Dingy on platform without davis?

Mightychan

Mightychan

Member
Oct 8, 2016
157
Panama City FL
Boat Info
2005 DA 420, AB Dink
Engines
Cummins 6CTA
I have a DA 320, swim platform is a little over 8.5 feet wide. I am looking for a dink, and am thinking of carrying it directly on the swim platform, no davits or mounts. This would mean a flat bottom dink, which I am fine with. The dink will mainly be used for short (100 yards) runs to the beach, so I don't need it to plane or carry a ton of people. My question is, is it practical to carry a dink right on the platform? The air floor and wood floor units I am looking at are less than 70 pounds, and my platform is pretty close to the water, so it seems like it would be a cinch to pull it onto the platform. Thoughts or advice? Thanks!
 
Mightychan said:
I have a DA 320, swim platform is a little over 8.5 feet wide. I am looking for a dink, and am thinking of carrying it directly on the swim platform, no davits or mounts. This would mean a flat bottom dink, which I am fine with. The dink will mainly be used for short (100 yards) runs to the beach, so I don't need it to plane or carry a ton of people. My question is, is it practical to carry a dink right on the platform? The air floor and wood floor units I am looking at are less than 70 pounds, and my platform is pretty close to the water, so it seems like it would be a cinch to pull it onto the platform. Thoughts or advice? Thanks!
Click to expand...

I would fip our air floor up onto the back and secure with tie downs for short runs last year but it became super annoying so this year I built davits. The platform will support yours just fine, the problem is securing it so it doesn't move around a ton. With a motor attached your looking at 150-200lbs minimum and without a davit system it will bounce around quite a bit in any kind of chop.
 
Sooner or later everyone ends up with davits. Can you do it, yes. Will it be a pain, yes. Access to your rear cleats and entering / exiting your transom door will likely be blocked too. If you have a transom locker, that may be inaccessible.
 
FWIW I just finished our first long weekend with a dinghy. I ran my 10' Zodiac in the swim platform of our 340 without any problems. Three lines is all you need to flip the dinghy up. Two lines is all you need if you want to keep it horizontal on the platform and aren't running on-plane.

Immediately after returning from the long weekend I ordered a "dinghy sling". Running the dinghy on the platform is a bit of a pain if you 1.) hook/unhook shore power and water from the rear and 2.) if you want to use the swim platform when anchored without a bunch of hassle.

The other alternative I looked at was the "snap davit" offered by a couple companies, Weaver being the most popular as far as I could tell. I ultimately decided against this due to the fact that they really aren't designed to support the dinghy in anything other than the vertical position. I wanted something where, when not on plane, I can hang the dinghy and motor straight off the back of the swim platform. Pulling the motor is a bit of a pain. If you want full use of your platform (sans a couple lines you have to negotiate) and you don't want to pull/support the motor every time you load up - the sling seems to be a best bet.

Of course if I had real money I'd have a hydraulic, extended platform and live the high life.
 
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an inflatable dinghy with a trolling motor may be adequate for short runs of 100 yds. or less.....I have given some thought about using this set up.....based on what I have read with the right pump this type dinghy can be inflated and deflated in just a few minutes.....and storage when not in use is easier and takes up much less space.....

cliff
 
CliffA said:
an inflatable dinghy with a trolling motor may be adequate for short runs of 100 yds. or less.....I have given some thought about using this set up.....based on what I have read with the right pump this type dinghy can be inflated and deflated in just a few minutes.....and storage when not in use is easier and takes up much less space.....

cliff
Click to expand...

Yeah....I had thoughts of inflating/deflating each weekend as well. Unless you get a really, really small one these "real" inflatables are not particularly easy to manage. They are big, bulky and a pain in the arse to move around deflated. For inflate/deflate duty I'd recommend a Sevylor from the local sporting goods store, skip the motor. A quality PVC/Hypolon dinghy will likely prove less than enjoyable for this type of duty. Unless it's a once or twice a year use case?
 
I pull my Achilles 9 6 on to the platform and tie it. I could never settle on davits. Only 11 seasons now. I take off the motor though
 
I use the Nautley system on the swim platform for my 340DA. It's removable, so when I'm not bringing the inflatable, the only thing left on the platform are the slide in mounts and a couple fold down D Rings. The angled tilt davits slide out and go into the trasom locker. It's easy to use, and since the dink is only on the platform for transit to/from where we are going, it hasn't been a problem. I had weaver davits before, but I hated dealing with taking the motor on and off. When I pull the boat up I align the engine on the side of our transom door, so there's room to walk on and off the boat from a finger pier on the dock even with the inflatable on the davits. I should take more detailed photos, maybe next time I'm out there I will. For now, here are a couple that weren't really intended to show the davits, but you can see how the 9'6" Highfields aluminum RIB inflatable sits back there, with a 6hp Merc 4 stroke, looking back from the cockpit and from the side at the dock.

Hope it helps! - Ron

IMG_20170521_115453240.jpgIMG_20170521_064329258_HDR.jpg
 
I just ordered a Hurley H3O davit system. One of the guys in my marina has one. I added the 18" extension that is now available. If all goes well I should have it installed before next weekend. I am so tired of pulling my 9.9 Mercury 4 stroke and trying to load my hard bottom Mercury dinghy onto the swim platform. Im hoping this little crank up and swivel idea works well. Anyone used these before with an express style boat?
 
daddyox said:
I pull my Achilles 9 6 on to the platform and tie it. I could never settle on davits. Only 11 seasons now. I take off the motor though
Click to expand...

Sounds like me. Pull my Achilles 9 6 up directly on the front deck though. Pull the outboard and store in the transom locker out of the salt spray.
 
Phasma said:
I just ordered a Hurley H3O davit system. One of the guys in my marina has one. I added the 18" extension that is now available. If all goes well I should have it installed before next weekend. I am so tired of pulling my 9.9 Mercury 4 stroke and trying to load my hard bottom Mercury dinghy onto the swim platform. Im hoping this little crank up and swivel idea works well. Anyone used these before with an express style boat?
Click to expand...

Can you please post pics of this when it is completely installed with the dinghy on? I have the regular Hurley davit and have to walk across the dinghy everytime we want to get into the trunk. Decided in the off-season going to have this removed and the extension installed and would love to see some good shots of it installed. I did a google search and found one boat that had the davit extenders installed, but they didn't have the dinghy tied down, etc and just curious how that all would work.

Thanks
 
I will do it! ie. Photos of the project. I am expecting my shipment by wednesday. I am going to try to make it this Saturday's project. I figure it will take me about an hour so in reality 3 hours...

The thing I really like about Hurley is that his cell phone is on the website. I called Saturday and Todd answered from his bilge. Great customer service. This guy gets it!
 
20170701_141957.jpg New Hurley Davit H3 with extension. Todd Hurley is a genius! This thing is ridiculous how easy it is to use. I have been struggling with a solution to this for a long time. My dinghy is just too heavy for rock up davits. A few critiques.... when their web site says it can be installed while your boat is in the water...... not exactly. If you are only installing the H3 davit then yes you can install it on the water. The extensions make it a bit more difficult. The back 3 mounting bolts are a long way back. A floating swim mat and really cold black river water completed the install.

I added large fender washers to the underside of the bolts. The extensions do not have a backing plate like other systems. I would think that this would be an automatic considering the weight and stresses on the swim platform.

All in all I can not say enough good about the system with the extensions. Great quality and well thought out. You can tell this was designed by a boater. As I had hoped once installed I was able to load my 300 pound beef cake dinghy onto my swim platform all by myself.

Today I will be finishing the project by adding the tie down system I bought from them. It would have been finished yesterday except for the three guys on the dock continuously telling me it was beer thirty. I eventually caved to the pressure. I will add a few better photos after I get the tie down
completed.
20170702_102134.jpg
 
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juggernaut1 said:
Sounds like me. Pull my Achilles 9 6 up directly on the front deck though. Pull the outboard and store in the transom locker out of the salt spray.
Click to expand...

What size boat do you have that the motor fits in the transom locker?
 
2006 38da - Yamaha 6hp 2 stroke fits in the port side transom locker. Could have gone bigger hp, but my wife and daughter can operate the dingy without a licence with this hp.
 
Last edited:
juggernaut1 said:
2006 38da - Yamaha 6hp 2 stroke fits in the port side transom locker. Could have gone bigger hp, but my wife and daughter can operate the dingy without a licence with this hp.
Click to expand...

Interesting. You have 2 transom lockers? They can't be larger than the single one on my 320, can they? Hmm... I may have to do some measuring on my locker!
 
Yes I have two transom lockers - the cockpit entry door is in the centre of the boat and the transom lockers on each side.
 
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