Weaver Snap Davits, Anyone using them

[jbinbi]

Came across this system for boats with a transom. Wondering if this works well, or if one should try to figure out a way to fit a 'regular' dual pole davit system off the stern. Not talking about those that have a flybridge mounted crane system. Thanks.

 

[BruceK]

I have the Italian made equivalent, Ceredi brand. I dislike having the inflatable there, but ease and economics won. You`ll have your dinghy in and out of the water fast and easily.

We don`t leave the outboard mounted, it`s a light Merc 3.3 easily handled.
We can still open the transom door and move about the swimstep, though the "hold offs"(genuine Weaver parts) can get in the way.

 

[mvweebles]

A good friend with a 37-foot Monk sedan trawler has a 12 foot fiberglass Livingston mounted via Weaver snap davits. Like the previous post, he keeps the 6hp outboard stored on deck. He has a small crane hoist to lift. At dock, he leaves one of the standoffs undone so boarding via transom door is fine. It's a pretty heavy dinghy but system seems to work fine for him (he's well into his 70s).

Peter

 

[DavidM]

I had the Weaver davits on my Mainship Pilot 34 and carried the dinghy on the swim platform. You mount the Weaver Davit clip on the boat so that it lines up with the swim platform portion of the clip when the boat is in the water. That way, you pull the boat up to the transom, line it up fore and aft (the dinghy not the boat) and snap it in place. That stabilizes it for getting out of the dingy on to the swim platform.

Mine originally came (installed by the PO) with Weaver stand offs, but I removed them. That way I could pull the dinghy upright with the overhead 4 part tackle and then tilt it forward until it was tight against the transom. If I needed to get out on the swim platform, I just loosened the tackle up a few feet and tilted the dinghy back to open up the swim platform.

See the attached pic of my boat from the side. If you look closely, you will see an outboard bracket that fit our venerable Evinrude 3.5 hp two cycle nicely. I could also attach a Tohatsu 9.9 hp two cycle but it was much harder to lift off.

Weaver also makes a rotating outboard bracket that clamps to the dinghy transom that allows the motor to rotate and stay vertical as the dinghy is lifted. It is a bit unwieldly and expensive but would eliminate lifting the O/B on and off.

David

 

[jbinbi]

Thanks. Was wondering about leaving an electric motor attached full time, much lighter. Didn't know about the motor bracket system they had.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

We use Weaver-style davits (probably a knock-off) on the swim step. Like BruceK's transom shown above, we have a door to the swim step and a covered cockpit. From the cockpit cover to the dingy we have a simple 5:1 block, which makes it easy for my wife to instantly raise or lower the dinghy. Instead of the Weaver-style hard stainless stand-offs, we have two small lines with carbineers also from the stanchions surrounding the cockpit cover, so it isn't just the block and tackle holding the dinghy. Seems to hold everything in place just fine in rough conditions and the dinghy takes less than 30 seconds to deploy.

We have an outboard motor mount left by the prior owner on the transom, but I plan to remove it because we now just leave our electric motor on the dinghy. The motor mount makes it difficult to get off the swim step to the dock.

I did make a little hack to the Weaver-style hooks. I figured out a way to hold the clip open so that you don't have to slide it back and lift at the same time. Also keeps the clip open for returning to the mother ship. My wife finds it much easier when she is in charge of casting off, which is generally the case. Probably better if I get a picture of the simple modification instead of trying to describe it.

 

[Doug_Snider]

Our previous boat came with Weaver snap davits with standoffs. Getting the dinghy in and out of the water was a breeze. We are going the same route on our new boat. We’re using the boat deck and hoist for toys like our Hobie kayaks and bikes.

The swim step davits are great for steadying the dinghy getting in and out. We learned the hard way not to leave the dinghy in the water attached to the swim step davits. We had some big waves overnight and the attachment pads on the inflatable for the davits tore loose. Lesson learned: haul the dinghy up or tether it with a painter.

 

[Mike GB32]

Marco Flamingo- I would love to see that picture. I'm in the process of installing Weaver snap davits.

 

[chc]

We have the snap davits on our Californian 34; they work well. Our Tohatsu 8hp OB is lifted on and off with a St Croix Jr crane. Also works well, altho' we did add some pulleys for a better lifting ratio. Dinghy is a 10'6" Mercury Airdeck

 

[Marco Flamingo]

Marco Flamingo- I would love to see that picture. I'm in the process of installing Weaver snap davits.

I wrote it up in a new thread. https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s3/weaver-davit-hack-65203.html#post1121465

 

[Ken E.]

I have Weaver snap davits for my 11' hard dinghy, similar to Livingston. I've been very happy with them. I also have the hinged bracket mentioned above. Weaver Leaver is the product's name. Also has performed well for me.

 

[BruceK]

For lowering and raising, clipped on, holdoffs not in place,we attach a line to the far side of the inflatable led back to the cockpit.
Checking ebay, I noticed a "304"! Chinese Weaver knock off pack @ about $100 for everything! Weavers are probably way cheaper in USA than here. No problems with the Ceredi product we went with because the unused but 2nd hand inflatable we bought already had Ceredi fitted.