dinghy service tender

Stickman · Sep 9, 2017

Soon to have first tender that's stored, by crane, on boat deck , aft of flybridge.
How do ya'll do engine and lower end service done? When dinghy's stored, the engine appears to be tilted up. Otherwise it's in the water. Will have no trailer.
I must be missing something obvious.
Thanks.

kchace · Sep 9, 2017

Well they don't require *much* service, but can't you tilt the motor down or mostly down when the boat is stored? On my boat I can tilt the motor all the way down.

Ken

smitty477 · Sep 9, 2017

Stickman said:
Soon to have first tender that's stored, by crane, on boat deck , aft of flybridge.
How do ya'll do engine and lower end service done? When dinghy's stored, the engine appears to be tilted up. Otherwise it's in the water. Will have no trailer.
I must be missing something obvious.
Thanks.

On the rare cases where I needed to do lower end or backside engine service we pulled onto a "T" dock on our trips and with the dock managers permission dropped the dinghy onto the dock . We would position our boat so that the dinghy was directly above the dock - then crane the dinghy down and perform any needed work sometimes with a large plastic container below the gear case to mitigate leaks.
We used fenders underneath when dropping the dinghy so it remained perfectly upright.

Sealife · Sep 9, 2017

I had to replace a prop that spun the hub. I just crane the dingy down, rotate, tie off bow, gentlt lower stern onto rail. I have down this for other tasks as well, works well in a calm anchorage.

tadhana · Sep 9, 2017

We have a rail mount pad for the dinghy outboard. If I am changing the water pump impeller, which involves several tools and lots of little pieces which do not float, I launch the dinghy, lift the outboard off of it and mount it on the rail. Gives very easy access and no lost parts. If I am just changing the lower unit oil, I let the dinghy hang just above the swim platform and change the oil.

Stickman · Sep 9, 2017

Thanks for the ideas... keep 'em coming.

Perhaps since all my past boats were outboards, < 30 ft, I'm spoiled being able to place them on trailer and drain all fluids completely.

hmason · Sep 9, 2017

One maintenance item you will need to deal with is a fresh water engine flush if you are using the tender in salt water. I leave the tender on the boat deck and lower the outboard as far as possible. Then I put on the earmuffs, hook them to a dockside hose and turn on the water. I start the outboard right on the boat deck and flush away. Actually turned out to be a very easy process.

Sealife · Sep 9, 2017

Luckily my outboard hangs off aft of the bridge deck. I use crane to pull up a 5 gallon bucket over lower unit and run hose into it. Be cautious though, on my old 2 stroke the water bubbling over from the bucket (exhaust) can leave a slight stain/sheen etc. on whatever gets wet from oily exhaust.

hmason · Sep 9, 2017

Minor hijack warning:
My biggest fear is that the crane motor would quit with the tender halfway between the boat deck and the water. My lifting cable is Dyneema so I guess I could cut it loose but depending on the height it stopped at damage might occur.

Sealife · Sep 9, 2017

As long as lifting structure, mast and boom in my case, doesn't come down. Just rig another lifting line to structure led back to a strong point and take a few turns of new line around, cut old line and use friction to gently lower. And have spare parts for everything to repair to hoist back up!

Side note, before I went all synthetic, my lift line snapped and dropped boat at least 8'. Hour or two with a hammer, some aluminum, rivets, sealant, good as ever. Just adds character as she has already used all of her nine lives (1960). Don't worry about theft anymore

smitty477 · Sep 9, 2017

hmason said:
Minor hijack warning:
My biggest fear is that the crane motor would quit with the tender halfway between the boat deck and the water. My lifting cable is Dyneema so I guess I could cut it loose but depending on the height it stopped at damage might occur.

If the davit winch is kept in good shape and the power supplied is sufficient you should never be surprised. We have made at least 500 lift/lowers over the past 10 years with loads over 700 #s with no issues.

Just in case we keep a "come along tool" onboard which we never had to use ourselves but have loaned to a couple of other boaters.

hmason · Sep 9, 2017

Sealife said:
As long as lifting structure, mast and boom in my case, doesn't come down. Just rig another lifting line to structure led back to a strong point and take a few turns of new line around, cut old line and use friction to gently lower. And have spare parts for everything to repair to hoist back up!

Side note, before I went all synthetic, my lift line snapped and dropped boat at least 8'. Hour or two with a hammer, some aluminum, rivets, sealant, good as ever. Just adds character as she has already used all of her nine lives (1960). Don't worry about theft anymore

Interesting technique. Thanks!

BandB · Sep 9, 2017

hmason said:
Minor hijack warning:
My biggest fear is that the crane motor would quit with the tender halfway between the boat deck and the water. My lifting cable is Dyneema so I guess I could cut it loose but depending on the height it stopped at damage might occur.

You should have a handle and manual means of operating if a problem like that.

koliver · Sep 9, 2017

To change the lower unit oil on my 40 Honda, with the dinghy on the davits, motor in "down" position, tied so the prop was a short distance away from the dock, I spread a pair of PFDs on the water, tied so they wouldn't move, covered with a plastic sheet (garbage bag), laid a paint roller tray on the plastic and started undoing little screws. The tray caught all of the old oil and a dribble of excess new oil. The job was quick, easy and clean.

tadhana · Sep 9, 2017

My lifting cable is Dyneema so I guess I could cut it loose but depending on the height it stopped at damage might occur.[/QUOTE]

My lifting cable was 1/8" dyneema. if you drop 9' there is no damage. Don't ask how I know. Now using 3/16" dyneema.

Simi 60 · Sep 9, 2017

hmason said:
One maintenance item you will need to deal with is a fresh water engine flush if you are using the tender in salt water. I leave the tender on the boat deck and lower the outboard as far as possible. Then I put on the earmuffs, hook them to a dockside hose and turn on the water. I start the outboard right on the boat deck and flush away. Actually turned out to be a very easy process.

I'm guessing this is for motors that don't get much use.

If it lives in salt and is used regularly it is being flushed.
Giant anodes are far more important IMHO.

FlyWright · Sep 19, 2017

I installed a fixed motor mount on the transom and a Garhauer lifting davit this year. It allows me to move the 77 lb 15HP OB easily with a 4:1 pulley. The mount is for transport only as it overhangs the water.

My 2HP Honda gets thrown into the trunk for the trip home for annual maintenance.

A stowable maintenance mount in the cockpit would be perfect! One more idea for the list of projects.

dinghy service tender

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