Seawise Davit

I am looking at removing my current davit and replacing with something that allows access to the swimstep while docked or on the hook. I find our current set up can lift a heavy tender like no buddies business but doesn't allow access to the swimstep. I am looking at the Seawise as there Is a used one for sale locally. My tender sits close to 400# with the 20hp Honda RIB battery box and console which is very close to the max the Seawise is rated for. Thoughts on the Seawise quality or any other system that still allows for use of the swimstep? I am looking at a parts purchase of about $2k +/-.

bshillam said:

I am looking at removing my current davit and replacing with something that allows access to the swimstep while docked or on the hook. I find our current set up can lift a heavy tender like no buddies business but doesn't allow access to the swimstep. I am looking at the Seawise as there Is a used one for sale locally. My tender sits close to 400# with the 20hp Honda RIB battery box and console which is very close to the max the Seawise is rated for. Thoughts on the Seawise quality or any other system that still allows for use of the swimstep? I am looking at a parts purchase of about $2k +/-.

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We installed a new Seawise davit system on our boat this spring, and in the main are happy with it. A caution though, if you are installing it on a Livingston dinghy, be very careful. Ours is a new 2013 Livingston 10' and it does not work with the Seawise without a lot of transom modification.

The big thing to be careful about is the installation. The relationship between the clips on the platform has to be exact relative to the clips on the dinghy or you will have problems. Same with the hitching post vs the dinghy transom.

If I were to do it over again I'd look closely at the Weaver Hoist. It is a new product that is cheaper than the Seawise system and uses a foot pump to hydraulically lift the dinghy. Opening a valve allows you to easily lower it again. But I only know about it from their site, as I'd already committed to the Seawise before finding it.

We have a Seawise davit on our boat and it lifts our 12'Avon RIB with steering console and 25 hp Yamaha 4 stroke easily and smoothly. We like the system quite well.

Is that the manual rated at 450 or hydraulic rated over 650? Thanks.

We have the manual crank version.

I have had a Seawise system for many years and like it. I question whether it will work with a boat that has a battery on board. What is going to happen to the battery (and battery acid) when the boat is rotated up 90*?

GFC said:

What is going to happen to the battery (and battery acid) when the boat is rotated up 90*?

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If the battery is a gel or AGM and is properly secured in the dinghy....nothing!

We have a gel batt in ours and no issues at all.

I bought my dinghy from a boater who used a Seawise to stow it. The Seawise was fine, but the dinghy suffered cracks and deflection of the fibreglass at the transom mounting points. It was just too heavy to have the concentrated loading that the Seawise put on it. It is a Caribe DL12 with a 40 Honda and an AGM battery. With 20 gal of fuel and all its gear it weighs well over 750#.

We have a 11.5ft West Marine RIB and 25hp Mercury for a total of about 310lbs. The swim step had to be reenforced on the motor end. After the install was done and I went to look at it I could see right away something wasn't right. Due to the size of the tubes (18in) when the boat was in it's stowed position the upper tube was pressing against the motor so hard I could not tilt it to deploy the boat. If you don't know, you have to tilt the motor up to retrieve the boat and then lower it in place to travel, tilt it up again to deploy. This is so the prop clears the lower tube as the boat goes up or down. I don't know how they ever got in the stowed position and thought it was going to be acceptable, I couldn't even turn the crank to get started. We went through several modifications of tower placement, rear arch support and spacers. In the end I still could not stow it properly unless I partially deflated the tube to gain more clearance. This was a half down and the rest upon completion kind of deal. He got half.
Other than that, the system works great.

Bshilliam, what davits are on your boat now? Just curious.
thanks,

We have installed Lester Davits on our boat. These are electric with a worm gear approach. When up the tender hangs over the swim platform but when down and tender removed there are only the two arms at each end of swim platform to deal with. Our tender is a 10.2' bullfrog rigid model with 15hp Tohatsu 4 stroke. All total about 450lbs. Key fob operation makes it perfect for us for easy launching and retrieval. Added about 4' feet to overall boat length though but if staying at marina and wanting to use it we must dock bow in or use side dock. 3 years of operation and have only needed to replace a small relay and the trickle charger for the system's separate battery. Pricey at about 6K including installation. But just two minutes in to or pulling out of the water. Good company to work with too.

I don't know the brand, it might be a well known type but I haven't seen the company name on it. It probably could lift an even heavier load but it takes up real estate by hanging the tender horizontally when stowed. In addition the PO 're-enforced the set up by installing a bar with supports from the transom to the fly making adding canvas difficult. I'll take pics and post by tomorrow.

Our seawise davit system works perfectly with out 9' Livingston and a 2hp Honda. We also got a good deal on the system because we worked directly with the guy who builds the davits and agreed to pay cash and take delivery at his shop just over the border. A benefit of living in Bellingham.

Bshillam, what is your dinghy? And to answer one of your original questions, the Seawise system does allow fairly good access to the stern platform.

As you can see from the photo, the clips (or whatever they are called) allow you to have the dinghy standing slightly off the platform. An inflatable would impinge somewhat on this space I would suspect. Dock access is easy on the starboard side in this case although the port side would be a challenge due to the outboard & hoist mechanism.

There is also a standoff that I attach to the bow of the dinghy when underway; at the dock it is stowed (you can just see it in the photo) to allow easy access to the dock.

Seawise

I have 2 boats with Seawise davit systems, one hydraulic and one manual crank. Both are great. i wouldn't use anything else.

Does anyone have a owners manual for the hydraulic seawise davit system? I sure could use a copy for my library.

We installed a Seawise davit on a previous boat. It was awesome. It allowed good access on the swim platform. One side was blocked with the crane but the other side access was great. They make a very high quality product. No affiliation just had a great experience with it. Wish I had one on our current boat.