Deck crane ideas

Healhustler just photo shopped 3 different crane ideas on William . I,m planning on a manual crane with mast . The mast will be about 5 ft above the roof and attach to the deck and to the aft edge of roof with support below deck . The boom will be about 5-1/2 ft long . I will probably install a pipe inside a pipe with the largest being about 4 " . The dinghy weighs about 150 lbs . I will try to post all three pics in one post .It's not working so two more post

Another pic

Last pic . Thanks Larry

Gotta question...... Why put the shoreboat on top of the aft deck cover?

While it does make a convenient and aesthetic place to store it, it also makes a bad place to get it down and into the water if you need it in a hurry. And when you need a dinghy/shoreboat in the water in a hurry, it's usually an emergency of some sort, and for whatever reason the kind of emergencies that require you to get off the boat in a hurry generally happen between the hours of 0200 and 0400 in 30+ knots of wind and five-foot waves.

Granted, the odds of an emergency of this nature are slim, but.....

Also, launching a dingy from the boat deck even in a non-emergency can pose problems. We've seen an instance where folks lowering an RIB from the boat deck of a Bayliner in a bay with very mild wave action lost control of the RIB, it took out a window and severely injured one of the people on board.

If it was me, I would prefer to have the dinghy carried in a position where it could be in the water almost immediately. On a swimstep mount (Weaver Davits, Seawise Davit, etc.); carried horizontally off the transom by one of the many different types of davits designed for this purpose; or towed if the dinghy towed well and the waters we were cruising were conducive to this.

I realize your boat doesn't have a swimstep so that rules out that type of dinghy storage. But you could perhaps find a davit system that suspends the dinghy horizontally but still allows a degree of access through your transom door.

Everyone has their preferences and boat-deck dinghy storage certainly has its proponents, judging by how many dinghies are carried this way. But I don't care for it for the reasons above. I don't even like the idea of carrying a dinghy on an aft cabin top. We do--- the sailing/rowing dinghy that came with our boat--- but it takes a long time to launch with the mast and boom and we didn't want to have to do it with the boat rolling even a bit. So we added a Livingston on the swim step in Weaver Davits within three or four months of acquiring the boat.

Just something to think about, perhaps......

And FWIW, I think Larry's first two illustrations look good. The third one makes the davit look like an afterthought and, in my view, detracts from the look of your boat. Makes it look kind of cluttered.

I kind of like the first one the best simply because the davit looks more substantial aka reliable than the lighter weight versions. On the other hand, it might be overkill for a 150-pound dinghy.

I agree with Marin, the upside-down storage is cumbersome and dangerous. You do not have railings around the top deck and you have difficult access as well. If you are up there wrangling your dinghy and some dumbass in a Bayliner (oops) arrives at 14 knots, you have little to hold onto and because you have to hold on so tight, you won't be able to reach for your g... well, you are at risk.

Last summer, I watched a 40 foot+ Sea Ray arrive in Buccaneer Bay on the plane and he only had the throttles closed by the first row of anchored boats. Drinks flying, kids flying, small boats swamped and people washed off their swim grids. Not a Sea Ray issue, I will grudgingly grant you, but a moron issue for sure. That's another reason why your planned dinghy storage is the worst option.

I keep my dinghy in the water and tow it, mostly, but it lives upright on my forward deck. Even with a handraulic/hydraulic crane designed for the purpose, it is dangerous with the motor swinging around above the railing and it goes up there only for a good cleaning to get the growth off or if it's too rough to tow. My boat has good railings and easy access to the deck, it also is large.

Also, when your dinghy is fully lifted by the crane and swung out over the side, you will list considerably. Ask me how I know, my boat is a 52'.

Don't do it.

We carry a 700# Boston Whaler on the boat deck. I agree with Marin that launching it and retrieving it is a PITA even with our electric crane. Yes, you do have to be careful when launching and retrieving if there is any chance of waves or wakes. Once we are settled at our anchorage or marina, we launch the Whaler and then fender it alongside the mother ship until, we no longer need it.

Having it in an emergency is certainly an issue. Though it might be wishful thinking, I have a plan to cut it loose quickly and hope it will float off on its own if the mother ship had a catastrophe.

One of my initial concerns was how having that weight up top would affect boat handling. After a year of cruising up and down the east coast twice, and in some pretty rough conditions offshore, I can't discern any negative impact.

I know of folks with transom mounted davits who have had following seas swamp the dinghy, and of a case where the dinghy began to swing wildly. I suspect these issues have a lot to do with the installation. As Marin stated, there are proponents for both scenarios.

Good luck with your decision. Howard

If one has a purpose-built survival raft, perhaps the auto-jettison cannister type, then the need for a quick-launching dinghy is not that important.

However, the safety issues brought up in previous posts with regards to getting a dinghy down off a boat deck/cabin top are still there.

My welding shop is building a simple deck crane (to my design) with a capacity of 1500 lbs. It will not be priced any where near $20,000 or even more like most companies sell.. More like $5000. It also will not be "yachty" but it will be good looking, durable and functional. A smaller unit, closer to 500 lbs could be built much cheaper. You will find proponents and detractors on every facett of yacht tender storage. Most cant even decide what kind of tender is best, much less how to carry it.

I'm not a fan of dinks up on hardtops. But why wouldn't you out the stand pipe up against the cabin wall? That pipe in the shown position has got to be a huge eye sore. It won't effect launch, mine launches to the side (albeit from the bow) with no issues.

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I would think next to the cabin would be stronger and more pleasing to the eye.

Thanks for all the input . Still kicking around some ideas . My dinghy is a 10 ft rowing/ sailing fiberglass . If I do go on top it will be right side up and on chocks . I want to be able to launch while in the slip also . The slip is not wide enough to launch off the side . Aft daviits probably make the most sense . I actually have enough room to bring it inboard and sit it on the aft deck . Any ideas are greatly appreciated. The waters here are pretty calm compared to what you guys cruise in but we still get the wild ones that arrive at anchorages at full throttle .

Although mine is on top and now very easy to launch with a a beefed up motor and modified the davit a bit

I would really like a better option

my bow and swim platform get used a great deal and of course would love to be able to use the sun deck

compromise

We'd prefer to mount our dingy on the swim platform too, but it would block the stairs, the shore power and water hookups, the stern light, the aft cabin portlight (window) and the name and hailing port. We don't have much practical choice but to store it on the aft deck roof for our boat (Mainship 37 aft cabin motoryacht, not the trawler). I do worry about windage and the added hassle deploying, but I'm hoping with a 110 lb., 10' inflatable it won't be too bad.

Our swimstep mounted Livingston does block the stern light and the teak name and hailing port boards I made for the transom. But we had the sign shop make vinyl name and hailing port lettering for the bottom of the Livingston, and since our boat is less than 12 metres we don't have to display a stern light but can use an all-round white light in place of the stern and steaming lights. We used the anchor light for this.

I don't think anyone is going to have a good time of it at 0300, 5' seas and 30kts of wind. You better have lady luck on your side to launch from a Seawise system or any swim platform mounted set ups.
The towed skiffs have the best chance to leave the mothership without broken arms/fingers and legs in my opinion.

>I have a plan to cut it loose quickly and hope it will float off on its own if the mother ship had a catastrophe.<

A whaler will always float , weather it is right side up is a concern.

Aft transom davits are great , inshore they are the fastest and simplest system,

BUT offshore the chance wave filling the dink will easily overload most davit sets.

A secure on board system is still required for Blue water.

Sailor of Fortune said:

The towed skiffs have the best chance to leave the mothership without broken arms/fingers and legs in my opinion.

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That was the opinion of a pair of very experienced boater I had a chat with some years ago out in the islands.

While a Livingston is a great, non-destructible, infinitely long lasting dinghy, in the smaller sizes like 9' it is not a rough water boat because with any kind of load in it the freeboard is minimal. Also, they are limited to low-powered outboards.

So we decided that when and if the time comes that we can take longer cruises up the BC coast that we'll buy, rent, or borrow a 10' Bullfrog with a 15hp motor. Same floatation as an inflatable, but since it doesn't use fabric tubes for floatation, it doesn't have the vulnerability on rocky shores and the finite life of an inflatable.

But it's heavy. We've seen them carried on swimsteps using Seawise Davits. but the swimstep has needed major reinforcement in each case.

One day out in the islands I noticed a beautifully maintained 1960s wood Chris Craft about 36-40 feet long. It was the model that looks a bit like a sport fisherman with the main cabin and helm farther aft and a relatively short cockpit.

There was a 10' Bullfrog in the water behind it but there was no place obvious on the Chris Craft to carry it. So I motored over and asked the owners how they carried the dinghy.

They didn't, they said, they towed it. When I asked them how it towed, they said great, even at their 16 knot cruising speed or at slower speeds in "bouncy" water in the Strait of Georgia.

They were long-time boaters, having run various kinds of boats in the PNW and along the Atlantic seaboard and out in the open ocean. They said that they had experienced a boat fire once that had forced them off the boat in a hurry. From then on, they said, they always towed their dinghy/tender even if the main boat could carry it on board.

They felt that carrying a dinghy on a boat deck or cabin top was a recipe for disaster in an emergency. They felt that a swimstep or transom davit setup was world's better than a boat deck or cabin top, but that the only truly viable method in an emergency was to have the dinghy/tender in the water already.

In their view it wasn't a matter of "if the dinghy tows well," but "buy a dinghy that does tow well."

I've been there, done that, got the T-shirt as far as open ocean boating from my years in Hawaii, and my wife has zero interest in it so we will not be doing that kind of boating. But I asked them about towing in the ocean with its big swells and waves. Their reply was that, in their case, they bought a really big tender to tow and made sure it would tow well in rough ocean conditions. They also mentioned purpose-built life rafts, although I don't remember him saying they'd had one on the boat they'd used in the Atlantic.

But never again, they vowed after their fire, would they go boating without having their dinghy or tender in the water at all times.

Back to the issues with crane or davits on William, here's two more examples, one with conventional height davits and one with high davits with supports extending to the roof and sole. Using SS, one could keep the tubing diameter to a minimum. They'd probably look better painted white. Not a perfect illustration, but you get the idea.

healhustler said:

Back to the issues with crane or davits on William, here's two more examples, one with conventional height davits and one with high davits with supports extending to the roof. Using SS, one could keep the tubing diameter to a minimum. They'd probably look better painted white.

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I'll take the lowered look

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I agree, the lower looks better. Larry, you're amazing!

IMHO davits are always more convenient and the preferred tender solution.

Lower looks better (from someone else's boat), but can you see your stern well enough for close quarters manouvering?.

OTH high is much safer at sea and you can see your stern, but the general view aft may be not so good.

Btw, the Whaler tows beautifully. We did order it with bow rails and a tow eye. You should be aware that the bow ring on a Whaler is for hauling it onto a trailer and if you try to tow it by that ring it will eventually tear out of the hull. We ordered our 110 Sport model from the factory with a towing eye specifically. It is glassed into the hull and heavily backed for the intended purpose of towing. Purchasers of a used Whaler should be sure it has a tow eye before attempting to tow it.

I am curious to know if it is best to tow with the motor down or up. Any thoughts on this? Howard

Thanks Larry looks good . I like the lower one also . You surprised me I didn't know that you were going to work on the transom mounted davits .

Wouldn't both of those options block most of your view to stern from the helm though?

kthoennes said:

Wouldn't both of those options block most of your view to stern from the helm though?

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I'm thinking I could lower the dinghy height flush with the cap rail

Here's a couple on e-bay that come in three sections. It says nothing about the reach, but if you wanted to just use the upper most sections to mount on your cap rail, maybe...

Boaters’ Resale Shop of TX 1409 2774 01 Pair of Edson Davits | eBay

hmason said:

I am curious to know if it is best to tow with the motor down or up. Any thoughts on this? Howard

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The few people I know or have met who tow a dinghy with motors on them behind their powerboats lock the motors up.

We tow our CC with motor up.

How about...?

Ha! Now there's fast deploy.