Any better ideas for my dinghy chocks?

I have 14ft Twin Vee. The hull is basically identical to a Livingston (12 & 14). You can see the transom profile in the attached image. I've never seen premade chocks for these(?), and even if they exist, they'd probably be $$$. But being that it's a catamaran, I really just need a flat surface to set it on, then strap it down very securely.

I'm installing a davit, so i can put the skiff on my sundeck hardtop occasionally. The skiff will be set down perpendicular to the trawler. The hardtop already has some solar panels on it, and i want to keep them because the skiff will be in the water 95% of the time. So i need to creat some crosswise bunks/chocks that will keep the skiff above the panels. If you view the diagram, my thought is to bolt down pressure treated 4x6's where the orange lines are.

One possible concern with a pressure treated lumber on my hardtop is all the rainwater is plumbed down thru a 1 micron filter into my tanks -- and I drink it (uv filtered). Reading online, apparently today's pressure treated lumber is non-toxic enough for vegetable gardening, but is it drinking water safe?? I see mixed opinions on painting/epoxying treated lumber.

Figured I'd see if anybody has any input, or better ideas before i go ahead?

I would go with Starboard. You can cut it just like wood and it is UV stabilized. The only down side is that caulk won’t stick to it but you can use butyl tape to seal it. I have bought it in 1.5” before but it does get pricey when it is that thick.

Comodave said:

I would go with Starboard.

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Yeah problem is I need it to be at least 5inches thick, so starboard would be several hundred dollars, plus more complicated with ripping planks to size and gluing.

Comparatively it's $26 for a 4x6x12 piece of lumber. Simply cut it in half. Maybe paint it? Bolt down. Done.

So unless the lumber is gonna poison me(?), i can't justify starboard in this instance.

Also some point down the line, i may choose to trace the hull and jigsaw out a forum fitting chock, so i really don't wanna spend a fortune on this.

The pressure treated dimensional lumber would work, and be very inexpensive. However, in the long term I think you would be better with something else. King Star Board would be great and rather than go with a very thick piece, I would consider using thinner stock and create two pieces separated by spacers of the same material. You would need to bolt or screw it together as I don’t think Star Board takes glue very well.

You could do the same with marine plywood and paint it.

According to Wikipedia, the partial size of copper (poison) used to pressure treat lumber is in the nanometer range, smaller than 1 micron. Using water runoff for drinking from that sounds like a bad idea to me.

How about something like "Trex"? Maybe butt two pieces together to get your thickness?

I would probably use exterior plywood and fiberglass it, then gelcoat.

I'm gonna investigate if i can find untreated 4x6's, and then epoxy/paint them. Home depot appears to stock "4x4 kiln dried douglas fir", but not seeing 4x6 in untreated.

I think if it's gonna get much more complicated than that, then i might as well just go all the all the way and make a cradle.

ERTF said:

...and I drink it (uv filtered).

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That rules out pressure treated wood. The UV won't do anything to the toxicity and the filters won't remove it.

Why lumber? Try 1" Stainless tubing. i just bought some. $6/ft (Cdn) at the local marine store, cut to length. Then all you need to do is bend the ends and put some simple Bimini style fittings on the deck to hold it in position. Better appearance, longer lasting, no worries about the water quality or adhesion.

Not a Star Board fan. In every application where I've seen it used I can think of a better material. That includes its best use as a cutting board, assuming you need a really expensive cutting board. It does have a clever name for a boating product.

Check out Azec PVC trim. Glues easily with clear PVC cement and holds a screw. Lighter and cheaper than Star Board. Cutting it leaves an edge that can collect dirt, if that's an issue. It holds paint (unlike Star Board) and that might reduce the dirt collection.

Rather than two long supports you might consider four "blocks".

With this you use less material and it might be easier to fit to the sloping cabin top.

I did something similar in my previous bota using "teak" strips laminated to get to the right thickness and the shaped, slightly tumble-home. Glued and screwed down. Left it with a natural finish.

"Plastic Timber" is my answer.
https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/landscaping-materials/landscape-edgers/6-x-6-x-8-plastic-timber/1129970/p-1527748148280.htm

IF you troll the rub rail for larger work boats (60-150 ft) you may find a section that could be attached to the deck and keep the boat from moving.


The hard rubber will be about 5-10 lbs per foot , and about $15-$20 per foot .

I actually have a Livingston I transverse mount up on the deck. I made 4 chocks of laminated 2x6s and fiberglassed them. Couldn't keep the fiberglass from coming off and eventually painted them with white 'Flex' paint which seems to flex enough to stay put. Love your plastic timber find and may look into that for the future.

wfleenor said:

I actually have a Livingston I transverse mount up on the deck. I made 4 chocks of laminated 2x6s and fiberglassed them.

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Are your chocks actually form fitting to the hull? Or just raised flat spots the bottom of the keel rests on? Or are you talking about bunks that run parallel with the hull?

How about 2" PVC conduit ? T's and 90's available at any big box home improvement store. Find a flange to mount to the cabin top. Might be too much weight though.

They are four individual chocks that are form-fitted to the hull. I can take a photo when the sun comes up if you are interested in seeing them. Kind of like the idea of 2 tranverse bunks since the boat can sit flat. You may have talked me into changing. I have never 'mounted' the current chocks and I do have soe issue with them trying to move when I sit it down on them.

Don't know if this falls into your budget or would fulfill your needs, but if you are looking for a ready-made solution, a product called VersaChock may work for you. When we were figuring out how to mount our 13' Whaler on deck we priced out custom and semi-custom chocks that were thousands of dollars. We stumbled upon VersaChock in our search and had some good conversations with the owner of the company before making the leap. The chocks we bought were a fraction of the cost of the other options we identified and they have served us perfectly in the couple of years we've had them.

We wrote up our chock-shopping and VersaChock experience here: https://myoloh.com/project-new-tender-chocks/
We realize it may read as an advertisement but we assure you that it is not. We occasionally write about products we love in great detail in hopes that it will help others going through the same process. Just paying it forward.

Cruzer, I bought some Versa Chocks for my new dinghy. I have received them and I am impressed by the quality. I have yet to install them as I’m still waiting on the new dinghy so I can make sure they are placed correctly.

Does anyone else make a skeg plate like the Versachock? I'd love to find one in black instead of white.

ERTF said:

I'm gonna investigate if i can find untreated 4x6's, and then epoxy/paint them. Home depot appears to stock "4x4 kiln dried douglas fir", but not seeing 4x6 in untreated.

I think if it's gonna get much more complicated than that, then i might as well just go all the all the way and make a cradle.

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You may find it easier to get 2x6's and double them up instead of finding 4x6's.....but I am sure a single 2x6 at each end would support your dinghy

wkearney99 said:

Does anyone else make a skeg plate like the Versachock? I'd love to find one in black instead of white.

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Bill - Have you reached out to Versachock? Owner Jeff is very involved and accommodating and they do custom work so we would say it's at least worth a conversation.

Cruzer said:

Bill - Have you reached out to Versachock? Owner Jeff is very involved and accommodating and they do custom work so we would say it's at least worth a conversation.

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I did and he mentioned something custom could be ordered. Before I go that route I'm checking that there's not something else out there already. I may take them up on the one-off and get it un-drilled so I can better match up with how our platform is set up.

wkearney99 said:

I did and he mentioned something custom could be ordered. Before I go that route I'm checking that there's not something else out there already. I may take them up on the one-off and get it un-drilled so I can better match up with how our platform is set up.

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Will be interested to see what you end up doing. Much nicer setup than on a V358?

I am in process of figuring out dinghy chicks to mount AB 310 AL on my boat deck. I reached out to two places to fabricate based on AB CAD drawing. One uses 1" thick HDPE (Starboard), the other welded aluminum. Both were in the $1500 range, plus shipping. Attached pic is similar style but not exact for my AB

McMaster Carr sells fiberglass sheets of up to 1" thick. Cheaper and stronger than HDPE but more difficult to work with. I can purchase 3-inch SS angle cut in 3-inch lengths from Online Metals.com for the base attachment points. Roughly $400 in materials and a weekend of futzing with power tools.

McMaster-Carr Page:
https://www.mcmaster.com/Sheets/grade~gpo3/

Peter