Davit system

T

trailertrawlerkismet

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
Messages
2,519
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
Vessel Name
(2022) Kismet
After towing our dinghy behind our R27 for a year we finally found a davit system that meet our needs and wanted to share the info with our fellow Tugnuts. Our desire was to have our dinghy sit on our swim platform so the dinghy would not hinder our view while cruising, anchored or at a marina and was easy to deploy. We found such a product from Hurley Marine and have recently installed it and wanted to share the photo's for anyone interested. The link to our blog where the info is posted is:

http://trailertrawlerlife.com/cruising/ ... PSQdKXrbzI

Jim F
 
That looks good, Jim! I'll be interested to hear how that works in a following sea. Great visibility and nice that you can keep the motor on the dinghy without a swivel mount. Does the dinghy slide onto that mount, then you pull the whole thing up on the swim step? What keeps the dinghy attached to the davit?

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
With the Hurley Davit I do pull the dinghy up onto the davit, which pivots as the weight transitions....it is relatively easy. The dinghy does have to be strapped down with two endless ratchet straps and another to keep the dinghy outboard stationary. We stow the dinghy and outboard in our truck when we trailer the boat.

Jim
 
Hi Jim,

That system looks very interesting to me also. I am especially interested in whether or not the dinghy can avoid the diesel oil that currently gets on our dinghies using the davit system that the factory currently uses. The attachment system looks more time consuming and perhaps cumbersome, yet having better visibility would be very helpful.

I will be very interested in hearing your comments as you use it.

Thanks for sharing your project and photos 🙂
 
Jim, can we get stop action pictures of Lisa retrieving the dinghy?
As I am picturing it you get down on your knees and lift/slide the dinghy up the tilted ramp towards you.
You are relatively strong and limber, what about us older folks?
Any wear on the bottom of the dinghy from jiggling on the humped surface of the slides?
I like the idea of it.
 
Jim:

This system looked very attractive to me at first glance several years ago... and it was one I looked at seriously when I was wanting to place my Portland Pudgy (some 80 lbs unladen) on our R25's swim step. However, after much thought I went with the traditional SS Davits that are made especially for the Pudgy.

My concern with the Hurley system was that it placed more of the dinghy weight astern, releasing it would be cumbersome and with it laying flat down on the swim step would add another 2 or 3 feet of overall length to the boat when docked. The extra length meant I would need a longer slip beyond 28 feet and a subsequent extra slip moorage charge at my marina. My marina does not allow dinghy to freely float in the slips.

One other aspect is that with the dinghy laying flat the ability for water to land up in the dinghy concerned me. The Pudgy does have a drain cock/stop which would take care of this issue. However, having to replace that drain stop quickly in an emergency dinghy launch was not something I wanted to be bothered with.

My current method for having my Pudgy on the swim step means it leans forward and rests on the transom railing and held with a single quick release strap. This leaning forward aspect lowers the installed height of the dinghy so it minimizes obstructing rear viewing. In an emergency, I release the single strap quickly and easily and push the dinghy out so it splashes down, jump into it and release the dinghy davits, and away we go. I raise the dinghy after attaching it to the davits with a 4:1 pulley that only requires a max of 20 lb effort on my part. All of this dinghy launching and retrieval can be done by my 1st mate. One additional added benefit is that with the dinghy still attached to the swim step via the davits and laying flat down in the water the stabilty of the dinghy is greatly increased allowing people and our two dogs to embark onto/into the dinghy with great safety with no chance of the dinghy capsizing. We then can lean the dinghy toward the davits so they can easily be released.

We use the Torqeedo electric motor with the dinghy and that is stored in the starboard side cockpit locker and as it weighs very little it can easily and quickly be grabbed and placed into the dinghy when needed. Of course the dinghy has stored oars and a sail kit if there's no time to get the Torqeedo onboard.

[Edit] Please note -- The current Portland Pudgy online Owner's Manual (dated Oct 2011) states the empty weight to be 128 lbs. My Pudgy was purchased in 2010 and as I recall it weighed some 80 lbs -- but I will sanity check this with my Owner's Manual as things may well have changed over the years depending on installed accessories etc.
 
Hi Barry:

I've had the SS Weaver before and liked them however our boat at the time had a higher transom and was driven from a flybridge so visibility was not an issue for me. I liked the Hurley for our R27 because it provided better visibility and because we have a light weight soft bottom dinghy I was not as concerned about the astern weight. Most places we've boated have a minimum 30 foot transient rate and we have a 27 so again I was not concerned about the added length beyond the swim platform as we come in around 30. When at dock or anchor and we do not want to use the dinghy we simply loosen the straps and tilt the dinghy up without releasing it from the davit, which gives us easy access to the swim platform.

The dinghy is relatively easy to lift up onto the davit and once I get it past the equilibrium point it becomes even easier.We've, up to this point, not had any water collect inside of the dinghy from any cruising we've done with it mounted on the transom.

I would agree that the Weaver davits are easier to operate but for me, all else considered, we went with the Hurley for the better visibility and flexible usage, but that's why there are different systems because of different wants needs and desires.

Jim F
 
Baz,
We too have the Portland Pudgy attached to the swim platform of Poppy (R 25) using the pre-installed Weaver Davits.
I agree with all your comments but would like to have information on your 4:1 pully system. i.e. attachments at each end. Thanks.
Dom & Caroline
 
djpcep":u6ec9fl1 said:
Baz,
We too have the Portland Pudgy attached to the swim platform of Poppy (R 25) using the pre-installed Weaver Davits.
I agree with all your comments but would like to have information on your 4:1 pully system. i.e. attachments at each end. Thanks.
Dom & Caroline
Click to expand...

Dom & Caroline: Here's my initial post about installing the PP on my R25 -- http://www.tugnuts.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=834&hilit=pudgy

Here's a very quick description of what I ended up doing. Cost was minimal at around $100 if I'm recalling correctly. It has been very successful for us. The idea was given to me by Capt. Mac who also has a PP.

I did purchase the PP special SS davits from David (Maine)... quite spendy but worth every penny IMO.

1. Bought about 50 feet of 1/4" diameter line. You should calculate the length you need carefully as if the line isn't long enough you will have to buy another complete line. The way I calculated it was to measure the distance from the PP's side furtherest away from the handrail (see item 6) when PP laying flat down in the water and attached to the davits. I then multiplied this by 4 and added another 20 feet as a safety margin.

2. Attached a D ring to PP by removing one of the hand grip lines.

3. Bought block and tackle providing 4:1 ratio (two pulleys at each end). Effort on the line is no more than 30 lbs at the worst when I'm raising the PP from being flat in the water. These blocks should be sized to accept the line being used -- in my case the 1/4" diameter line.

4. One of the blocks (not the one against the PP D-ring) has a quick hold/release attachment that is very useful to hold PP in any position when raising or lowering, and is a safety consideration.

5. Bought nylon waterproof bag for stowing the block and tackle and all 50 feet of line.

6. Attached a double 1/4" diameter line between handrail ends on cabin roof on port side of cabin door (this is permanent). This is where I attach the block with the safety hold/release on it. It's the block with the free end of the line where I do the pulling or releasing for raising/lowering the PP.

7. Bought quick release swivel SS snaps for each end of the block and tackle. One used to secure to the D-ring on the PP and the other to secure the other end to the double 1/4 diameter line on the handrail per item 6.

This description isn't that great I'm afraid and what I should do is to capture some photos and post them in my photo album. A few photos will go a long way in making what I've described above a lot more comprehensible. I will post back here when these photos are posted -- and of course you may PM at any time to discuss this further.

I do have some photos already posted that describe my stern line installation. There are two photos that also show the black line and the block and tackle in operation -- fully deployed with the PP in the water. See http://www.tugnuts.com/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=25379

[Edit-1]
I've started/created a new photo album at http://www.tugnuts.com/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=34040. It only has one photo in it at this time. I will add more as time permits over next few days.

[Edit-2]
I recalled my son helped me make a movie of raising the Pudgy. I searched about and found it. I thing it's pretty good in showing how the block and tackle system works. Here's the link to the movie in my Dropbox. Be aware it's 201 MB in size so be patient when downloading it to ply back. The Movie playback time is 6:13 minutes.

The movie starts off with me removing my Torqeedo electric motor from the Pudgy. Note how stable the Pudgy is while it's attached to the swim step via its Davits.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/86512138/Raising_PortlandPudgy - Computer copy.m4v

If you have trouble downloading or playing the movie then PM me and I'll find another way to get you the movie file.
 
Thanks Baz,
You have answed all my questions, especially with that excellent movi.
Now I can get to work on an exact copy.
Dom & Caroline
 
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