magstang1
Active Member
Having never owned a dinghy (hopefully that changes in the near future), I'm not terribly familiar with them and all of the supporting hardware that goes along with it. One thing that stands out to me is breadth of options with these little boats. I always see them and think, man I want one of those. Now that the opportunity has presented itself and I've really dug in and started making choices I find it hard to decide based on product advertisments. The boat itself presents many options as well as outboard choices. Many of these are dictated by the size of your boat (and wallet) and personal preferance. The thing that really shocked me was when I started looking into how I was going to lug this thing around as a tender. Davits for the swim platform seem rather poorly designed and surprisingly expensive. This leads to the purpose of this topic.
One common element I see used from manufacturer is the quick attachment bracket. Like this:
It seems simple enough, but I really don't like the idea of bolting anything on top of my swim platform. The bracket itself seems low profile, but it's just one more item in a slippery area of my boat that sees heavy traffic, often from children. From those of you who use a setup like this, how intrusive is it? I find it rather unsightly, but due to the lack of better options, it leaves little choice. I would likely make something like a Dom's Dinghy Davit to go in these brackets for the dink to sit on.
How many of you, if the choice were available, would prefer a mounting system that attached under the platform. Something simple, yet modular in nature that while the davit system was not needed, perhaps while anchored and swimming, could be quickly and easily removed. No tools needed and small easy to stow pieces. While the full system was in place it would function essentially the same as the other products currently available. A tilting skid for the dink to be pulled onto, and rest on. The difference being in the bracketry. This system would be able to be easily removed with no epxosed parts while utilizing the swim platform. When the day is coming to a close simply reinstall the brackets (no tools) and load up the dink.
I'm certainly a do it myselfer and I enjoy a challenging project. I also tend to overthink things. Not having any experience with these products it's hard to make an accurate decision. If you guys think this is a worthwile effort, I'll go forward with it. Heck, even if you don't think it's worthwhile I probably still will. $1,000 for a davit system seems a little steep.
I have a few ideas in my mind, but I want to get some input before I share too many details.
Thanks.
One common element I see used from manufacturer is the quick attachment bracket. Like this:
It seems simple enough, but I really don't like the idea of bolting anything on top of my swim platform. The bracket itself seems low profile, but it's just one more item in a slippery area of my boat that sees heavy traffic, often from children. From those of you who use a setup like this, how intrusive is it? I find it rather unsightly, but due to the lack of better options, it leaves little choice. I would likely make something like a Dom's Dinghy Davit to go in these brackets for the dink to sit on.
How many of you, if the choice were available, would prefer a mounting system that attached under the platform. Something simple, yet modular in nature that while the davit system was not needed, perhaps while anchored and swimming, could be quickly and easily removed. No tools needed and small easy to stow pieces. While the full system was in place it would function essentially the same as the other products currently available. A tilting skid for the dink to be pulled onto, and rest on. The difference being in the bracketry. This system would be able to be easily removed with no epxosed parts while utilizing the swim platform. When the day is coming to a close simply reinstall the brackets (no tools) and load up the dink.
I'm certainly a do it myselfer and I enjoy a challenging project. I also tend to overthink things. Not having any experience with these products it's hard to make an accurate decision. If you guys think this is a worthwile effort, I'll go forward with it. Heck, even if you don't think it's worthwhile I probably still will. $1,000 for a davit system seems a little steep.
I have a few ideas in my mind, but I want to get some input before I share too many details.
Thanks.
