Swinging Dinghy in Davits
 

I have a AB 9VL in Davits on my Tartan 3800 and can't find a good way to keep it level and keep it from swinging back and forth. Right now I'm tieing line from the bow and stern to a cleats on the boat in a criss cross fashion that works a little.

For the first couple years with the setup that came with my boat I raised the dingy almost up to the davits to shorten its swing and then pulled it in with lines to cram it against the outboard mounted on my stern rail.
Then I got sick of the Caribe taking up the whole view to the rear so now I carry it lower and place a padded seat that I cobbled up years ago for a different dingy in between the dingy and the stern for padding and bring it in tight with lines again. One of these days .....I'd like to cobble up some kind of arms to attach to the dingy from the stern rail to make it almost one solid unit for when things get really bouncy, but it hasn't even made it to my To.... Do...... List yet :rolleyes:

Your dinghy should have no movement at all. Use ratchet straps. I have four of them on my 10'06" AB with a 15 hp Yamaha on it. Two straps from bow and stern to the opposite quarter and two straps to hold the dink in with a slight upward pull. Check this site out for good info on dinks and davits.
Ocean Marine Systems - Davits, Rails, Lifts, and Platforms.
Ocean Marine Systems - Davits, Rails, Lifts, and Platforms.

I run a line from each end of my Walker Bay 8 (not criss-crossed), one from the center seat and have a piece of 1x2 with a long carriage bolt in the end I put through the oarlock hole and then tie off to the sternrail. I also leave it slight tilted to the stern with the drain plug out.

This is similar to how we do it, but without the ratcheting straps. How do those hold up in salt water?

My final decision on this was that it was just too much of a pain in the butt. We hauled it behind us pretty much everywhere. If making a crossing, it is probably best to throw it on deck. In the ICW... we wouldn't dare put it on davits with all the thoughtless captain's of the Sport's Fish. It pretty much got to where the only time it was raised is when anchored where it might not be there in the morning otherwise. However,, crisscrossing with multiple lines (we tied them) worked best for us to minimize swing.

- CD

PS MAKE SURE YOU TAKE OUT THE PLUG!!!!!! Or you may wake up to ripped out davits/dink.

I buy the ratchet straps from Costco, a set of four good sized ones for under $20. The boat cruises six months a year and then sits on the hard for the other six months. The straps and dink are on the arch 12 months a year. I use a new set every two years, the ratchets still work fine (lube them every so often) and although I have never had a strap fail I am afraid of the nylon straps going due to degradation from the sun, so new ones every couple of years does it. . The boat is in FL and the Bahamas all year and gets lots of sun! The ratchets are far superior to trying to secure a dink in davits with lines.

I have several sets of those and may give that a shot. It is a good idea. I was just concerned about the salt water rusting the ratchets. Thanks.

- CD

When I bought my Davit's from Kato, I also bought two sets of stainless ratchets for $65/each. They do not rust but unfortunately they do not work very well either... the ratchets are a piece of shxxxte.

That is one purchase I regret.

So, the other day I went to wally mart and picked up a good ratchet (non stainless) for $15. Even if they rust in 2 years, I can buy 4 units for the price of one stainless from kato.

When our 9'2 Severn ( BoatUS) dink and 4HP Suzuki are on the davits, we always secure it to the pushpit and stern cleats with the painter and stern lines we attached to each of the dink tubes.
The stern lines keep the dink level and when secured properly, allows the water that inevitably collects under the floor boards to drain aft thru the transom drain which is left unplugged.

Any other long passage means putting it inverted on the foredeck and OB on the rail pad.

I got a set of these, and they work fine. They can be a bit of a pain at first, but the rachet and straps have been the best thing I got to do the job. Dink never moves.