Rotating passarelle and folding dinghy chocks.

[stillwaters]

We have a 43 foot mobo currently tucked-in for the winter in Holland but,after 4 years of North European weather,are thinking of heading for Croatia & Greece next year,
This,however,will require us adding a passarelle/crane,fold out chocks and a suitable tender. Because of the boat design,the passerelle will need to rotate at least 90 degrees and take a weight of around 300kg and the chocks will have to fit on a swim platform just under 300mm long (must be intended for very thin people,I think!).
So,can anyone suggest any possible suppliers,please,especially for the fold out chocks?
Thanks.

 

[jfm]

You absolutely will not find off-the-shelf suppliers for the chocks. You need to sketch them and get them custom made by your nearest local s/s fabricator. Easily done, and a few hundred £££. Then get some teak from kjhowells for the chock part. Or give the whole job to your local boatyard to do, but they will follow the same procedure. No-one sells this stuff from a catologue

The passerelle is a catalogue item. Main suppliers are Opacmare and Besenzoni. www.timage.eu is the UK supplier of Besenzoni. Beware other brands eg Cooney becuase you might find Med back up service is limited or non existent, and you WILL need service work on a pass over the years cos they aint the most reliable of things

www.improducts.co.uk also now supply Bioinox passerelles in the UK and while these look ok they are much less known than Opacm and Besenz, and I wouldn't buy/recommend one due to lack of a service network.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I've got one of these on my boat and it works fine http://www.besenzoni.it/prodotti_dettaglio.php?lang=en_&scat=1&cat=1&tipo=2&dett=*%20PI%20169%20JOLLY Agree with jfm. You will have to get a boatyard to custom make some chocks. Sounds like a very small platform you've got? Are you sure it can support a 300kg dinghy on fold out chocks?

 

[jfm]

Yup Mike the chocks design is not trivial, as MM would say. A 3.2m tender is usually 6 foot wide ie 1.8m. So its COG is going to be cantilevered at least 0.6m aft of the aft edge of the swim platform. The chocks will need to be well made and well attached to the boat. NickH had something comparable on his T46 and he posted some pictures years ago - he might be able to post them again

 

[Nick_H]

That's a lot of weight to have cantilevered with COG 600mm off the back. Its perfectly feasible with well engineered chocks and maybe reinforcement of the fixing points, but I think it will affect the trim and handling of the boat (assuming we're talking average plastic planing mobo). I guess its a 4 stroke jet rib you're looking at, so don't forget the weight of the fuel and oil could add another 30 kgs.

On the T46, the COG was almost level with the aft end of the platform, and the RIB was only 210 kgs. The chocks were hinged at the front end, so would fold forward into a small locker, which was quite a neat arrangment.

The rotating crane was a bit of a hassle, because the hook was offset to one side of the bathing platform when skewed fully in. It took a bit of manhandling, which of course will be that much harder with 50% extra weight.

I'd seriously consider a lighter RIB if you can, there are RIB outboard combos you can still ski behind at half that weight.

Hopefully the picture has attached

 

[stillwaters]

Thanks guys,nothing like muddying the waters a bit more,eh?
The advice and the links are much appreciated,though,and it's as well to see the drawbacks before ripping the stern off the boat,I suppose!
I have considered the weight distribution problem but this is only one part of the balancing act - the crux of the problem is that her ladyship seems to have her mind set on warmer climes (if I'm to continue indulging myself) however,she's terrified of water - especially being in small boats on it - so,my only hope is to pacify her (hopefully) with something that looks safeish (not your average inflatable). So,despite the obstacles,I have so far identified either a jetrib or,maybe preferably,a Zodiac 340DL with possibly even a 15 or 20hp lighter weight motor. This way the whole rig could even come in at around 250kg.
It also so happens that the boat,a Trader 42 which is really a semi-displacement boat,could benefit from some more weight on the back since the retro installation of other items such as aircon shifted the trim forward. So far,a full water tank of 700kg under the aft cabin plus 250kg of ballast under the swim platform have had little effect on the trim level so maybe shifting the ballast into the cavernous bow compartment and putting an all-up load of 500-600kg on the stern might not be such a bad idea. Especially as the current draft is only 1.2m when full,though there is easily another 100mm available before the upper waterline would be reached.
I take the point about the strength of support arms needed and I think this could be helped by the addition of hinged blocks which would fold down on the underside of the arms against the outer edge of the platform,thereby transferring weight through them into the hull. However,this would require some clever engineering and,based on experience so far,possibly not something I would attempt to obtain locally to where the boat is currently located. The Dutch are lovely people but,as Dutch boaters themselves continually confirm,getting work done can be a dickens of a job (mainly due to the lack of skilled people available). Anybody know of any skilled people who would like a nice winter holiday,maybe?

 

[volvopaul]

Id bring the boat to the uk, based at Hamble point are Osmotech there supplies of cranes and passarelles an can advise which will work the best for your boat, also at the yard are all trades related to the custom fit of your job req, they are a very enthusiastic team and fly all over the world fitting stabilizers to many large motor yachts.

 

[stillwaters]

Id bring the boat to the uk, based at Hamble point are Osmotech there supplies of cranes and passarelles an can advise which will work the best for your boat, also at the yard are all trades related to the custom fit of your job req, they are a very enthusiastic team and fly all over the world fitting stabilizers to many large motor yachts.

Thanks for the contact,it's really useful to get first-hand feedback like this. Landau at Swanwick have also made contact so I rather think this is a useful area for more bespoke type work.I'll certainly look your guys up as well,thanks.