Adjustable Boat Chocks

[PEJ]

Does anyone have any opinions on adjustable boat chocks? This sort of thing http://img.nauticexpo.com/images_ne/photo-g/33542-3742467.jpg

My chocks are made for the previous owners boat and my dinghy does not fit snugly on them. I have seen these on other boats and they look OK.

I can't seem to find anyone in the UK that sells them though - anyone know where you can buy them?

 

[jfm]

Does anyone have any opinions on adjustable boat chocks? This sort of thing http://img.nauticexpo.com/images_ne/photo-g/33542-3742467.jpg

My chocks are made for the previous owners boat and my dinghy does not fit snugly on them. I have seen these on other boats and they look OK.

I can't seem to find anyone in the UK that sells them though - anyone know where you can buy them?

Yep - my opinion is that they are properly ugly toe stubby things. What could be nicer and simpler than teak chocks? (Very much imho!)

 

[PEJ]

What could be nicer and simpler than teak chocks? (Very much imho!)

Yes, very nice but if you change your dinghy you have to get new chocks made (the very situation I find myself in).

Hence I wondered what the price of adjustable ones are. But I can't find anyone who sells them.

Anyone know a seller or even a rough cost?

 

[BruceK]

In light of what JFM said take a look at "pop-up chocks". All in the USA though

examples

http://www.c2cinstalls.com/fold-out-chocks.html

or units that can slide out for stowage

http://www.nauticexpo.com/prod/umt-marine-llc/product-33542-374262.html

 

[BartW]

here is a adjusteable (and removeable) model from H+B technic in Germany.

http://www.h-btechnics.com/de/produkte/sst-cradle-einstellbar

we purchased this together with the hilo mechanism 5 years ago,
don't remember the price, they will give a quote direct to you

 

[Hurricane]

Yep - my opinion is that they are properly ugly toe stubby things. What could be nicer and simpler than teak chocks? (Very much imho!)

Great - until your drone smashes into them!!

 

[MrB]

Great - until your drone smashes into them!!

That's proper funny if you read the original thread :encouragement: obviously not funny for you.:encouragement:

 

[jfm]

here is a adjusteable (and removeable) model from H+B technic in Germany.

http://www.h-btechnics.com/de/produkte/sst-cradle-einstellbar

we purchased this together with the hilo mechanism 5 years ago,
don't remember the price, they will give a quote direct to you

Crikey that has some sharp edges, and plenty exposed metal to hit the tender's hull as you recover it in big waves on a hilo.

Teak doesn't scratch the tender. And I think the tender is held better if you use teak with notches exactly cut to the spray rails etc

 

[MrB]

Yep - my opinion is that they are properly ugly toe stubby things. What could be nicer and simpler than teak chocks? (Very much imho!)

Oozes badassery too :encouragement:

 

[sprocker]

Are the Teak chocks easy to form to the tender hull? Is there a recommended method of templating for the chocks?

I ask because my next potential boat has Teak chocks that I want to modify/replace to fit a new RIB.

 

[jfm]

Plenty of rib makers publish chock profiles online and these are fine if you are happy with their fore-aft positioning. Otherwise just scribe from the hull directly onto the teak. Or onto a 4mm ply template if you are a bit nervous. If the teak is 50-60mm thick you don't want to cut with a jigsaw. Circular saw, handsaw, bandsaw etc are better. Sorry if teaching suck eggs

 

[Hurricane]

We did ours the "JFM way"
Same tender but not using a HiLo platform.
i.e. we crane it on and off.

Problems aren't limited to HiLo though.
We have chipped the gelcoat on the Novurania a couple of times.
On the lower corner where the transom meets the bottom of the keel.
All repaired now though.
But I'm really glad that the chocks weren't the metal ones.
The wood (teak) is MUCH kinder to gelcoat knocks.
The way our tender swings around, I can't imagine the damage if the chocks were made from S/S.

This is one of our chocks.
Made (more or less) myself.
I obtained two profiles from Novurania in electronic form.
The using a bit of Photoshop wizzardry I scaled and printed onto several A3 sheets of paper.
Then made two plywood templates.
When the teak arrived, (mine is 70mm thick - bought some good stuff) I marked it out and got a local joiner to cut it on his bandsaw.

The construction of this chock isn't as it first seems.
It is actually a JFM idea.
Note the outboard "V" groove in the above pic.
The groove forms a great place to pause the crane lift.
Also allows us to easily clean the bottom of the tender which is otherwise difficult yo reach.
See this pic

I also made ours dead easy to unbolt so that they can be transferred to the bathing platform.

Also made some extra support blocks for use when it is on the bathing platform.

I did that at the end of last season.
This year, when away from home berth and out of the water, the tender spent most of its time on the bathing platform.

EDIT
Apologies for the dirty (old) winter cockpit covers.

 

[jfm]

Hurricane that's a very slick, versatile and nicely made system you have there. Great stuff. With apols for slight off topicness, but apropos Jenny Wren set up here are fyi pics of another p67 with quite big tender that I saw this summer. Tender is a Zar as you'll know

 

[PEJ]

Thanks for all the input guys. This has turned in to an interesting thread, for me at least.

You have convinced me that I should stick with teak but now my question is - how are your teak chocks fixed to the platform?

JFM - yours looks like it has a SS base plate and a bolt - what does the bolt bolt in to?

Hurricane - same question to you - how does the chock fit to the platform?

Mine have a SS base plate but that base plate has a lug underneath that fits to two holes in two SS fittings on the platform and it sort of twists in to place a bit like a light bulb bayonet. The fitting on the platform looks like the photo below. The lug keeps popping out of the hole and I worry that the whole chock might get knocked in to the sea.

 

[jfm]

Yes I use 50mm x 4or5mm polished strip along bottom of teak, attached to teak by about 4 screws and glue. The teak is two 50x180x600 pieces bought from kj howells, about £40 each iirc

At far end (aft) of chock s/s base strip there is a mushroom shaped peg welded on, that fits into a keyhole in an "upside down top hat" set flush into the deck. At the fwd end of the chock there is a tab of s/s strip projecting with a 10mm hole, and this allows the fwd end to be simply held by a hand-tightened screw going into an M10 tapped in another "upside down top hat" set flush into the deck

IMHO you don't need the keyhole on a non hi-lo platform. A simple peg-in-hole will do. But you do need the keyhole with a hi-lo

If you change your tender, you keep the s/s parts and replace or re-cut the teak part

All pretty easy. I've used this system on several boats, and it's a time honoured simple system invented/developed by boat people zillions of boats ago, and it's the best. I definitely am not changing. I think adjustable chocks look ugly with all the adjustment holes and screw threads and other yukky stuff

 

[Portofino]

Ours are not bolted .
The PO just had female holes put discreetly in the BP and male pegs under the teak chocks
Presume the weight and tie downs hold them down .When the tender is deployed they just lift up - no unbolting to do .
Currently we don,t use them ( have a flat bottom tender ar the mo ) they are in a locker — nice bits of kit :encouragement:
It’s all about ease of use ,minimal stubbing etc - and less risk of gel coat damage

https://imgur.com/gallery/O8WK5

View attachment 67135

They look like these - not mine but it illustrates the lack of “metal “ bolts on display

 

[MapisM]

Ours are not bolted .
The PO just had female holes put discreetly in the BP and male pegs under the teak chocks
Presume the weight and tie downs hold them down .When the tender is deployed they just lift up - no unbolting to do .

Same here, but neither of us have a hi/low platform, PF.
If you would, you'd rather have them bolted.

 

[Hurricane]

Thanks for all the input guys. This has turned in to an interesting thread, for me at least.

You have convinced me that I should stick with teak but now my question is - how are your teak chocks fixed to the platform?

JFM - yours looks like it has a SS base plate and a bolt - what does the bolt bolt in to?

Hurricane - same question to you - how does the chock fit to the platform?

Mine have a SS base plate but that base plate has a lug underneath that fits to two holes in two SS fittings on the platform and it sort of twists in to place a bit like a light bulb bayonet. The fitting on the platform looks like the photo below. The lug keeps popping out of the hole and I worry that the whole chock might get knocked in to the sea.

Virtually the same comment as JFM
But, in my case (like you) there isn't a HiLo platform.
So, I had some S/S bits fabricated.
Initially, similar components had been supplied by PMYS.
An inverted "top hat" section cut into the teak - not difficult to fit.
The bottom of the "top hat" has a hole leading into either a short (75mm ish) piece of capped tube

Here is a pic of them fitted into the bathing platform
(the round fittings)
note that I have never used the square keyway fittings

The round fittings with the capped tube have a similar mating part fitted to the underside of the chock that drops in.
You can't see it in this pic but the mating part has been screwed to the underside of the outboard end of the chock.

I also had some top hats made with a sealed dome nut.
This is what I mean when I say a dome nut

The ones with a sealed dome nut take either a S/S bolt.
as in the above pic - the inboard end of the chock screws into one of these.

Or a screw ring to tie down like this

As JFM says, if you don't have a HiLo platform, you can probably get away with just the capped tube fittings.
Indeed that is how PMYS initially fitted our Walker Bay tender.

However, to hold the tender down, I don't like to rely of just fitting self tapping screws into the bathing platform GRP (under the teak).
Our P67 is the same design vintage as your P61.
Have a look behind the panels in your crews quarters.
If it the same as ours, it will look like this.

If so, it is easy to get to the underside of the bathing platform.
You can then use bolts and penny washers rather than self tappers.
I've done this for the main "tie downs" - particularly where the dinghy's outboard engine is tied down.

This pic shows the Jetski's tie down but the same one is used for our Yamaha on the Novurania.

 

[bigwow]

Yes I use 50mm x 4or5mm polished strip along bottom of teak, attached to teak by about 4 screws and glue. The teak is two 50x180x600 pieces bought from kj howells, about £40 each iirc

At far end (aft) of chock s/s base strip there is a mushroom shaped peg welded on, that fits into a keyhole in an "upside down top hat" set flush into the deck. At the fwd end of the chock there is a tab of s/s strip projecting with a 10mm hole, and this allows the fwd end to be simply held by a hand-tightened screw going into an M10 tapped in another "upside down top hat" set flush into the deck

IMHO you don't need the keyhole on a non hi-lo platform. A simple peg-in-hole will do. But you do need the keyhole with a hi-lo

If you change your tender, you keep the s/s parts and replace or re-cut the teak part

All pretty easy. I've used this system on several boats, and it's a time honoured simple system invented/developed by boat people zillions of boats ago, and it's the best. I definitely am not changing. I think adjustable chocks look ugly with all the adjustment holes and screw threads and other yukky stuff

Well, this is another job added to my winter list, looks superb.

 

[PEJ]

Thanks for this John,

See this fitting. Is it just glued to the teak? I can't see any screws holding it down.