Before I plunge for a pair of davits, I'm curious how many c34 have them.
Also, if you have them, about how high from the water is the dinghy when fully raised?
Thanks
Paul
I don't have davits. My tender is a Zodiac with high pressure floor, my outboard is Honda 2(?) hp. Sometimes tow sometimes deflate and store forward of the mast rarely store on bow inflated. The outboard is easy for me to put on and take off in the water. It is small and slow but mostly works very well for me. If I bought a bigger/faster tender davits would probably be part of the upgrade.
Jim
I have a 9 1/2 ft aluminum RIB with a 4 hp 4 stroke Yamaha. I pull the engine off and stow it on the rail every time we move the boat. I usually tow the dinghy but for longish passages, I haul it on deck and stow it fully inflated upside-down forward of the mast. I also stow it on deck on the rare occasion when we are tied up at our marina since our slip is tight and leaving it floating off the stern intrudes in the fairway.
Check with your marina but by adding davits, you may be unwittingly adding 4 ft or so to the LOA of your boat that you'll have to pay for.
I have an 8' Fiberglass RIB with a 6 HP 4-stroke Yamaha OB. Long-story short, I'm tired of dealing with growth on the bottom and after a full season of keeping it on the foredeck during the week and putting it in the water during the weekend, I'm looking for an alternative. I'm not really keen on davits on the back. I think the boats a little small to hang an 8' dinghy on the back with davits and it will really get in the way of my great view of Worton Creek and watching the Bald Eagles, Osprey & Blue Herons etc.. So, I'm seriously considering a Dinghy-Tow system. dinghy-tow dot com. I exchanged a couple of emails with someone else on this forum that had one for years on his 34 and he loved it. It was on the boat when he bought it. If you haven't heard of it, take a look I got a price from the mfg a couple of years ago and it was about $1,400 then.
QuoteSo, I'm seriously considering a Dinghy-Tow system.
Bill,
When I was boat shopping looked at a Tartan 37 that had the Dinghy-Tow system. The owner, a Canadian, sailed the boat to Cuba a number of times. He sailed with a large dog that wanted a couple of trips to shore daily. He had nothing but good to say about the Dinghy-Tow, said he felt very comfortable with the motor left on the tender. He claimed it was very easy to use. I did look into installing one on Shamrock, just didn't think it would work out that well with the open transom and what I'm doing now, towing/on deck, works for me now.
Jim
My boat came with Forespar brand davits that attach pretty high on the transom. I haven't used it much so don't remember how high above the water the dinghy sits. The dinghy's bridle height the davit blocks attach to affects that distance. I'll see if I can get a photo of the davits without the dinghy tomorrow and post.
The davits rotate inboard so they won't add to the boats length.
10.5' rib. Garhaurer davits. Love em. stored in front of the mast for years. Now in the water in 2 minutes. Raised, the tender is above the deck. Does limit the view astern. Dont know how I did with out.
Quote from: Ken Juul on February 07, 2020, 06:26:52 AM
10.5' rib. Garhaurer davits. Love em. stored in front of the mast for years. Now in the water in 2 minutes. Raised, the tender is above the deck. Does limit the view astern. Dont know how I did with out.
Ken, could you post a few pictures of your installation?
Here's a couple of photos of my Forespar davits.
Hi folks
Well this post is timely. I've been considering dink davits (see post on on-deck gas storage) but I've always considered a 34 too small. I expected a lot more responses since dinghy stowage and deployment is an issue we all deal with at one point or another. It would be great to hear everyone's opinion and/or experience. But then there's this:
Mick Laver, Noah, Phil Spicer and 17 Guests are viewing this board.
C'mon guys! 35 bucks a year is a small price for such an invaluable resource as the C34 list.
To davit or not to davit, that is the question. We all have different dinghies and different uses for said dinghies so ultimately you'll have to decide what works best for you.
Over 30+ years I've had three different dinghies and tried just about everyway I could think of for storing and deploying the dinghy. While I haven't tried davits(yet)I have hung the dinghy on the transom using dinghy hooks, the problem I encountered was the crosswise dinghy snagging something when maneuvering in tight quarters, I would think the up high farther back could exacerbate that problem. Also, as Dave mentioned you will significantly increase the length of your boat which may lead to increased slip fees and could even result in having to move to a bigger slip. All that said I've seen a few 34s with davits, they look nice and the owners seem to be happy with them.
As for me what I've finally settled on is storing upside down on the foredeck with a cover specially made for that purpose. It's mostly out of the way and I can deploy it in about 2min and get it back on deck using the main halyard in 5 or 6min.
What brand and size dinghy do you store on the foredeck. How do you tie it down while underway?
We went around on this question last year. I almost ordered the Garhauer davits and decided the weight both physically and visually would be too much and went back to hoisting on the foredeck with the spin halyard. We have a full enclosure that would be difficult to rework around all that extra hardware. Now after 7 months on this cruise we have been hoisting and retrieving every few days I am wishing we had davits. The time we spend launching the dinghy and lowering the engine to the transom seems excessive when I watch somebody else lower the fully laden dinghy on the davits and motor away.
Just another opinion.
I don't have davits, but do see boats of our size with them. So far, I've taken the simple route of towing the dinghy. I bought a Garhauer cleat and bolted it to the stern rail. To minimize drag, I play with the tow length by getting the dinghy to ride the crest of the wake. I watch my SOG increase a couple tenths of a knot and find the sweet spot. Suspending it on davits gives you no drag, but so far towing has seemed to work fine. Some marinas will charge you the "total" length of your boat, which includes davits. So that's something to consider.
My marina has a dinghy rack. So when not in use, I store it there covered up with a silver tarp to shield it from the sun. I pull it out and launch it when I'm planning a cruise. Otherwise for day sailing, I don't need it and it stays put away in the rack.
Our boat is not a C-34 but rather a CS-36T so has a similar hull shape to the MKI 34 or 36 MKI. The CS-36T weighs as much as a Cape Dory 36 so hanging a RIB back there does not impact how she sits in the water.
We do have davits and use them mostly as the "garage" for when the boat is on the mooring. It prevents growth and allows the dinghy to self drain when it rains. We also use the davits in calm sailing weather but the dinghy gets towed or goes on the foredeck in rougher weather. Davits are brutal on the push-pit, and the hull, and we have seen many of them fracture due to folks trying to use them in rough weather. The rear push-pit on our 36T is very robust, and was built of heavy wall .065 316 SS. Despite the heavy construction we have added support struts and anti-swing bars to the davit system to stiffen it up.
Another benefit of davits is the real estate for solar panels.
Our RIB is an AB Ventus 8VL. We typically run our Yamaha 2.5HP but we also use the Tohatsu 9.8 two-stoke as well. Most of the time the motor goes on the Edson outboard motor bracket.
(https://pbase.com/mainecruising/image/170415830.jpg)
Ron,
I've got a 10' Cribe RIB, it weighs about 95lbs and aside from locking the painter to the handrail when not in use I don't really tie it down. The weight allows it to rest securely on deck even when it gets wild and wooly. With an 85lb 15hp motor it's a heavy rig but since I use it for diving it works for me. I also have a swim platform on the transom which would be a problem with davits, but that doesn't mean davit wouldn't be a good solution for someone else.
Quote from: scgunner on February 12, 2020, 07:32:59 AM
Ron,
I've got a 10' Cribe RIB, it weighs about 95lbs and aside from locking the painter to the handrail when not in use I don't really tie it down. The weight allows it to rest securely on deck even when it gets wild and wooly. With an 85lb 15hp motor it's a heavy rig but since I use it for diving it works for me. I also have a swim platform on the transom which would be a problem with davits, but that doesn't mean davit wouldn't be a good solution for someone else.
Do you keep it on deck upright? That's what we do right now, hoisting to / from the deck with a handy billy which even my wife can pull sufficiently to hoist the dink sans engine (that gets hoisted and stored on the port aft rail stowage.)
Paul
We went with an Atlantic tower with built-in davits and absolutely love it. Holds the dinghy very securely and high out of the water and is very easy to raise and lower using Garhauer blocks. It supports our solar as well and is rock solid. We are considering another boat and this would be the very first thing we add to it.
Paul,
I store it upside down, it's more stable that way and it keeps the rain water out. It's easy to launch and fairly easy to recover.
Mas,
First I've heard of the Atlantic tower but it looks like a great answer to the davit question.
Anyone have pictures showing their inflated tender stored on the fore deck they could post? I would be interested in how others do it, especially where v-berth hatch and anchor locker access work out. I usually don't store it there, thinking it would be in the way flying the asymmetrical spin. Thinking I'm only fooling myself as I rarely fly it cruising.
Jim
Hi Jim,
I've attached 2 pictures of our Highfield 290 RIB stored on deck. You will likely recognize the location as Killarney Mountain Lodge. In this case, I hoisted the dinghy on deck the night before in preparation for the next day's 0400 departure for our 60nm journey across Georgian Bay to our home port.
The inflated dinghy is 2.9m LOA with a beam of 1.71m (9'6" & 5'7" respectively)
You can see from picture looking forward that I tie the aft lifting handles to the cabin top rails. I place another line on the towing eye and run a V shape to the pulpit thereby preventing a jib halyard from catching under the dinghy. This V shaped line is just barely visible in the picture taken from the dock. I usually take the tail of the line tied to the cabin top rails and run it over the hull criss crossing the two lines thereby securely holding the dinghy down in case of a serious blow. This isn't shown in either picture.
The transom is snugged up to the mast and the pontoons rest on the line organizers. I place a pad between the dinghy and the deck organizers to prevent wear. The V berth hatch can open partially allowing for some ventilation.
There is plenty of room forward of the dinghy to allow me to open the anchor locker and manage the ground tackle. I haven't sailed our cruising spinnaker with the dinghy on deck but there is no reason I couldn't.
The owner's manual say the dinghy weighs 44kg but I think it's 50+ kg. I found it a chore to lift using the spare genoa halyard or spinnaker halyard so I made up a 4 to 1 block arrangement making the dinghy very easy to lift. Working by myself, it's about 10 minutes to get the dinghy from the water to fully secured on deck. I've also attached a picture of my dinghy lifting and tie down kit showing the 4:1 blocks, tie down lines and pads to protect the pontoons from the deck organizers. This isn't something I would want to do every day but for the 4 or 5 times I do it each season, it works well for me.
I've never considered davits on our boat although the Atlantic tower on Mas Tequila's Positive Lattitude looks great!
Thanks Dave,
Yes I do fondly remember. I'm planning to return to the North Channel this summer, depending on time and weather may stop in Killarney. Thanks for pointing out the bow lines set to avoid snagging with a jib sheet.
Jim
Jim,
My dinghy storage is just about identical to Dave's although I've never felt the need to tie it down. The anchor locker is fully accessible and the V-berth hatch can be raised about 6" which provides surprisingly good ventilation. Also you can raise the hatch while underway without fear of getting water in the V-berth.
We store our 8'11" Achilles RIB upside-down on the foredeck. It's secured forward with a single strap from the painter ring to a Wichard 6505 folding padeye. Aft is secured on each side from the handles on the dink to the C34's grab rails. I'll also run a 3" ratcheting strap (not pictured) across the bottom (well the top, since it's upside down) that attaches to the forward shrouds' chain plates. This configuration is pretty secure, we can open the forward hatch a bit for ventilation if needed, there's plenty of room forward on the foredeck to work the anchor or deploy an asym, and the sidedecks are clear so we're not stumbling over tie-down lines if we have to go forward. Since it's usually just the two of us 8'11" is just fine.
We can have the dink in the water in about five minutes, with me guiding it and Sherrie providing the muscle on the spinnaker halyard. Even so, we still have to do all the other stuff that's associated with installing the outboard and getting the dink ready. We do look with some envy and those folks with davits who can have their boat in the water and ready to roll in two minutes.
- Mick
I currently keep my 8' RIB upside down on the fore deck. It fits pretty well and I've sailed with her there but prefer not to. Less to worry about with tangled jib sheets and a less obstructed view. So, I usually tow in fair weather. I must say, having it on the fore deck in 6' + seas has been very helpful fending off the inevitable wave over the bow.
Something very important to keep in mind.
If you sleep in the fwd cabin with the dink on the deck, be sure to hoist up the dinghy bow enough to allow escape through the hatch. Even if at the dock knowing fire can consume a boat in a heartbeat. My reminder is to place a winch handle on the v-berth when I pack up on Sunday to remind me when I return on Friday night to hoist 'er up.
Our Atlantic Tower is what they call a "tower in a box". They come in various sizes and Atlantic Towers was very helpful in picking the right size for us and answered all my stupid questions. Ours is schedule 80 aluminum and is solid as a rock. As memory serves I believe we paid $2300 on sale which included shipping. Installation was a breeze and they have a ton of accessories so you customize it just about any way you want. The only thing to watch out for is to make sure you watch out for the clearance for the mounting bolts because of the location of the storage area in the aft berth on the MKI. But you all know that story...measure a lot of times, drink a stiff shot before you drill holes in your hull. We did relocate the aft nav light on the arch because the dinghy blocks the one mounted on the pushpit.
It's very easy to raise and lower the dinghy and after we lower it into the water we use one of the blocks to lower the outboard. Two people are helpful but it's no big deal for one person either.
Quote from: Mas Tequila on February 15, 2020, 02:19:03 PM
Our Atlantic Tower is what they call a "tower in a box". They come in various sizes and Atlantic Towers was very helpful in picking the right size for us and answered all my stupid questions. Ours is schedule 80 aluminum and is solid as a rock. As memory serves I believe we paid $2300 on sale which included shipping. Installation was a breeze and they have a ton of accessories so you customize it just about any way you want. The only thing to watch out for is to make sure you watch out for the clearance for the mounting bolts because of the location of the storage area in the aft berth on the MKI. But you all know that story...measure a lot of times, drink a stiff shot before you drill holes in your hull. We did relocate the aft nav light on the arch because the dinghy blocks the one mounted on the pushpit.
It's very easy to raise and lower the dinghy and after we lower it into the water we use one of the blocks to lower the outboard. Two people are helpful but it's no big deal for one person either.
I saw them at Annapolis a year ago, impressed!
Paul
We have the Forespar Nova folding davits. They came with the boat. I would love the Atlantic tower, but can't seem to come to terms with spending the money when there are so many other items on the upgrade list. The Forespar are OK for around the bay sailing and light to med winds. But when the wind gets over 16 they creak and grown as they have a small pendulum swing to them with the 9.5' Carib and the Nissan 8HP 2 stroke, even when hoisted all the way up. The sound drives me nuts. It puts me on edge that they might fail when things are swinging around back there. Also, we find the bow rides a little higher with the dingy+OB on the davits. The dingy is 95 lbs and the OB is ~70lbs so bellow the 300lbs rating on the davits. I would say that the tips of the davits are 2.5' above the stern toe rail.
For short trips we will tilt up the motor and tow the dingy. I attache a second line to the dingy as a back up. I broke a bowline is a ship wake once, but that is another story.
For open water crossings we put the outboard on the Stbd stern rail and hoist the dingy onto the foredeck using the spare jib halyard. The boat sails better and I don't have the davit noise spoiling the sail. We secure it to the hand rails and the bow cleats. It sits like Dave and Mick's pictures. With the longer dingy there is just enough room to slide past it to get to the anchor locker which is free of the bow of the dingy. One trick we have learned is to have a 6' extra bow line with a spliced eye in the end that the halyard attaches too. If you use the eye on the bow of the dingy you can't attach/detach the halyard from the deck. Before I made the short painter I tied a knot in the dingy bow line to do the same thing. I use a velcro strap to attach the short bow line to the longer bow line. So when we pull the dingy to the bow to hoist it to the deck the eye or knot in the bow line is just above the lifelines. Just attach the halyard and hoist!
It takes my wife and I 15 min. to launch or retrieve the dingy and load up the motor and other dingy stuff.
While at anchor we attach the spare jib halyard to the bow eye and pick the bow of the dingy up of the deck 2-3' to allow air flow and provide an escape path. The stern stays tied to the hand rails and I have a stiff foam pad the is "L" shaped that protects the deck and mast from the OB bracket. The dingy also helps funnel the wind into the hatch.
Here's how we store the dink. We use a 4:1 handy billy to hoist it for raising / lowering which makes it a whole lot easier than hauling directly on a halyard.
Quote from: britinusa on April 17, 2020, 10:24:56 AM
Here's how we store the dink. We use a 4:1 handy billy to hoist it for raising / lowering which makes it a whole lot easier than hauling directly on a halyard.
That's a teeny-weeny dink. How long is that
My system
Another photos
Arch and solar panel adjustable angle
Achilles HB-315LX with Yamaha 15 on Garhauer 1.25" diameter extra tall davits. Love it. I sail with the engine still on the dink.
Quote from: andre on April 17, 2020, 03:23:31 PM
Arch and solar panel adjustable angle
Now that is an ARCH! Love it. *****
Integrated pushpit gets a bonus point.
and your dodger and bimini look great too.
Very nice!
Quote from: Mas Tequila on February 13, 2020, 05:25:11 AM
We went with an Atlantic tower with built-in davits and absolutely love it. Holds the dinghy very securely and high out of the water and is very easy to raise and lower using Garhauer blocks. It supports our solar as well and is rock solid. We are considering another boat and this would be the very first thing we add to it.
Nice set up! I am considering going with an Atlantic Tower as well on our 2001 C34 MkII. Any special spec/option you'd advise needed for this? Thanks!
Does anyone have pictures or video or other details on how to raise the dink on the deck? 9'1" aluminum bottom RIB with 9.9hp Yamaha. I'm worried the engine is a bit heavy for the stern rail.
Sky,
I don't have a video or pictures in action but I described how I hoist my dinghy on deck in Reply 20 of this discussion. But, do I understand you are thinking of stowing the dinghy on deck with the engine still attached? I don't think that would work. The dinghy would have to be lifted level and sit upright on deck in chocks you would have to build that would be quite high. I agree that a 9.9 4 stroke engine seems heavy for the rail. I have a 4hp Yamaha that I lift by hand onto the rail but it is far lighter than a 9.9. I'm certain others have done it though. I have friends who stole heavy 4 stroke engines on their rail on a Beneteau and a CS. Use the search bar and see what you can find. Or start a new post asking about heavy outboard stowage options.
Welcome to the forum. You'll find almost everything you need here.
It's a Mercury 8' our Outboard is a Mercury 4hp - love it.
:)
Quote from: andre on April 17, 2020, 03:23:31 PM
Arch and solar panel adjustable angle
Hi Andre,
Do you have any pictures of how the arch looks from the transom, or where the attachment points on the boat are?
I saw this pic on the Internet and just had to share. A few words came to mind; "windage, weight, way complicated" :abd:
Wow! He must be getting free crack!
It also looks like that that crazy davit system require them to abandon the standard dual split backstays and install a single backstay off center? Weird!
Noah... I believe that is a c42 mk1 that came standard with a single offset backstay. All that aside, I am not a fan of that design. Seems WAY overbuilt and over featured. I will say that it appears that the design maintains the ability to use the walk-through transom with the dinghy aloft.
Ah ha. Wasn't sure what model that boat was. A big faux pas by me, as the C42 was designed by Nelson/Marek Yacht Design from San Diego—and Bruce Nelson is a member of my yacht club—oops! Still an odd davit solution IMO.
Our 34Mk II had davits installed by the previous owner. Not sure of the brand, but they're 1.25" tubing and very sturdy. We have a small Walker Bay dinghy with a Honda 2.3 Hp. four stroke outboard which stays on the dinghy when raised on the davits. View astern is restricted , but hasn't been an issue. Mounted on top of the davits is a 235 watt solar panel which supplies all of our 12 & 110 volt needs.
I thought long and hard about davits. Mainly because I wanted an easy means to launch my 91 lb 8' RIB and my 56 LB 4-stroke 6 HP Yamaha, kept on the push pit, without shredding my back someday. Well, I really don't like the idea of davits on the back of my 34 obstructing my great view so, I decided to try a different approach for a season or two first.
A few weeks ago I installed a Garhauer engine hoist on the push-pit. I also bought one of their dinghy davit blocks, which are 6-1, plus an additional carabiner clip to use to lift the dinghy off the fore deck each weekend. I replaced the 60' davit block line with a 150' and bought a $15 canvas bucket from Harbor Freight to keep it all in. The bucket also works very well to pay the line out from / capture the line in etc. without having to coil it all the time.
So far, it's been great and I'm loving it. I can easily handle deploying and retrieving the dinghy all by myself on the fore deck after hoisting my spare jib halyard to a pre-marked point without having the admiral up there while I manage the winch. I make sure I clip the top carabiner clip to the bag handle so its easy to employ and keep the lines from getting tangled. Also, the engine hoist is awesome and very easy to use. So, I'm < $700 in and don't have the davits and dinghy obstructing the great view from my cockpit. Also, the davit block and line is long enough to work for man-overboard retrieval which really appeals to me.
Just thought I'd share my possible alternative.