even be possible to rotate the dinghy in so that it sits across the transom at an angle, partly upside down.

You're probably going to have to sell it quick so what you might get won't be that much, so even if you go with another dinghy is it possible to put it into a container and ship it back to Oz? A good agent may be able to help customs to understand your situation.

All of the above is on the assumption that you have a liferaft.

It is the worlds best tender. I have been thinking of buying a trailer $800 and sending back here. I will already have to pay AU sales tax on it since it comes with the bill of sale for the boat. I am not sure what the shipping fees would cost though. I think it will be worth a lot more here. I am in no rush to sell it. I have until February.

The thing weighs 550lbs and new tender will be about 160lbs. Huge difference. The previous owner had stays run from the tips of the davits to the masthead to strengthen the davits, but even still he only felt comfortable to store the dingy on them in the marina. He towed it when underway. I could only imagine the consequences of breaking the davits while these masthead stays are inplace.. lost rig? This setup is no good for my planned trip.

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by dennisail

My concern is the davits would not be able to handle the weight of a dink full of water.

Several options.
Hang it upside down.
Obviously, leave any bungs open if its the right way up and hang it with the boat slightly higher to allow for drainage.
Put a cover over it.

[Curmudgeon]

Yes, even when not on a passage the drain plug on the dinghy should be removed to keep it from filling with water, e.g. when it rains.

But I keep my dingly on the davits as much as possible (although I would deflate and stow it on an offshore passage). Perfect place to put garbage to keep it from cluttering up the lazarettes.

You need to put spring lines on the dinghy when it is on the davits, to keep it from swaying.

[svBeBe]

My last word on this is anyone who thinks that a dingy with an outboard can be made safe on monohull davits has not experienced heavy seas and wind on an off shore passage. I cannot speak for cats, because I do not have that experience.

If you had the monohull/dinghy/davit experience, you would know what I am talking about.

Be safe out there...it is normally the crew that endangers the boat and crew on off shore passages.

Bill

[zeehag]

i keep seeing solar panels mounted on davits--seems like asking for trouble in a big sea---mounting htem on bimini is one thing-- usually seas dont poop the bimini-- but the davits-- with the stuff i have seen the sea do to dinks, i cringe when i see davits on stern holding solar panels-- have fun, you guys--i hope you are not planning on seeing any rough seas at all-- the davits i reported that were folded down the transom of a 41 sea wolf???(the trip was ONLY to catalina from san diego--what can happen, lol)/ had those been solar panels instead of a dinghy he lost, would no longer have any. do what you are comfortable with but do think about the conditions that grow while you are allowing your electronix o run your boat-- especially those of you who donot watch the seas and skies with your own eyes. you could well lose more than you bargained for.

[Seahunter]

There are pros and cons for everything; it's a matter of choosing the better of 2 weevils. Davit's need to be designed (marine architect) to handle foreseeable loads (dink full of water, added equipment etc). As towing a dingy also has it's perils we're happy with ours which are design from 2-1/4" SS tubing capable of a load of 4000 lbs. We can carry our 10' Avon with 15hp Sookie OB, fuel etc without too many worries. Our sat dome, a number of GPS antenna, and and emergency VHF antenna are also installed there. Off the shelf davit kits are usually far from adequate other than stowing the dingy will at the dock.