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Main Message Board / Re: Davits... do you have them?l
« on: March 13, 2020, 08:00:51 PM »
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.
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.