Davits: Do You Use them on Passages ?

[zeehag]

what is the force of large seas crashing on a set of any kind of davits?/ sea wolf ketches and cts and formosas came with a decent kind of davit--those i have seen folded against transom in a short hop between catalina and san diego. was great weather and no storms. i think 4000 pounds is a lil light for this kind of heavy action. transoms have been damaged and other wonderful acts of mother nature have been wreaked upon those who i have seen use them
good luck and may you never see big seas with anything on your davits. even in calm weather. isn't a consistent force that will break the tool, is the sudden heaviness of a single sea. hopefully you stay fortunate.

[Seahunter]

Originally Posted by zeehag

what is the force of large seas crashing on a set of any kind of davits?/ sea wolf ketches and cts and formosas came with a decent kind of davit--those i have seen folded against transom in a short hop between catalina and san diego. was great weather and no storms.

Again, not wanting a pi$$ing match nor to doubt what you think you've seen or to match mishaps that did or did not take place with any number of variables from the size of dingy or to whatever else was placed there to how secure it was, or the condition of the davits before the boat even left the dock on a 6 hour cake walk (from LA Harbor) to Catalina. On one thing I do agree; anything can be broken, bent or folded.

i think 4000 pounds is a lil light for this kind of heavy action. transoms have been damaged and other wonderful acts of mother nature have been wreaked upon those who i have seen use them

As for the 4000lb design of our davits, all I can say to you is if the davits, dingy et al were suddenly and weather related removed from our boat, we would have more to worry about than the loss of our dingy.

One lesson learned is that gravity cannot be considered an anchor point for the dingy. All movement must be tethered without loading any hoisting apparatus. We employ heavy duty cargo straps to hold the dingy to the davits both on the top and bottom of the dink when underway. We've encountered 30' following and broaching seas many times in the PNW with nary a problem. The dink fills up, overflows then drains and all is well.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by zeehag

i keep seeing solar panels mounted on davits--seems like asking for trouble in a big sea---mounting htem on bimini is one thing-- usually seas dont poop the bimini-- but the davits-- with the stuff i have seen the sea do to dinks, i cringe when i see davits on stern holding solar panels-- have fun, you guys--i hope you are not planning on seeing any rough seas at all-- the davits i reported that were folded down the transom of a 41 sea wolf???(the trip was ONLY to catalina from san diego--what can happen, lol)/ had those been solar panels instead of a dinghy he lost, would no longer have any. do what you are comfortable with but do think about the conditions that grow while you are allowing your electronix o run your boat-- especially those of you who donot watch the seas and skies with your own eyes. you could well lose more than you bargained for.

I have a solar panel mounted on my davits, but it can be removed in less than 30 seconds with two quick release pins and then stowed below. The davits themselves will then be swung inwards and secured.

I plan to put another solar panel (also with quick release pins) on my bimini, which, by the way, I would also fold and lash down if heavy weather is expected.

[zeehag]

seahunter--i THINK i see exactly what i DO see. i am glad you have been so fortunate.may you continue to be so.
am glad you think is a 6 hour trip from san diego to catalina...... i believe that number is for lost angels, for which the exact number of miles between avalon and angels light is 26.1 miles. more like 90 from sd...

i donot risk more than i can afford to lose.

[Unicorn Dreams]

Always use the davits, that's what they are made for. As Zee noted, my davits also have my solar panels mounted on top of the davits. If I do get a wave hit that high up, the solar panels will take the worse of it. My hard dink in transit sits about 3" below the panels...

[dennisail]

The panels will stay. Its not the best, but I see this setup is very common for cruising boats. The panels are up higher than a dingy (dink will be stowed on deck on passages) and weigh much less than the dink so the risk of damage is lower. I have a 12V diesel genset on-board and large alt on the main engine.

Putting them on the bimini also presents issues as you may need to fold the bimini down.

[rcmpegasus]

I have always transited with the dinghy on the davits with no problems. I do remove the outboard and gas tank. The davits keep the dinghy about 7 feet off the water and it is secured with cargo straps. Used this setup for 8 trips to Catalina from San Diego and two trips from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta and back. Mostly good weather some 20+ foot following seas and 30 knts of wind from astern going south and days of 20 foot head seas bashing up the coast.

Never had water in the dinghy. I think if conditions were 25 ft and breaking from astern I could have issues, but to be honest at that point I would have other concerns. Like why am I out here and did not look at a forecast.

[zeehag]

"Good point Thierry.....perhaps another way to keep the solar panel functional without having it be in such a precarious spot on the transom...Just thinking out loud here to come up with good solutions. Those big waves can tear away just about anything that hangs out there....thank goodness there were not dingy davits"

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post809207

[zboss]

Reviving an old thread... I was thinking that to keep the dink from getting pooped you could fill the inside with an inflatable heavy duty bag, like those use for transporting water. Or maybe use basket balls (whatever) all strapped in using netting. When you get where you are going the bag can be used to get water or the basketballs can be donated

[impi]

Left Cape Town more than 2 years ago and now more than half way around the world (Raiatea - Pacific Ocean) and have had the dinghy up on the Davits entire way, complete with 30hp engine attached, two gas tanks and anchor without a hitch and in some seriously nasty weather too. The trick has been clearly in strapping it up tight with cargo ratchet straps as well as one strapping the outboard to the cat as well. I do think the solar panels covering the dinghy has helped hugely.
The closest we had to any sort of failure is where the ropes used to lift the dinghy are locked off. The outer sheave of the ropes eventually chafed through enough to separate from the rope core and one night whilst lifting the dinghy there was an almighty noise as the rope parted and saw the dinghy crash down to the water. Had this happened underway we would have seen serious damage but then again, the cargo straps would have been there to support it!

[sck5]

you can get some good ratchets at truckers supply websites.

[TeddyDiver]

Finnish STA SAIL TRAINING ASSOCIATION FINLAND STAF Suomen Purjelaivasäätiö schooner Helena has sailed since 1992 some quarter a million Nm and ones, few years back, had a breaking wave during Atlantic crossing to brake dinghy and damage the davits some.

So in the end of the day you take your chances and may be lucky.. or not.

BR Teddy

[thinwater]

The thing to watch on thread like this is the mono vs. multi factor.

Monos carry a dingy aft where the waves are. Cats carry it 5-8 feet further forward, practically on-deck, in a pocket between the hulls. Apples to hand grenades.

If you have a mono, listen to the mono guys. If you have a cat, listen to the cat guys. Very different.

[AliB]

Thank you everyone for the input. My goal is to put the dinghy on the foredeck but I have limited space hence the question. I am looking into folding ribs deflated on deck. Any thoughts?