Dinghy Davit in the way?

This can be placed under the "ignorant question" category.

In looking at potential boats I run across some that have davits mounted on the swim step in such a way as to prevent someone from walking across it.

What I would like to know is how folks with this arrangement get off their boat when docking. Most cruisers that I see will step off the swim step onto the dock. This makes it easy and uneventful. However if they can't get onto the swim step they have to do what I do and step down from the rail. Granted the bulwark around a typical cockpit is lower than my rail, but it still seems a bit sketchy.

I must be missing something. Here is an example from a 2000 Nordic Tug.

It's definitely an issue. Some leave a little room to get by on one side or the other. Most, however, require getting on and off another way, such as a side door/gate or something of that sort.

Our dinghy rides on a davit like the one in the the pic. We normally use our side boarding doors for dock access, but we can use the swim platform outboard of the davit arms if we need to. One side we climb over the transom and the other side we use the transom door.

Thanks. The photo is from a NT42. It has one transom door slightly to port. Fine if you always dock port side to. Not so much if you are docking on the starboard side.

Av8r, you and I are neighbors. I keep my current boat at Murphy's Landing near the maritime museum.

If at a dock and needing the swim platform to board, just let the davit out a bit and step around it.


Many boats like mine are easily boarded from the side with steps. That is because without a lower deck in the cockpit and a transom door, loading from the swim platform is actually harder.

We carry our dinghy on Kato davits on the transom. We have gates in the handrails on both sides and one on the stern, most marinas have finger piers or tie alongside docks so we can get off from the side, depending on dock height we might use the folding steps we carry on board.

We have ours on Weaver davits, which creates the same kind of issues, but our home marina has a finger so not an issue boarding and we anchor out alot. Times when we travel and head into a marina with only stern exit, we take the raft off and tie near the bow then dock.

Dave; nice to see you back. Not more than 2 weeks ago I thought about you being absent and as is often the case, guess who pops up.

Anyway, what you describe could be a one of my deal breakers on Art's top five list.

I saw 2 boats on the weekend;
One had a side gate to cockpit installed by a local yard that was superb. The other had a too long step from dock to swim platform and needed steps the size of a VW to side board. Sorry, no thanks.

With the mass I have twixt me legs, straddling bulwarks and barbed wire is a serious challenge.

Like everything else concerning boats (and ships, for that matter) - it's a compromise. Handling a ten foot auxillary on a 40' boat is never going to be convenient. It's just how much $ and other inconvenience you put up with to alleviate the problem. As a more casual boater than many of the voyagers on TF, I think the Weavers are the value play. When you want/need the swim platform, drop the dinghy, unlatch two clips, and tie off the painter - two minutes.

Hawgwash: Thanks for the wb. I have been swamped with work stuff. I still am but my wife and I are going to through the process of setting out our goals and priorities for our "post-working" life. More and more she is convinced it includes a trawler. All it takes is $$$.

That is one of the reasons for my question on the davits and ease of egress. My wife isn't as spry as she once was and it won't get better as we get older. I want to be sure that the boat we end up getting is easy for her to board. The Olson davit I pictured above is wonderful, but even if let out a bit, you will have to duck under the cables attached to the stern. On the Nordic Tug, without any side doors in the cockpit, that means continuing to do what we do now.

sbu22: You make a great point about compromises. I think the Weaver davits are a great solution and I had been seriously looking at them for my sailboat. It all depends on the boat.

dhays said:

I want to be sure that the boat we end up getting is easy for her to board.

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There was a Waggoners article recently that I can't track down at the moment. Doing a photo shoot and review the cameraman stepped from dock to swim grid and took a dive with all his equipment. THAT is an issue I don't want to repeat.

Access to all areas as we age becomes a big factor. The boat I mentioned above with the custom side gate had two other no goes for me. Too tight engine space and completely vertical ladder to the bridge. Otherwise it checked a lot of boxes.

dhays said:

That is one of the reasons for my question on the davits and ease of egress. My wife isn't as spry as she once was and it won't get better as we get older. I want to be sure that the boat we end up getting is easy for her to board. .

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Wifey B: Neither are you.... But regardless, ease of getting on and off is a huge top item in looking at a boat. I don't care how young we are, we can trip or get injured if we do it enough times. Every time we go boating it's our first experience of the boating day. Pull a muscle getting aboard and it's not going to be a good day. Fall in the water and it's not going to be a good year.

I also don't know if perchance you consume alcoholic beverages but they might make it even more problematic.

Wifey BandB said:

I also don't know if perchance you consume alcoholic beverages but they might make it even more problematic.

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Just stick to liquor by the case and it will usually float long enough to grab.

BandB said:

Wifey B: Neither are you.... But regardless, ease of getting on and off is a huge top item in looking at a boat. I don't care how young we are, we can trip or get injured if we do it enough times. Every time we go boating it's our first experience of the boating day. Pull a muscle getting aboard and it's not going to be a good day. Fall in the water and it's not going to be a good year.

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Great points. So far neither my wife or I have gone into the water unintentionally. However, it is just a matter of time. One of the reasons we own the sailboat that we do is that it has an easily accessible swim ladder and scoop transom. My thought was that our prior boat would be next to impossible for our middle-aged selves to climb back aboard with the help of a Halyard and winch. I just want to reduce the changes of that happening.

I also don't know if perchance you consume alcoholic beverages but they might make it even more problematic.

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Fortunately, neither one of us ever over-indulges. That makes life simpler and safer on so many levels.