Getting it Up and Keeping it There

[CapnHand]

I have a 8'-3" fibreglass boatex dinghy that weighs ~80 lbs. I want to stow it on the foredeck during passages. I'm thinking about making a harness and using the spin or spare jib halyard to hoist it on board. Has anyone made a harness like this? What do people use as chocks to hold the dinghy in place on the deck and prevent gelcoat damage to the deck and dinghy rails?

[sailingdog]

make a set of chocks for the dinghy. Use teak, Starboard or PVC to make it. Bolt it to the deck. You'll probably need to add lifting eyes to the dinghy to attach the harness to.

[CapnHand]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

You'll probably need to add lifting eyes to the dinghy to attach the harness to.

Thanks SD. I was thinking most people would use slings. No?

[camaraderie]

This lift is designed for Ribs but can work for any boat with 3 lifting eyes installed. Slings don't work well. We used our spare jib halyard run to the windlass through a turning block at the mast base to power lift our Rib on board. We did NOT use a sling or lift but simply tied the painter to the bow eye and then to the halyard and lifted it up over the lifelines. One person (me) needs to keep the dink off the hull as it is lifted this way while the other controls the lift. Once it is on deck it is easy to position. If you need to do it single handed I think a lift/sling would be necessary.

http://www.eangler.com/product/366975605.htm

[sailingdog]

No, I don't really like slings... they are more difficult to work with than properly installed lifting eyes IMHO. Also, if the straps of the sling aren't positioned properly, the dinghy can slip out while being moved... and that's going to cause some damage to whatever it lands on. With lifting eyes, you just don't have to worry about position... either you've clipped into the lifting eye or you haven't. Much simpler and safer IMHO.

[CapnHand]

Good advice. I see how fixed lifting points would be better than slings, especially when it's windy / rough. There are two sets of oarlocks and the ones near the stern might serve well for that; the painter provides a third lifting point.

When having no choice but to hoist it alone, I was thinking to use the spinnaker / whisker pole as a boom to keep the dinghy off the hull.

I'd like to get some more ideas on chocks. I don't want to bolt to (thru) the deck if I don't have to.

[sailingdog]

CapnHand-

It is really the best way to do it... since you want the dinghy chocks to be very sturdy, in case the dinghy gets hit by water breaking over the bow of the boat. If the chocks shift, the dinghy or the main boat could get damaged.

[camaraderie]

Capn'
I agree with you about avoiding bolts through the deckif possible.
With our Rib we didn't need any chocks and simply lashed the dink to the deck using lines through our stanchion bases pulled tight so the dink was "compressed".
This got me thinking about your situation and I wonder if you could contruct something that had a comressible rubberized "bottom" for use as a chock. I'm thinking of something like those inflatable seat "tubes" you often see on inflatable dinks. then you could lash your dink on top of a couple of those which would stow nicely deflated? Might work ok.

[TrueBlue]

I don't lash a hardshell dinghy to the foredeck, ours is inflatable. But in line with where Cam was going, I use preformed, medium density foam "stringers" for cushioning my scuba tanks horizontally to the floor of a cabin locker. Shock cord with end clips are then used to lash the tanks to pad eyes.

That could be a KISS approach to avoid through-bolting your deck, using existing deck hardware as tie-down anchors.

[sailingdog]

IMHO, bolts through the deck, properly installed aren't really a problem.