getting ashore when tender is on davits and reversed into berth.

[Robin]

How do people overcome the obstruction to step ashore with a tender hanging in stern davits. Dropping the tender is obvious but not so convenient to do before arrival? Carry dinghy on deck unless moving between anchorages rather than marinas? If so how to get a tender up onto the foredeck, easy on a sailboat with mast halyards to assist, not so easy on a mobo?

 

[Robin]

to add to my question the boat concerned has no side gates in the rails yet is fairly high sided ( Princess 360) for getting ashore that way with or without lines to put on.

 

[Forty_Two]

Electric davits, wife lowered the dinghy whilst i lined up to reverse into the berth. This allowed the passerelle to be lowered over the dinghy when backed in. Worked really well with a 3.4m rib with 8hp.

Don't have them now as we changed to a small dinghy stored on top of the aft cabin.

Edit you can just see the davits if you expand my avatar

 

[Robin]

Electric davits, wife lowered the dinghy whilst i lined up to reverse into the berth. This allowed the passerelle to be lowered over the dinghy when backed in. Worked really well with a 3.4m rib with 8hp.

Don't have them now as we changed to a small dinghy stored on top of the aft cabin.

Edit you can just see the davits if you expand my avatar

No worry re getting dinghy line around prop(s)? My middle name is Paranoid.

 

[Forty_Two]

No worry re getting dinghy line around prop(s)? My middle name is Paranoid.

Never had any problems. Dinghy just clear of the water, dinghy fore & aft lines secured on aft rail so no loose ends in the water. I did like the electric davits, noisy but dam convenient

 

[Robin]

Never had any problems. Dinghy just clear of the water, dinghy fore & aft lines secured on aft rail so no loose ends in the water. I did like the electric davits, noisy but dam convenient

That looks like it works well but not sureif it would work for the boat(s) we are considering. We had davits on our last sailing boat with a 3.1m RIB but always went bows in and got on/off via the side deck. The 47ft trawler yacht we lived on before that carried it's RIB on the hard top over the sundeck lifted up by an electric crane We reversed that in most times and got on/off easily via it's small cockpit and swim platform. The planing motor yachts we are considering have swim platforms but access to them is blocked by any dinghy hanging in the davits unless we move it beforehand. Easy solution would be to carry a dinghy on deck unless we are going to need it regularly, but then, as a pair of wrinklies, getting it up on deck becomes another problem unless it is a super light wobbly job with other problems of it's own. Fitting a foredeck crane would be expensive even if the deck could be adequately beefed up to support it when in use. Sailing boats have built in 'derricks' in the form of mast and boom and halyards with winches to assist. Perhaps we need to reconsider either sailing boats only again or older trawlers like GBs with small masts for steadying sails etc.

I'm coming round to thinking the solution has to be to achieve better side access on/off with some kind of dedicated boarding ladder arrangement. Some boats seen have side railgates and make that possible but the Princess 360 and similar have solid rails and no gates. I would hate for this seemingly simple dilemma to be the ultimate sign we have to swallow the anchor for good or just go marina to marina and dinghyless.:disgust: .

 

[pan]

We would drop dinghy in before getting to berth, drag round to bow & tie off there, it's well out the way when reversing into berth... the only problem tho' is getting into the dinghy from bow if there are boats either side of you & too tight to bring back down the side :ambivalence:

 

[Robin]

We would drop dinghy in before getting to berth, drag round to bow & tie off there, it's well out the way when reversing into berth... the only problem tho' is getting into the dinghy from bow if there are boats either side of you & too tight to bring back down the side :ambivalence:

Obvious solution but as you noted creates a problem of it's own. I think we need a foredeck helipad and a drone tender.

 

[Forty_Two]

This how we are now, advantage is we are over a metre shorter now which helps getting berths when visiting.

We virtually never use the dinghy these days so we have a very light one thats easy to manhandle.

 

[Bouba]

I think the easiest way would be for you to carry an inflatable dingy that can be stored in the lazaret. 3D Tenders are a range of extremely lightweight inflatables but are of a very high quality. Easily stowed below or on the bow and so light you can chuck them over the side

 

[Robin]

I think the easiest way would be for you to carry an inflatable dingy that can be stored in the lazaret. 3D Tenders are a range of extremely lightweight inflatables but are of a very high quality. Easily stowed below or on the bow and so light you can chuck them over the side

BUt after a stroke although I'm recovered 99% wobbly dinghy floors are a problem. SWMBO is a tiny 70 year old and hauling a dinghy like the Zodiac fastroller we had back in the UK and carried fully inflated on deck is a no-no she says unless we could haul it up on a halyard because getting it up by hand is beyond her as a routine and is not likely to get better as time goes by, however much spinach she eats.

FInding a solution to side deck dock access is looking more the best option perhaps and keeping dinghy in it's davits unless needed at anchor. Shame as stepping on/off the stern would be easy apart from the dinghy obstruction. In our 'home' berth we can buy/make some steps for the purpose, not so easy to carry and deploy, however, when off cruising and moving around allocated visitor spots.

 

[lewlew100]

Probably a stupid idea, but has anyone thought of davits (telescopic?) that could raise the tender to permit access/exit underneath it? Geoff.

 

[Robin]

Probably a stupid idea, but has anyone thought of davits (telescopic?) that could raise the tender to permit access/exit underneath it? Geoff.

Or with extendable reach at least to allow access on/off via the sides for those not having a 10 inch waist. and being 4 ft tall. I thought of the snap davit type hinge up idea instead but they still block using the platform as a walkway. I'm thinking getting mooring lines on from on board then using a 2 step hook on ladder until a folding step set can be placed in a convenient place on the pontoon for getting on. Failing that I could grow wings, jet blaster feet or a head rotor. This must be a common problem somebody has solved already?

 

[Bouba]

Could you turn the dingy sideways on the davits or attach the dingy to the davits with the dingy facing same direction as the boat. This would give more room each side

 

[Forty_Two]

Or with extendable reach at least to allow access on/off via the sides for those not having a 10 inch waist. and being 4 ft tall. I thought of the snap davit type hinge up idea instead but they still block using the platform as a walkway. I'm thinking getting mooring lines on from on board then using a 2 step hook on ladder until a folding step set can be placed in a convenient place on the pontoon for getting on. Failing that I could grow wings, jet blaster feet or a head rotor. This must be a common problem somebody has solved already?

Ours were the extended reach, cleared the bathing platform completely. Problem is for side access you still have to duck under the davit, they are dammed hard if you hit your head i can tell you!

 

[Robin]

Ours were the extended reach, cleared the bathing platform completely. Problem is for side access you still have to duck under the davit, they are dammed hard if you hit your head i can tell you![/QUOTE
Two of the boats on our 'possible maybe list' have the extending davits but one of those has a swim platform integral with the hull moulding so cool design if not practical, as side access is risking a trip and tumble.:disgust:

 

[Forty_Two]

Ours were the extended reach, cleared the bathing platform completely. Problem is for side access you still have to duck under the davit, they are dammed hard if you hit your head i can tell you![/QUOTE
Two of the boats on our 'possible maybe list' have the extending davits but one of those has a swim platform integral with the hull moulding so cool design if not practical, as side access is risking a trip and tumble.:disgust:View attachment 64732

Like everything to do with boats it's yet another compromise. After 30 years with our boat we have had two sets of davits & several dinghies. The compromise changed over the years as we got older, now the dinghy is far less important to us hence removing the davits & downsizing the dinghy. It's really nice to have the clear bathing platform back again.

You must analyze (honestly) how you will use the dinghy which will hopefully lead you to the right compromise.

 

[Robin]

Like everything to do with boats it's yet another compromise. After 30 years with our boat we have had two sets of davits & several dinghies. The compromise changed over the years as we got older, now the dinghy is far less important to us hence removing the davits & downsizing the dinghy. It's really nice to have the clear bathing platform back again.

You must analyze (honestly) how you will use the dinghy which will hopefully lead you to the right compromise.

Understood but after 50 years sail cruising where we carried our dinghies either deflated and stowed or fully inflated on deck, we moved to a trawler we lived on in the USA with a RIB on top deck. I had a stroke and SWMBO decided 47ft of trawler was too big to manhandle and we sold it, bought a condo and a 36ft sailboat again. The sailboat was fine but we added davits and had a 3.10 RIB hung in those. THe RIB allowed me to use it with my wobbly stroke leg but in that case wewere always bows in and got on/off via the side decks. We are now returning to the UK and going to buy another boat we can live and cruise on, sail or motor depends what is available at the right time and place and price. We were gazumped on one perfect for us sail boat because I stupidly hinted at what and where it was on here and somebody beat me to it:disgust: The boats we are looking at now online from 4,000 miles away are mostly motor and come already fitted with davits and the question arises because of trying to envisage how using them in practice would work. Many are pictured with empty davits suggesting either current owners had the same problem or simply intend keeping the tenders for their next boat. We want ease of access when in a home berth for sure as year round live aboards in all weathers. However we also want to carry on cruising as long as we can without just going from one marina boat park to another and anchoring and going ashore is part of that. Whilst I'm 99% recovered after my stroke 5 years ago, I'm still wobbly using a tender unless it has at least a proper floor or is a RIB. Inflating and deflating for use every time would be a PITA so permanent stowage ready to go it has to be and a RIB most likely the same as we had on our last two boats over here, ie 3.10 m with 9.9hp motors ( although smaller motors would be just fine, even removed between uses rather than left mounted 24/7)

Compromises we well know, especially me after a stroke but where there is a workaround there is always a way forward. IF we had unlimited funds it would be easier but we sold up everything to go west to be near SWMBO's (American) family after she had lived with me in the UK for nearly 30 years. But when the buggers don't bother to come near us anymore and going truly 'home,' to civilisation, away from the horrors of Trump and crippling healthcare costs appeals to both of us. So when SWMBO said 'let's go home to England' who am I to argue! But selling everything up here will not buy us back into the UK house market with or without a floaty toy as well, so living on board a suitable used cruising boat it is even in a colder clime, but a boat chosen and/or adapted to our specific circumstances, hence my seemingly dumb questions from time to time.

 

[kashurst]

I had a boat with davits and in the end took them off. I fitted snap davits instead with the corresponding part glued onto the dinghy. I set them up so that the dinghy was offset so getting on and off at the stern was easy. At the time we had a 2.5 Hp 2 stroke that weighed not a lot. To launch the dingy unclip the stays/rope and just let it drop into the water. then fit the outboard - would a torqueedo do what you need ? light weight and easy to get on and off?

 

[Robin]

I had a boat with davits and in the end took them off. I fitted snap davits instead with the corresponding part glued onto the dinghy. I set them up so that the dinghy was offset so getting on and off at the stern was easy. At the time we had a 2.5 Hp 2 stroke that weighed not a lot. To launch the dingy unclip the stays/rope and just let it drop into the water. then fit the outboard - would a torqueedo do what you need ? light weight and easy to get on and off?

I thought of snap davits but it still leaves the original problem of a dinghy obstructing stern access when reversed in. Standard davits are fine, perfect even, until we want to go stern into a berth when the dinghy is in the way. The high sides of most power boats, even some larger sailboats makes getting on/off from the side hard too unless we arrange dock steps or a fold down side ladder.