Give Me Your Thoughts On This

[Woodland Hills]

IIRC both of my MarQuipt davits used phenolic blocks as bushings which should not react with petro based greases. Phenolic is not a plastic.

 

[stubones99]

please don't be distracted by my drawing skills..... This is what I tried to describe earlier. Either a pole that folds up or is removable to push the davit from firm footing in the middle of the boat deck.

The lever arm does not have to be 180 degrees off the boom. It can be ANY angle. As mentioned earlier, get a whisker pole and mount an eye to the back or side of the winch head. Run a line to the lifting end of the davit from the middle of the whisker pole. Now push the whisker pole so the line to the davit end moves where you want it. If you want a greater mechanical advantage, get a longer lever (whisker pole). Any connection from the side of the whisker pole to the davit will transfer the turning motion to the davit. If you had a solid arm between the whisker pole and the davit side, you could swing it in either direction by walking the end of the whisker pole around.

Also mentioned earlier, if you have a line on the davit lifting end and install a jam cleat or cam cleat on deck. Run the line through the cleat and tension the line. Then step on the line to bring the davit boom closer, release it and retension the line, and repeat the process until the boom and dinghy are aboard.

 

[hmason]

So hmason, basically you went the block and pulley route, but just used a 2:1 solution with a one piece pulley?

Yes, you could modify to a two pulley system if needed. It’s so cheap it’s worth a try.

 

[Donna]

A winch and a hoist are 2 different animals. As you know, my dingy is on a David in my hardtop. Had a winch motor that lasted 2 years. Recently replaced it with a hoist motor. Much more powerful and yes it’s on a remote. No more drag. Works beautifully. Not cheap.

 

[Bryant]

dinghy

So, being a not very patient patient I am itching to get out on the boat. We are thinking of running up to Cumberland Island for a few days next week.

To be able to do this Sian needs to be able to retrieve the dingy without my help. Launching is no issue.

So we just came down to the boat and she sent the dinghy over the side and then tried to retrieve it. But try as she might she couldn't get the manual davit "around the corner" and the boat onto the boat deck. A neighbor came over and helped her get it on board.

Afterwards she quite rightly said that even after my back heals I should not be dealing with pulling in that davit.

So I gave it some thought and a bit of Googling. I am thinking of buying an AC winch. Attaching one end to the D ring on the boat deck (that stores the davit cable and is on the opposite side to where the boat comes on board) and the other end to the top of the davit with the winch strap and hook, then using that to bring the davit on board.

See example of one winch below. We have AC on the boat deck and the winch will be stored in a fly bridge locker when not required. I would probably get one with a wireless remote.

Does anyone see any issue or fault with this plan before I go and buy the winch. The only concern I have right now is the angle of pull between the D ring and the top of the davit (about seven feet). Once the davit is "around the corner" it swings the rest of the way easily.

Do you have a swim platform? What kind of dinghy do you have? I went to Defender and pieced together a system with locks mounted on my swim platform and rings mounted on my dinghy transom. I can hook the dinghy up to it and literally step off the boat into the dingy and stand up without the dinghy throwing me overboard. When it's time to secure the dinghy, I have a simple rope pulley that I hook to the dinghy painter and I can "one hand" the boat up as all the weight is on the mounting system. It's simple, cheap and works great. Check out the Defender catalogue and you'll immediately see what I'm talking about.

 

[menzies]

An update.

I bought two quality Rostan double blocks, one with a becket. Added 25' of 3/8" line.

We went down and put the dinghy over the side today. We tried it from three different angles of approach and she was able to bring the dinghy onboard each time. It was easiest the last time with the "widest" angle.

So we are good to go anchor out. We were thinking of going up to Cumberland next week for a couple of nights but the missus and family have blocked me from doing that for now. So we are going to go tie up at Fernandina for a couple of nights instead, just to get out and run the boat.

 

[boathealer]

 

[AZ2Loop]

Glad you got that worked out, Menzies. We will be around Cumberland Island and Fernandina Beach over the next few days as well. After that, we may head toward Jacksonville. I'll keep a sharp eye out for that beautiful Grand Alaskan.

 

[menzies]

Glad you got that worked out, Menzies. We will be around Cumberland Island and Fernandina Beach over the next few days as well. After that, we may head toward Jacksonville. I'll keep a sharp eye out for that beautiful Grand Alaskan.

Check with Fernandina before you go. We were going to go there Monday through Wednesday this week but they are doing work to the inside slips and have moved the tenants to the transient slips so had no room

So we are booked for Tues and Wed nights next week if the weather's holds.

 

[AZ2Loop]

Thanks, Menzies. I appreciate the tip. We anchored last time in Fernandina, and that worked out fine, but I was considering the marina this time as a possibility so thanks for sharing that info.

We just dropped anchor at Cumberland Island and will likely stay here a night or two. It is just us and a sailing catamaran in here right now at Cumberland Sound, near the Sea Camp dock. Oh, and a few hundred "love bugs" at the moment. They seem to love the shade on our aft deck. Being Labor Day weekend, I would expect a few more boats here for the weekend so we'll see if anyone else anchors here. For those familiar with this anchorage, there is only room for about 50 more boats -- what a great spot this is.

Like Cumberland Island, Fernandina was a nice stop last time through. These two stops are so close together, though, it might be hard to stop at Fernandina this time. We'll just see how we feel when we get there. I did like that little town, so stopping again would not be bad.
Glad to see you got the RIB out (other thread) and had a little time on the water, Menzies.

 

[menzies]

Did you make it over to Fernandina?

We were booked in tomorrow for two nights but just called and changed it to mid next week due to the rain coming in this week.

 

[Bryant]

Fernandina

Check with Fernandina before you go. We were going to go there Monday through Wednesday this week but they are doing work to the inside slips and have moved the tenants to the transient slips so had no room

So we are booked for Tues and Wed nights next week if the weather's holds.

Have they repaired the docks there? I haven't been there for awhile.

 

[menzies]

Have they repaired the docks there? I haven't been there for awhile.

Yes, it's all open. I had a post from a visit at the start of this year linked below.

The fuel dock is not operable yet though (as of speaking to them last week).

https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s27/new-configuration-fernandina-marina-48726.html