Davit Mounting

[Fire99]

Hi all,
I'm looking at fitting a pair of Davits to the back of my Trader. As per my profile pic mine is a Sundeck with the aft transom protruding outwards (so the bench seat sits beyond the deck roof.. Since this is already a long way up from the bathing platform, is there any reason why I can't fit the davits to to the vertical transom on the sundeck (the protruding section above the boat name on the transom)? I was thinking of some substantial backing plates but saw a couple of straight stainless davits that might do the job rather than the usual ones that first go up near vertically and then across the horizontal, if that makes sense?
I don't need the Davits to raise much higher than the mountings due to the height of the aft cabin so would that work? I saw a couple of old Whittall SD14's that might do the job with a bit of tweaking.. Or am I missing something?

cheers,

Nick

 

[Greg2]

I am not sure that would work too well and there may be lighter GRP lay-up on that section behind the seat. I am also wondering if there may be an issue with the way the load is transferred to the hull if the davits are simply horizontal bars. The design of traditional davits is well tested and the near vertical sections provide stability for a tender as you can winch it up tight and use strops attached to the ends of the davits that go under the hull of the tender to lash securely in place.

I think I would be looking to install traditional davits on the section below the boat name so that they could be operated whilst kneeling on the bench seat. That was the set up we had on our Broom 41 (similar aft cabin design with a seat across the transom) and it worked well.

 

[Obi]

This is what I had (came with the boat), but they did flex a bit, so I additionally secured them to the top of the pushpit rail. I clocked up thousands of miles like this without any issue. The GRP was about 1/2 - 3/4" thickness.

(Sagging dingy due to cold morning temps).

 

[Fire99]

Thanks guys.. Some food for thought. I think with the Broom the elevation of the davits allows you to still mostly access the bathing platform with the dinghy in the davits. If the dinghy was any lower I can't see how you'd access it. For me I'm trying to keep the Dinghy at a reasonable height as my aft deck is pretty high..
I'm thinking I may even sit the dinghy on mounts on the bathing platform when underway to keep the COG low but to use the davits for lifting and when moored etc. I just don't want to be removing the outboard from the dinghy all the time. (9.9hp 2-stroke.. around 27kg. Not heavy but pain to get on and off)

 

[Fire99]

This is what I had (came with the boat), but they did flex a bit, so I additionally secured them to the top of the pushpit rail. I clocked up thousands of miles like this without any issue. The GRP was about 1/2 - 3/4" thickness.

(Sagging dingy due to cold morning temps).

View attachment 154616

Just trying to see the pic clearly. So the davits bolt through the transom and have a bracket above holding them together?

 

[ashtead]

Had you considered telescopic davits which retract into deck ?

 

[Obi]

Just trying to see the pic clearly. So the davits bolt through the transom and have a bracket above holding them together?

Correct, they are fitted in similar way to the chain plates on this yacht, with a metal plate either side of the GRP. The external plate is welded to the davits and the internal one is secured through the GRP with bolts and sikaflex to the external one.
Where the steel pipes rise up towards the top of the pushpit, there were simply lashed with cord. It did not look as bad as it sounds and the cord allowed me to tune how tightly they were held inboard.

 

[Greg2]

Thanks guys.. Some food for thought. I think with the Broom the elevation of the davits allows you to still mostly access the bathing platform with the dinghy in the davits. If the dinghy was any lower I can't see how you'd access it. For me I'm trying to keep the Dinghy at a reasonable height as my aft deck is pretty high..
I'm thinking I may even sit the dinghy on mounts on the bathing platform when underway to keep the COG low but to use the davits for lifting and when moored etc. I just don't want to be removing the outboard from the dinghy all the time. (9.9hp 2-stroke.. around 27kg. Not heavy but pain to get on and off)

Access to the bathing platform with a RIB on either chocks or davits is usually a bit of a problem on most boats to be honest. We had side access to the Broom (in-hull step and gate in the guardrails) so that is what we usually used. Friends in our marina have an aft cabin boat with no side access and they are in a bit of a conundrum about what do with the RIB.
.

 

[Fire99]

Had you considered telescopic davits which retract into deck ?

That would be a very smart option but I'm doing this on the usual Shindig Macgyver budget so that's a bit beyond the current project unfortunately.

 

[Fire99]

Correct, they are fitted in similar way to the chain plates on this yacht, with a metal plate either side of the GRP. The external plate is welded to the davits and the internal one is secured through the GRP with bolts and sikaflex to the external one.
Where the steel pipes rise up towards the top of the pushpit, there were simply lashed with cord. It did not look as bad as it sounds and the cord allowed me to tune how tightly they were held inboard.

I'm with ya. If it did the job then it's a winner in my book.

 

[Fire99]

Well I've taken a punt on these davits. Stay tuned to see if I manage to do something worthwhile with them or if I shall be just a stepping-stone to their next owner.