Any safety issues with this dingy?

[UFGator]

Originally Posted by Scrimshaw4

In addition to the overhangs taking a beam sea I'd also be concerned about getting pooped (swamped) from the rear. Also what is the load capacity of the stern platform? Pounding into head seas can create shock loads that could compromise the platform. Most ribs carried on the stern are either in their side to prevent filling or on purpose built davit systems designed to carry the load and minimize stern wave flooding.
You refer to your flats boat as a dinghy. It's not. It's a fishing boat designed for backwater shallow fishing grounds. A good RIB will provide you with a much better solution to your dinghy needs. JMHO

Thanks Scimshaw4! I think the consensus here is that the overhang is a problem. I don't think that getting swamped from the rear would be any different for any boat on the platform (unless I'm missing something).

Load capacity is 800 lbs. Boat weighs no more that 400 and change. The platform should handle that with no problem. The one thing about this boat is it is very light. This platform comes with chalks so I'm assuming that most people carry their dingys with the bottom down.

Agree that this is not really a dingy. That's why I posed the question. Definitely getting good advice from you guys. Thanks!

[UFGator]

Originally Posted by wingssail

The first thing that occurs to me is that if you get into heavy seas, and are rolling badly, waves are going to strike that tender and try to rip it off the platform.

Perhaps the solution is to be prepared to shift the tender to being towed. Many larger yachts tow their tenders on passages. A strong towing eye very low on the bow will make that boat tow better.

On the other hand, this looks like a light, flat, low boat with a tall, heavy motor (probably 50hp, and up on jackers!). I am not sure how stably it will tow. It is self bailing? I am sure that it has a battery for starting that engine, put a huge bilge pump with an automatic switch in it.

And good luck, I wouldn't do it.

Thanks Wingssail. I thought about towing as well. This boat wouldn't tow all that great I'm guessing. It has a 20hp motor. Not self bailing. Has a bilge pump with auto switch. At the very least I could put a much bigger pump in there...

[UFGator]

Originally Posted by patrickbarbary

Is your 16 ft self-bailing?

No. It is not.

[PhilC]

Perhaps different boats have different running characteristics. My expectation is that for many boats doing an open ocean crossing under moderate conditions they would (momentarily) have solid water up the topsides to the gunnels running back past the transom whenever a sea and a roll combined. So that means solid water hitting the protruding bow at whatever speed you run at, likely multiple times on the crossing. Chocking the boat up (chalking up is what you might do 'to experience' after a bad outcome.) would help reduce how much water it catches, however you might need to bring it all the way up to deck level to reduce the risk. If the motor is only 50HP could you take it off and lash it down in the cockpit?

[UFGator]

Originally Posted by wingless

Dallas Bell, you're welcome.

OP, is would probably be best to have the dinghy outboard vertical, in operating position. I would move the dinghy as far to the port as possible, probably just a little more than shown, to have that engine mass not hanging over as much as possible.

Also, remove as much weight as possible from the dinghy, fuel tank and other extra stuff will also help.

Wingless. Thanks for both responses. I agree the outboard should be vertical. I didn't know what the clearance was going to be so I kept it up. So it sounds like you are OK with the bow hanging out more than it is now from the port side in order to have more of the back-end weight on the platform. Makes sense. I will play around with that.

[AJ_n_Audrey]

Originally Posted by sepharad

I am not Captain Seafaring with 50 years at sea, But I do have some life experience with wave action, water and physics.

I have bells going off when I see the overhangs and imagine moving through the water at more than 2 knots. I see a really nice fishing flatty getting ripped off the stern of a nice sugar scoop. I see gel coat damage. I see maybe loss of the engine. I see myself doing this and banging my head on the deck of the boat and saying: "I asked the question because I knew the answer."

I think "davit"....picture the disproportionate...lets not call it a dinghybut what it is, fishing boat getting caught by wind or wave action, and hear those same Little Voices saying: "Don't do it Johnny".

This is all just Gut feeling. If you fish keep both and get a nice proportionate RIB.
(Or if you must, sell the really nice fishing boat and get the RIB).

+1

Most of my GS passages have been relatively calm, and having such a bost on the stern might have worked. But I did get caught in bad weather one time in the GS, and I guarantee the waves I experienced would have taken that boat off the stern.

[UFGator]

Originally Posted by AJ_n_Audrey

+1

Most of my GS passages have been relatively calm, and having such a bost on the stern might have worked. But I did get caught in bad weather one time in the GS, and I guarantee the waves I experienced would have taken that boat off the stern.

Thanks A&A. Would it have taken this boat off the stern because it is sticking out on the port side, or would it have taken any boat off the stern? I'm trying to separate the issue of having a boat back on the transom lift (which I am certainly going to do) from having a oversized boat back there.

[landsend]

We have run into thunderstorms on our way to bahamas that were unavoidable. The seas went from calm to 6-8 footers in all directions. Plan for that.

[AJ_n_Audrey]

Originally Posted by UFGator

Thanks A&A. Would it have taken this boat off the stern because it is sticking out on the port side, or would it have taken any boat off the stern? I'm trying to separate the issue of having a boat back on the transom lift (which I am certainly going to do) from having a oversized boat back there.

Well, the seas I was in were so big (and they came up quickly, btw) that I was wondering if I was going to get pooped. So for sure, because of it sticking out the port side. But as for your other question, I'm a sailor, so I can't comment on the practicality of stowing dinghies on the transom lift that do NOT stick out.

And again, I've had beautiful passages that were almost like bay sailing, but you have to plan for it not being that way, of course.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by UFGator

Thanks A&A. Would it have taken this boat off the stern because it is sticking out on the port side, or would it have taken any boat off the stern? I'm trying to separate the issue of having a boat back on the transom lift (which I am certainly going to do) from having a oversized boat back there.

The primary danger, as I see it, UFGator, is having a volume of moving water strike the relatively stationary portions of the tender which stick out into the path of the moving water. Your forward velocity added to the velocity of wave coming towards you could easily result in 50 gallons of water (weighing hundreds of pounds) moving 10 knots (17 feet per second) hitting the projecting bow of that boat (or on the other side, the lower unit of that motor). That is a very powerful force. Your main hope is that your boat never encounters that condition. Maybe it never will. But if it does it certainly has the power to do a lot of damage. Many sailors have reported very serious damage from waves striking even items as small as a jerry can on the decks of a slow moving sailboat. Securing lines have parted and railings have been ripped off or bent flat. And that is when the objects struck were several feet higher off water than your tender.

You may get away with this, possibly for years, but it is like walking across a freeway. The danger lurks, the sea is patient.

Other issues present less danger. Waves coming from behind (pooping you) will have less velocity, since you presumably will be moving the same direction as the wave. There the biggest danger to imagine is floating the tender off the platform or filling it with water.

The third major danger results from the suspended weight of the boat and motor cantilevered out beyond the hull of your yacht. Yes, your platform may be engineered to hold 800 lbs and your tender is half of that. But these are static numbers. When you are rising and dropping as you drive into big seas then you have a dynamic forces to withstand. That kind of energy can eventually cause failure of the equipment and structure. If you add weight, in the form of water which has splashed or flooded into that boat, the situation becomes much worse.

All of these factors can be reduced by putting a smaller dingy and motor back there, one which rests close to your yacht's transom and does not project out beyond the sides of the yacht. The safest way of carrying a dingy would be of course on chocks on a boat deck. Safe, secure, and far away from the cantilevered platform and hungry waves. Lacking a boat deck, a chock system which allows a non-projecting dingy to be carried flat against the transom (the dingy on its side) and the motor and fuel tank stowed in the cockpit of the yacht. Finally a light weight, non projecting, rib and smaller motor on chocks on your platform would be an improvement (and that type of boat will facilitate beach landings, due to it's light weight).

You can, of course, proceed as you wish, and maybe get away with it, possibly forever, but remember that the sea is unforgiving and can shock you with its violence, and the last thing you want to be doing is be struggling on the back of your yacht in stormy conditions trying to recover a damaged tender which has been ripped off of your boat. People are killed or injured that way.

[UFGator]

Originally Posted by wingssail

Securing lines have parted and railings have been ripped off or bent flat. And that is when the objects struck were several feet higher off water than your tender.

Other issues present less danger. Waves coming from behind (pooping you)

The third major danger results from the suspended weight of the boat and motor cantilevered out beyond the hull of your yacht. Yes, your platform may be engineered to hold 800 lbs and your tender is half of that.

All of these factors can be reduced by putting a smaller dingy and motor back there Lacking a boat deck, a chock system which allows a non-projecting dingy to be carried flat against the transom (the dingy on its side) and the motor and fuel tank stowed in the cockpit of the yacht. Finally a light weight, non projecting, rib and smaller motor on chocks on your platform would be an improvement (and that type of boat will facilitate beach landings, due to it's light weight).

Thanks Wingsail. I'm really happy with the help everyone has given. I spoke with the manufacturer of the lift and they assure me that it is designed to hold a boat of up to 800lbs on the back (of course they said that a dingy of 800lbs would not be recommended). They also said that the weight limit considers high seas and that people routinely use this platform as designed.

As you have correctly stated, anything can happen. I'm now less concerned about using the platform as intended, and more concerned about the overhang on the port side. There have been lots of helpful ideas on this and I appreciate them all. I'm going to look for a smaller skiff that fits with no overhang. I'm also going to see what it looks like when I put it on chocks.

[nortonscove]

Okay. So I have to ask about these chalk. Are we talking about chocks?

[UFGator]

Originally Posted by nortonscove

Okay. So I have to ask about these chalk. Are we talking about chocks?

Yes. That was my bad. If you read through the thread a couple of people have pointed that out. Meant to have said "Chocks".

[Ric Sheridan]

The thing looks like you could cut a couple feet off of the nose and make it fit better and still have it function properly. Nothing a sawzall and some duct tape can't fix to make the Harbor Master happy I always say.
But seriously maybe modifying the nose might be the answer. If the mountain will not come to Mohamed then Mohamed will have to go to the mountain.

[SuW]

Any possibility of taking the engine onboard by installing a crane on the back deck?
Garhauer makes a nice lifting davit engine hoist that can be stowed away when not needed, iirc.