dinghys

At last I have some pikkies of my St. Croix removable davits as have recently been fitted to my transom. When the davits are under load, the transom wall is under compression and the reinforcing bar (see photo inside transom) is under tension - if I remember my high school physics correctly. I see no noticeable movement of the davit head when lifting the heavy aft end of the RIB, so flexing in the transom must be minimal which is a relief. Generally, it all works really well.

One irritation is that I have not yet found a way to stow the RIB on the davits with the O/B motor tipped forward. By leaving the O/B upright, I imagine there is unwanted long-term strain on the transom of the RIB. Does that sound right? Also, there is only so much clearance under the O/B prop, which means that the bottom end of the O/B occasionally gets hit by waves whilst the big boat is underway. It seems to happen only very occasionally. Is that a problem? (the RIB is well strapped so there is practically no movement even when the O/B does get struck by waves). Any proposed solutions short of raising the davits (which would reduce their lifting capacity and look ugly)?


For now I continue to keep the RIB in a dry store, so I tow it for shorter outings and hoist it up on the davits for longer cruises. In time I plan to leave it hanging from the davits permanently, but I first need to get comfortable with that idea and get a cover made.

Mark: That "inside transom" photo answers all the questions I had. Really nice job! Incidentally, There are plenty of guys that leave their tenders hanging from the St. Croixs in my marina but the inside hardware is not as good as yours. Although I can't guarantee that leaving the motor hanging won't hurt the dinghy's transom, I certainly wouldn't think so. I'm saving your "installation" for future reference.