Davit idea

Does anyone know of any davits (factory systems or DIY) set up like this to swing a small punt through 180 degrees from the water directly to belly-up storage? Yes, the rudder is in the way in this sketch, it's just the drawing I had handy. Obviously you could also stop the swing after just 45 degrees if you wanted to carry the boat below the davits and save deck space. I am sure others have done something like this and I'd love to see those examples rather than try to reinvent the wheel. Thanks and regards, Matthew

 

I've never seen anything like that. I don't see why it can't be done. The dink couldn't hang. It would have to be snugged pretty tight to the davit arm to prevent it from drooping or slamming as the davit tips it over.... a piece of tube perpendicular to the davit arm that the dink would sit on it's gunwall when 90 deg would help support it. The port and starboard arms would have to move together.. All doable. The biggest down side for many would be that you would have to remove an outboard first.

 

I've been grappling with the dinghy storage issue since last summer. I've mocked up a rotating frame that you might be interested in. Let's see if I can post a couple of photos of the full size mock up.


This frame will sit on the swim platform. The right photo shows the deployed position. The left photo shows it in the stowed position. The rectangular part of the frame is for a platform, you step out of the dink and onto the platform then onto the swim deck.

The dinghy attaches to the frame with a couple of Weaver snap davits. The dink rotates up and forward onto the 45* diagonal supports. This is 135* of total rotation. Once settled on the frame the entire assembly rotates 45* forward into the stowed position, upside down.. I'll keep an eye on this thread and provide you with some additional information if you're interested.

 

Thanks, zstine, nice to hear that it sounds doable. Yes, the idea was that the two davit arms would be joined by by one or two crossbars and swing as a unit. And yes, there would have to be small perpendicular arms to support the pram during the swing maybe even hooked on the ends to grab the gunwales.

When doing the drawing I was thinking that the davits would go across the full beam of the pram and become the cradle in the boat, but with separate chocks in the boat the davits need only go to the middle of the boat and would bear no weight when onboard.

Thanks, missinginaction, our messages crossed but I’ll take a look at your solution.

 

I've seen something similar, but they only used a couple of brackets on the aft deck that matched brackets on the dinghy's gunwhale. They secured it with two pins and flipped it with block and tackle.

 

Cutwater Outboard Dinghy Lift https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=234789417941135
Cutwater introduced this year as it is very difficult to deal with a swim grid mounted davit system with outboards