Pulled the Trigger - Again

I just pulled the trigger - again. Last time, the survey didn't work out.
Anyway, I made an offer, we negotioated and we came to an agreement. Next stop - Survey time. That's always the fun time. That wont happen until around May 29.
It's a 1986 Mainship 36' Aft Cabin Motoryacht.

I hope it goes better this time!

Have you sold your stick-and-rag boat yet?

GonzoF1 said:

Have you sold your stick-and-rag boat yet?

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Unfortunately.......No, not yet.
But I have faith.
A good deal came along and the timing is right. This will give us plenty of time to change things the way we want and run the boat enough that comes Jan. 1 and good weather, we are gone.
Damn, I have got to quit these run-on sentences.

Pineapple Girl:
Thanks, I think it will.

Nothing like having two boats to deal with. Congrats on the new rig. Maybe post some pictures when you get some.

swampu said:

Nothing like having two boats to deal with........

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Yeah, I know. I said I would never do it again and here I am - again. Some of us are just slow learners.
Thanks for the 'Congrats".
My work schedule is preventing me from getting to Biloxi for a long while.
We will definitely hook-up next year prolly around Feb. whrn I am passing through. I can't wait to see you boat up close and personal. I remember it from both Gulfport and Biloxi, but never been on it. Those Biloxi Luggers have a charm all their own.

Man, nice looking ride. Like to black curtins and trim. Can't wait to see it.

Those enclosures sure give you a lot more living area. You come out the rear door in the main salon and you are in the lower enclosure. Go up a few steps and you are in the bridge enclosure. We have looked at 44 ft Trawlers and 50 ft houseboats, etc. We looked at this one a while back when the owner contacted me for a swap. He was going to give me this boat + $6k for my sailboat. His wife said "No" and that was the end of that. Anyway, what ever we loooked at, my wife would always compare it to that one. I figure that she was less intimidated by size than the others. Her wanting to or being able to drive it is a big factor when anchoring, docking in bad weather, etc. If she is happy, I am happy. I could be comfortable in a tree house so size is not a problem. I also like the crane for putting the dink on the hard top over the lower deck enclosure. Anyway, lets see how it surveys.
Just 237 more days til retirement, but who's counting.

Not my kind of boat but I would really question the intelligence of stowing the dinghy on top of that sundeck enclosure. Not only are you putitng weight way up where you don't want it, but launching the dinghy with the boat sitting in anything other than dead calm conditions with no wind could be a real disaster in the making. I've seen dinghies get to swinging and take out windows and break arms lowering them from boat decks a lot lower than where the dinghy is carried on that skyscraper. And the water in the anchorages just had little gentle waves in them at the time. I'd be looking at stern davits of some sort or even towing before I'd put anything other than a couple of kayaks way up there.

Marin said:

launching the dinghy with the boat sitting in anything other than dead calm conditions with no wind could be a real disaster in the making.

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Agreed, been there and done that. IMHO davits are the way to go.

I have been carrying my tender on the roof of my main cabin for the last 17 years and so far have never had a problem.
I tow it occasionally when I am traveling in the reef but usually hoist it on top even for over night.
Davits at the stern are a PITA as they interfere with trolling roda and playing fish.

Go with the top stow you will allways be glad you did.

Benn

Benn, all due respect brother, but the tops we are talking abut here are not comparing apples with apples. Yes, on a sedan like yours, with no flybridge, a dinghy on top makes good sense, still not that high, and on a solid top, but the boat Tony is looking at there only has, well...not quite a soft top as far as I can see, but lightweight supports, and so high up, I'd be for a duckboard mount myself, I think. It would be hard to wrestle it down from there without a powered davit, and that could be tricky on that raised deck and hard-top. Then there is the swinging about Marin mentioned. I witnessed a guy once nearby drop not one, but two, dinks in the water, off trim and swinging wildly, and using a powered davit and not as high, and in just a slightly rocky anchorage...they both swamped.

Hey, how are you anyway - back from doing the good deed...?

No fun loosing a dink overboard.

I was carrying the dink on the back deck. I wasn't watching close enough as a large Bayliner passed me on step. Close enough to touch with a boat hook.

Anyway the dink went over the side and flipped over.

It created a suction that I had to use my hydraulic davit to break it loose, just to get it turned over. I litterally could not lift it off the surface of the water.

A good safe way to launch and retreive the dink is imperative.

Sd

There's another major issue regarding where one carries their dinghy that trumps every other consideration as far as I'm concerned, and that's the ability to get the boat in the water fast in an emergency, like a boat fire. I know some people carry life rafts for this purpose and so are not reliant on launching the dinghy or shoreboat to get off the boat in an emergency.

But most recreational cruisers I see don't carry emergency life rafts. So the dinghy is their lifeboat.

I've watched the owners of cruisers launch boat-deck carried dingies--- particularly bigger and heavier ones like large-motored RIBs and hardshells like Boston Whalers and such that require a power davit---- and I could write and publish a book in the time it takes for the thing to creep down the side of the boat and into the water.

This on top of the time it takes to remove covers and straps and tie-down locks and unstow and swing the power davit over and hook up the lifting bridle.

All very well and good in a nice calm anchorage with all the time in the world although I've seen people do damage to their boat and themselves even under those benign conditions.

Now imagine that same guy on that same boat in mid-cruise in swells or choppy or rough water--- even nice sunny day rough water--- and an electrical short or something starts a fire. Hopefully the fellow can get the fire out, but we all know what happens once fiberglass and fuel start to burn. And now imagine getting up on that high boat deck and going through the process of getting the dinghy ready to launch and then actually over the side. The higher off the water you are the more magnified and violent the boat's motion becomes. And imagine the dinghy on the end of that cable halfway down with the boat rocking and pitching in the waves. And imagine it halfway down when the power on the boat cuts out.

A likely scenario? I would hope not. But possible? Absolutely.

I met a couple I have mentioned before who have decades of boating experience, blue water and coastal. And they ALWAYS tow their dinghy today. Why? Because they had a boat fire years ago and had to abandon their boat. Fortunately, their shoreboat was carried in such a way that it could be in the water in a couple of minutes. But this experience changed their philosophy to where today they want the dinghy in the water NOW ready to use anytime. (They are coastal cruisers today so towing is a viable option. Blue water is another story.)

The only place we will consider carrying our dinghy is on the swimstep or on a transom-mounted davit. Both places permit the boat to be in the water in minutes without the need for electricity. If the configuration of the boat was such that carrying the dinghy this way was impossible and a cabin top or boat deck location was the only option then we would either tow the dinghy or we'd carry it up top but with an emergency life raft of a size and type that could accommodate the number of people on board and be almost instantly deployed.

I agree with Marin that the dinghy location on the Mainship pictured is pretty high and presents some potential interesting tipping moments. But on larger vessels like Benn's, Nordhavns, Flemings, Selenes, Offshores, Marlows, OAs, etc the boat deck is where the dinghies are placed. As pointed out, these vessels will likely be life raft equipped too. On my vessel, to avoid "entrapment" of the dinghy on the boat deck due to more common electric glitches, the davit power feeds directly off (through breakers) an 8D and bypasses the main panel, similar to the anchor and thruster.

On the Nordhavn site there is a video of a couple who own a 76; in the midst of their discussion on their adventures, they comment that one thing that they want to do is add kayaks as they find hoisting and deploying their dinghy a challenge in rough weather.

I have a mate up in Mackay who has a Angel 50 aft cabin and he carries his dinghy on top with a powered crane and has no problems.
Now this guy is a Master Class 1 unlimited so is no D**k head. Being a rigid inflatable he has no trouble in throwing it off in an emergency.

My own dinghy is a 3.7 mt tinny and is in chocks and I could still slip it straight off the back or over the side into the water manually if it was an emergency (I wouldn't be worried about damaging Tidahapah or the dinghy in this case)

Mind you if you are not a fishernman then it doesn't matter, stick it on the back as long as it doesn't block your stern view for looking out the back when traveling especially at night.
Cheers
benn

Going outside Harbour, taking our 2.7m inflatable, we lift the dinghy(after detaching the outboard) into the cockpit and lash it on its side against the stern railing. The outboard gets lashed down too. This avoids fitting davits or a crane and cradle. Back in protected waters, the dinghy goes back in the water to be towed.We`ve no aft cabin and plenty of cockpit space we don`t really use while at sea.So far the only hazard is removing and replacing the outboard.
In harbour we usually use and tow our fibreglass dinghy. Devil of a job overcoming a (presumed)vacuum causing it to adhere to the water the day it flipped during a (real) gale inside harbour while we were committee boat starting a yacht race. BruceK

Hey guys... We are WAYYYY off the OP's original topic here. Y'all want to talk about dinghy placement please start another thread and I will move these posts over.

Thanks

Congrats on the new boat! Hope it all works out.

As to the dink it all depends on the size of the boat and the dink. Our 60,000lb boat couldn't care less where we stow our 11' Boston Whaler. I've done it all the different ways and I prefer our current set up the most. Electric crane and dink in a custom cradle lashed down 13' from the water and harms way.