Interesting idea: http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=119794 (http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=119794)
I have heard that when you are sailing with a dinghy in tow, you should take the outboard off the dinghy, to avoid it from getting dunked. With my current engine, a Yamaha 4 hp 4-stroke, weighing 55 lbs, it was becoming a real chore to lift it up, and put it back each time. Bigger risk of dropping it in the process.
I wanted to lift the dinghy and engine together, but without adding permanent davits for my 32 ft Catallina. I looked at many engine lifts, and liked the Garhauer brand. Using two lifts, that have a 6:1 purchase, I could easily lift the inflatable without any effort. When sailing in 20 kt winds in Oyster Bay, LI on Memorial Day, there was no movement or swaying. The dinghy was perfectly secure. I picked this system, because it could be easily disassembled, but the fact is, it doesn't look obtrusive at all.
Funny that this has came up on the forum. My wife was just discusing doing the same thing I already use the engine lift and extra spinniker haylard to lift the dink out of the water when in the slip.
Just to let you know I guess we should start to listen to the boss more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Paul
I also did a similar thing. I had a garhauer motor lift and then I purchased a radar tower from garhauer which also came with an integrated motor lift so I was planning on selling the motor lift and replacing it with the radar tower.
Then the light bulb came on and I decided to use them together as a dinghy lift/davits. It's been working out great.
The only problem being that my barbecue is on the back so will either have to drop the dinghy or move the barbecue to the side.
Decisions,decisions :clap
Great idea, Stu! Was thinking of buying dinghy davits but now will contact Garhauer re engine lifts instead.
Thanks,
Bill
Guys : Great idea.
Just want to caution those that may go down the ICW (and maybe other places), that the davits will be counted as additional boat length (+4 feet), when figuring out dockage length !!
ICW? Boat length? Whhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaatttttttt?
Here in California they charge ya extra slip fees if the skipper has a mustache - it sticks out further ya know! Maybe the danged environmentalists are trying to get rid of pirates??? :clap
You could tow your dinghy the last 1/4 mile or so and fold the lift arms inward unless they also charge you for the length of the dinghy floating behind you. :D
I'd probably be charded extra for having a big nose :D
Garhauer has two motor lifts, one with 26" arm and a larger version with 34" arm. Which one would be used on the C34 as an engine lift alone or in tandem as discssed here as a dinghy lift?
David, Garhauer's dinghy davits, NOT the motor lifts, have 36 inch arms. However, the two most important items for consideration are 1) how wide your dinghy is and 2) where you put the vertical poles on your stern.
If you are considering this concept, I would recommend that you do some measurements on your own boat. That said, longer is NOT necessarily the best option because it puts the dinghy further aft when hoisted.
And I'm pretty sure that Mark I and Mark II stern configurations would result in different answers to that question.
When I bought my motor lift they only had ONE model. If (when) I do this second motor lift, I'll have to go measure my boat.
Stu,
It is the (outboard) lift that I am interesed in, not the dinghy lift. The outboard lifts come with either a 26" or 34" arm. I am wondering which I need for a 2005 Mk II.
Thanks...
David, I understand. Please go back and read what I wrote. I looked up the length of the dinghy davits to give you a comparison, that's all.
David : There have been a number of posts as well as articles in the Mainsheet tech notes about the outboard lifts on a MK II. The Mainsheet articles have picture/s on the placement of the base - why it's there and how to do do the job. There for your reading.
I went to the forums link at the start of this thread that Stu posted. This is a great idea. I have looked at the photos and can't see how they sling the dinghy. Any thoughts?
Mark Mueller
A couple of ideas:
Bow: dinghies usually have D rings inside the bow. Easy to hook up to with a few short lines. Looks like that's exactly what they've done in those photos, and my eyesight ain't too good anymore these days...
Stern: Either rig two loops of line around the stern tubes that project past the transom, or insert a couple of eye bolts through the transom and rig from there, or tie onto the rings that hold the dinghy side lines.
All dinghies are different, and we have NO idea what make, model or length you have, all of which would affect the answer.
Then? Get creative. :shock:
David,
If you are looking to lift your outboard rather than the dinghy you ought to google Kato Marine and look at theirs.
Hawk
Thanks Hawk and everyone else offering suggestions. Based on the strong recommendation and lower price I ordered the Garhauer motor lift. Will use just the lift this year and consider purchasing another for a full dinghy lift; great idea!
Just wondering whether anyone else has tried this idea since it first bounced around.. I was pricing new dvaits froma number of sources and they will run anywhere from 1000 - 1500$. Using this idea and buying the 34" arm version it will run only about $650. Each arma has a capcity of 150 lbs and I can't see any reaons why this system would not work for my 70 lb dinghy. More importantly I don't see what I would be getting for the additional $500-$1000. Anyone think I am missing something?
Most davits have a support between the 2 davit arms for rigidity. You might have to jury rig something to keep the boat from shifting to the low side as you make tacks.
Joe,
You also need to add the weight of your motor to the 70 lbs., which I guess is the net weight of your dinghy. Not that it would make a difference in your decision so far as the total weight is below the 150 lb mark. It is still worth noting and being aware of. Regards.
After further looking at this I found another more affordable option from Martek. http://martekdavits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=2
The reviews from other sites and the materials are good. The question I have is the attachment point on the stern. See picture in attached pdf. In some pictures of installs of other types of davits I have seen the vertical post go all the way to the stern seats or bottom of the transom. These attach at the top rail and then only to the vertical stern (presumably with some backing plates). Anyone have any thoughts on this generally and compared to the two motor lifts idea below?
That is a pretty common set up, Garhauer does it the same way. However compared to Garhauer the attachment fittings don't look very robust. You might also want to consider support struts than run from the top rail to the swim platform to add some rigidity to the stern rail. It is a fairly common occurance for the front mounting feet of the stern rail to crack from the torque put on them by the weight of the dingy.
I think the reason the motor hoists are mounted as you suggest is because they need to twist, when the lifting arm is parallel to the stern, it would put a big shear stress on the lower mount.
Finally did it. Davits and aft rail supports installed. Solid as a rock and look amazing. Big project but doable with careful planning and measuring. Mark at Garhauer was a huge help.
Pic attached
2nd pic
3rd
Davits in use. Looks like this ended up being a successful project.
Joe, nice job. How big is your dinghy engine and how do you get it onto the dinghy?
Stu, it is a 6 hp 4 stroke. It sits on the Catalina rail mount on the port stern next to the stern seat. Historically I stood on the stern, lifted it with the lifting strap, and muscled it by hand as I tried to stablizie myself on the stern, step into the dinghy and get it seated on the transom. Always an adventure. I did some experimenting this weekend I am comfortable that the port davit will be able to assist greatly with this. Once I get the dinghy in the water I will have to reverse it so the stern is on the port side (I have it the way it is in the picture as the bow of the dinghy fits better the way it is since the engine mount on the stern rails sticks out). Then, I can attach the port davit hook to the top of the engine lifting strap and use the 6:1 blocks as an aid to lifting and lowering it into the dinghy. I think I will have to still lift the engine by hand off the mount (since the davit arm sticks out so far from the stern) but once it is hanging off the davit line the first mate should be able to assist in lowering it to me in the dinghy. Not as easy as if I had an engine lifting post but still way better than what I was doing. And, as hard as it was finding space to mount the davits and stern rail supports I can't imagine trying to fit in an engine lift in addition to all that. Certainly open to ideas if someone thinks I am missing something in the above process. Right now my biggest issue is that I have an airdeck dinghy with no internal lifting eyes so easy way to attach the dinghy to the davits and get it as tight as I would like against the davits for transport. I am working on a solution to that.
Look good Joe plus good timing as I'm looking in getting one for my boat!!! A quick question, on either side of the open transom you have 2 angles post attached from the seat to the rear balcony...was this part of the davits or was it added by you for extrat strenght.
Thanks
Serge they actually come with the Garhauer davits. I would recommend you talk with Mark at Garhauer as he has been a huge help. He recommended that because of the split aft rail that the supports be added to strengthen the aft rail and prevent it from torqueing under any sort of load. The kit came with the support posts, mounting brackets and everything else needed to install them along with the davits. All I had to do was measure and cut to length. The davits and the afte stern rails are solid as can be. A huge benefit to going with Garhauer is that everything, and I mean everything, you need other than the sealant comes with the kit. The support poles do take away the ability to sit on the molded seats on the sugar scoop but in exchange I now have some nice handrails for assistance with boarding the boat from the water or from the dinghy. I never actually sat on those tiny seats anyway.
The only change I had to make to the boat was to cut the port side cup holder off in order to get the davit post in there behind the motor mount rail. You will also see the the location of the mounting plate on the port side is off to the side while the starboard side is directly under the backstay attachment point. Due to the engine mount and support bracing each side on the MKII stern is a little different. All the marina amatuer engineers who helped me with the project agreed it would not make any major difference and the davits are rock solid and level as can be. I am very happy with the quality of the davits and for the pricee I really do not think they can be beat as many other options out there require you to pay extra for each mounting point, the blocks etc. Plus these were built for my boat after I measured and not just stock. I can send better close-up pictures if you end up going forward with it.
Joe
Thanks Joe for you reply and expanation. If you have, without to much trouble, I'd like to see them as I'll be getting one from them as I've also dealt with them in the past and was very satisfied with the quality and service.
My email: carolecardinal(at)bell.net
Thanks in advance.
Serge
I will take a few more and send them your way this weekend.
This is the email follow-up I had with Mark on the order which gave him the measurements he built to.
Mark:
Nice speaking with you at St Pete Boat show.
As we discussed I went and measured my 2005 Catalina 34 MKII for the length of the davit legs. It looks like 48 inches from the base is the length that will work.
40-42" for the length of the davit arms will work fine as we discussed.
Serge & Joe,
We encourage you to continue to post here, in addition to what you might send to Serge offline.
Thanks,
Stu
Final part of the project was adding interior lift rings to my Airdeck floor dinghy.