im glad we beefed up the platform. I wasn’t terribly concerned with it but it’s some extra piece of mind.
Highfield… any regrets?
- Thread starter ocgrant
- Start date
im glad we beefed up the platform. I wasn’t terribly concerned with it but it’s some extra piece of mind.
GnrlPatton
Well-Known Member
- Jul 12, 2010
- 719
- Boat Info
- Current: 1998 370 Express Cruiser
Sold:1988 230 Weekender
- Engines
- Twin Cat 3116T
I see you have the H2O davits, any problems pulling that dinghy up out of the water? I have a smaller center console that weighs about the same as yours, and it's all my wife and I can do to lift it the ~foot out of the water onto the davits. No way that is a 1 person job, at least not for us.
I recently installed a larger platform, along with stanchions for extra support, and I'm considering the H3O+ and getting a fairly larger (10'4") dinghy so we can just use the winch on it and not have to deal with the effort.
it’s not easy, and I wouldn’t want to do it in snotty conditions, but I can do it alone. I tie off the bow to a cleat so it has an anchor point then yank the transom hard with the engine lifted and the momentum gets it up on the chocks. Once the transom seats the bow follows on its own.
GnrlPatton
Well-Known Member
- Jul 12, 2010
- 719
- Boat Info
- Current: 1998 370 Express Cruiser
Sold:1988 230 Weekender
- Engines
- Twin Cat 3116T
Got it, that's essentially what we do too, but my wife serves as the bow anchor point and I do all of the yanking on the transom, trying not to overpower her and eject her into the water.
firecadet613
Well-Known Member
- May 10, 2007
- 5,253
- Boat Info
- SOLD - 2007 Four Winns V358
- Engines
- Twin VP 5.7GXi V-Drive / ZF63s
Exact same thing I do...but my damn swim platform sits so high off the water. I pull the bow up a bit and clip it off, then move to the stern and drag it up - once up I loosen the bow tie down a bit so the bow centers.
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wow, that looks tough. In a pinch I think I could use ratchet straps attached to the two transom cleats. I might try it at the dock to have a backup plan. The other advantage I have is our platform has seadek so I have really good traction while pulling on the thing
Got it, that's essentially what we do too, but my wife serves as the bow anchor point and I do all of the yanking on the transom, trying not to overpower her and eject her into the water.
When you get old like me those strenuous muscle exercises really send me to the G&T's early and why I went this way..
GnrlPatton
Well-Known Member
- Jul 12, 2010
- 719
- Boat Info
- Current: 1998 370 Express Cruiser
Sold:1988 230 Weekender
- Engines
- Twin Cat 3116T
Yeah, I'm still in the dreaming phase for that setup. Maybe on my next boat.
- Dec 31, 2006
- 2,823
- Boat Info
- H2O Therapy
2006 Sundancer 48
Novurania 430DL
HighField 340-FCT
Yamaha EX-R
Raymarine
PADI DM
- Engines
- Cummins QSC 540's
That’s nice Tom..
Stee6043
Well-Known Member
If you guys think the H20 is hairy in snotty conditions you should try the H30. The rails on the H30 are slicker than $hit, by design, and the whole thing rotates freely! With a pitching boat it's about a 9 out of 10 on the "am I going to lose the dink or end up in the water" scale.
lol yeah I think the general rule of thumb is no one should be loading or unloading these things in any more than a light breeze. There is a lot of opportunity to get hurt otherwise
we go out and anchor for 10-12 hours in the open lake often and it can get stirred up. If it got bad enough I’d consider towing it to a nearby bay or something to load it up instead of fighting it
I had to go find a video. Doing this in a marina is one thing but yikes is that a lot of weight to go vertical while the boat is bouncing around
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Stee6043
Well-Known Member
It's easy peasy in the marina. The weight of the dink does all the work.
We also anchor in Lake Michigan for long afternoons with the fam at the beach. Got caught off guard by some building waves one Saturday last summer. Ferried the fam back to the boat in time for solid 2's to be rolling through. I initially wanted to tow the dink back to port but without a proper towing setup that is a 6-7kts trip...in worsening weather. An hour of towing vs 20 minutes on-plane. So I sucked it up and loaded the dink with the help of my buddy who was with us. Not the best scenario...
good point on going slow, that could makes things worse
id probably also suck it up and get it loaded but I think we’ll do our best to avoid it if possible.
These things are stupid expensive but I’m glad I went for them. I only have the bow on so far because of course I left the other 4 at home but it’s a nice system
firecadet613
Well-Known Member
- May 10, 2007
- 5,253
- Boat Info
- SOLD - 2007 Four Winns V358
- Engines
- Twin VP 5.7GXi V-Drive / ZF63s
For the electric start and trim models, what are you doing for battery maintenance?
I ordered these -
I ordered these -
Stee6043
Well-Known Member
For the electric start and trim models, what are you doing for battery maintenance?
I ordered these -
I've got in/out for my dink, zero charging between uses and found no need for charging last summer. As long as it gets used regularly and you shut off the battery when not in use there should be no need to charge it...
I did add a battery switch to mine to ensure zero draw when she's on the rack:
They installed a battery switch during rigging. Thinking I need a battery maintainer as the dinghy really doesn't get used unless we are traveling somewhere.
Nothing much. A decent AGM battery won't self-discharge much. The engine alternator will recharge after charging. Not much else necessary, pretty much like a car battery.
That at least was our experience with the previous dingy and a Suzuki DF-15A outboard. I haven't actually picked up our new 340 console model yet...
-Chris
Thanks Chris - On my boat hanging on the dock at the house which hardly ever got used the battery would not do so well. Problems went away when I installed a maintainer. I though since this dink doesn't get used except when we are cruising that the battery should have a maintainer.
