Dinghy Davits

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ifoxwell

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We dont sail anything big enough to fit some to but they have always struck me as a great idea for the kind of coastal cruising that most of us do..... so why dont more yachts have them... what am I missing?

Ian
 
Not enough transom width on most boats until you get towards 40'. Added windage and weight where you don't want it, increases overall length of boat and therefore (for some) mooring charges, limits access over the stern for swimming, boarding from dinghy.

so, people weigh up the pros and cons and make their decision. For some who regularly use a dinghy for going ashore and have a boat big enough then davits appeal. so popular with bigger boats for example in the Caribbean, where boats at anchor and use larger tenders to get ashore. For marina hoppers and those with smaller boats they are less attractive.

As always with boats its a compromise.
 
Well at 50 foot it was the first thing I added.

Probably the best addition.

Being lazy I found man handling a tender the last thing I wanted to do when arriving at an anchorage. It really is so very much easier to just lower the tender into the water.

There is also the risk aspect. Moving a tender around in some other way especially if the boat is rolling is inherently risky.

I dont especially like leaving the outboard on the tender because it doubles the weight and man-lifting the outboard onto the tender was even more fraught so I have also added a hoist which means I can lower the tender into the water and then drop the outboard onto its transom in complete safety and without any manual labour.

It is a treat to anchor and have the tender and outboard ready to go in about 10 minutes start to finish.

I do agree with some of the earlier comments however. It will depend on the size of yacht and how much effort you are able to go to setting it up. In my case the added complication of a bathing platform meant the throw of the davits had to be that much greater.
 
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We fitted them on our current boat for ease of use. Ours swivel in so if needs be for lower visitor berth cost we can drop the dinghy and move the davit arms inwards well within the normal overall boat length. But then we do not have to as our home marina here in the USA does not charge extra for having the RIB in davits. In practice with the swim platform stern only half of the RIB beam is outside of the overall boat length, making our 36 footer no more than 38ft even if the got out an MDL tape measure

After a stroke 3 years ago, some residual clumsiness and balance need is overcome by having the RIB easy and quick to launch and recover whilst also providing multiple hand holds for balance getting in/out For local cruising we even leave the 9.9hp outboard on ready to go although we have a small single arm davit/crane to lift the outboard up onto a pushpit bracket for offshore travel. Our system is also our liferaft for emergency use.
 
Thanks all for the replies...

So if your less than 30 something ft long, sail an older yacht, that doesn't carry its width aft as per the newer designs or spend your time living in a marina it might not work but that still leaves an awful lot of boats out there that would to my eye benefit!

Any one any idea what proportion of yachts spend there time in a marina as opposed to on a mooring/anchor of some kind. If there are more of the latter then it seems all the more puzzling that more people dont use them
 
Think marina hopping has it over anchoring - depending of course where you are. While having davits may make using the dinghy a bit easier, people seem to manage fine with a small inflatable for going shore short distances.

As i said, all about compromise and guess if people really did find fitting davits worth it there is no shortage of suitable products on the market.
 
I fitted davits to my previous boat, a 32 ft Oceanis. I downsized to a lighter weight dinghy and used a Honda 2.3 which was light enough to leave attached. I loved having the dinghy so accessible and it was used so much more. I now have a 39ft Bavaria. The freeboard being so much higher means that I tend to reverse into my berth. This makes access so easy but puts the dinghy on the foredeck. Ive yet to launch it with the spinny halyard so time will tell. On the negative side, I have to say keeping water out of the dinghy while on the davits was a pain. I used to leave the drain open ( then forget to replace the bung on launch) and I had a good cover but it was a pain to fit once in the davits and never completely waterproof. This coming summer will decide whether to fit davits or not. Thanks Alan
 
dunedin said:
What ones are you fitting?

I am wondering about fitting the Plastimo ones as quite small / light and apparently removable - both of which are a priority for me as I don't want huge hunks of iron at the back of the boat. Has anybody fitted these and got feedback?
http://www.cactusnav.com/davits-pair-weight-100kg-p-16813.html?cPath=1118_5695_5785
Click to expand...
I got a pair of the 160kg version of those but had to send them back as the space required for the inhternal and external mounts was too big for the small space abaft my pushpit. I'd check the dims of the mounts before buying if I were you.

The alternative would have been to mount them inside (forward of) the pushpit rail but then you need to be careful that they will reach over it, again, check the measurements carefully first.

Boo2
 
after 20 years of boats without davits, the last couple of years with davits I wonder how I managed without them. For me it is wonderful to stop and in a couple of minutes drop the tender with the engine already mounted and away. It takes a little longer to get it up, perhaps 5 minutes. I used to worry about a big wave filling the tender and ripping it off the stern but it would have to be a very, very big one as my sterns rise well to anything following. I could also turn it over on the davits if this was a real worry. It also has a safety angle as there is no struggling getting an outboard on and off the tender and it could be used in a MOB situation. I just need to sort out a cover to stop it filling up with rainwater.
 
Disadvantage - they can add length to the boat and a lot of authorities charge for mooring (resident and visitor)by overall length.
A 42' boat I bought had them and the dinghy never left the davits as I could walk ashore at marinas.
On my 34' boat without davits I tow the dinghy everywhere as now I do not visit marinas.
So I cannot see the considerable expense justified.
 
I suspect that for the Solent as an instance, 80% of the boats either don't have a dinghy or have never used it, as they tend to marina-hop.

I'm only really fitting them to mine as I now have a river mooring and I need to use the dinghy to get to the boat, and so might as well pull it up and have it with me (especially as I've had a few instances where I've got back and found it upside down).
 
I don't know how large your boat is but my previous boat was a Westerly Centaur. I made davits that were bolted to the pushpit and that is where my tender lived. They are still in use now with the new owner.
Are they useful? You bet they are! Murphy, the dinghy that I designed but over-engineered was too heavy to lift on my own without davits.
Do they affect trim? Davits plus Murphy weighed less than an average person in the cockpit. (I weigh 73kilos).
Do they disfigure the boat? That's only relevant to the owner.
Would I have them on my present boat? I would, if I could, but I can't. Unfortunately I cannot because the transom is too narrow (Centurion 32) and Murphy now lives upside down on the foredeck, ready to be launched with the spi-pole serving as a jib (or 'sheer leg') the lifting / lowering being via the storm-jib halyard.

I can post a couple of pictures if you wish.
 
ifoxwell said:
Thanks all for the replies...

So if your less than 30 something ft long, sail an older yacht, that doesn't carry its width aft as per the newer designs or spend your time living in a marina it might not work but that still leaves an awful lot of boats out there that would to my eye benefit!

Any one any idea what proportion of yachts spend there time in a marina as opposed to on a mooring/anchor of some kind. If there are more of the latter then it seems all the more puzzling that more people dont use them
Click to expand...

Depending on the boat (eg whether he got babystay or not, teak decks etc) many find keeping a dinghy on the foredeck works well, avoiding the weight and clutter of davits. Ditto boats with 3+ crew have the manpower to dig out and inflate a dinghy when needed
 
C08 said:
after 20 years of boats without davits, the last couple of years with davits I wonder how I managed without them. For me it is wonderful to stop and in a couple of minutes drop the tender with the engine already mounted and away. It takes a little longer to get it up, perhaps 5 minutes. I used to worry about a big wave filling the tender and ripping it off the stern but it would have to be a very, very big one as my sterns rise well to anything following. I could also turn it over on the davits if this was a real worry. It also has a safety angle as there is no struggling getting an outboard on and off the tender and it could be used in a MOB situation. I just need to sort out a cover to stop it filling up with rainwater.
Click to expand...

Ours is simply angled to drain the water out via the transom drain hole. the drain has a non-return flap valve thing that gets sometimes stuck so I poke a couple of BBQ bamboo skweres in it to hold it open I can just reach to pull these back out before lowering the dinghy, getting in and putting on the outside drain cap still with dry feet. SOMetime I will fita zodiac style lever valve transom scupper, easier and quicker but expensive here at near $100 and still needing some mods to get it to fit our West Marine own brand Chinese made grp bottomed RIB. I looked at fitted covers but these are difficult to impossible to fit around the hoist lines etc especially with the dinghyhoisted up in the davits


For the record I never did nor everwill tow a dinghy other than for a few hundred yards. Before davits, in European waters we either deflated an inflatable fully, or half folded an Avon Redcrest or carried our Zodiac Fastroller inflatable fllor dink upside down fully inflated on the foredeck. I thought about that option here too but sometimes we need to anchor well away from a good landing point and the bigger motor is better than the Honda 2hp we had in the past. Our 9.9hp Mercury 4 stroke gives us around 20 kts or so if asked and enough range in the highly unlikely event it should ever be needed to reach dry land from halfway to the islands from Florida WE can also use it for fishing trips in it's own right..

FOr raisingthe RiB in the davitswith the motor on and fuel tank in place, we have 6:1 ratio tackles with cam jammers to help hold a bit whilst re-gripping or taking a breather. The engine end lift tackle line can be routed via an etra turning block/lead to reach the starboard genoa sheet winch self tailer, making it very fast/light work even for SWMBO. The longest job is fitting the extra straps and ties to keep the dinghy tightly in place at all angles of dangle. We have ratcheting lines fore/aft as 'springs annd extra straps that can go all round if heavy weather is expected, never used as we just wait for a better forecast. Time is not our main foe these days, just money!
 
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theoldsalt said:
On my 34' boat without davits I tow the dinghy everywhere as now I do not visit marinas.
Click to expand...

A lot of people don't like to tow a dinghy and warn against it. I have never done so and intend to fit davits to my 34 foot boat rather than try it.

Boo2
 
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