[C320-list] Happy New Year for downunder and a question(s) re Davitts

[Utility Email]

Bruce,

Something to consider for stern davits is what I did for my C320. I installed Weaver Davits (Weaver Snap Up Davit) on my stern steps.  These davits allow the inflatable to ride on the stern in a vertical position and allow me the ability to adjust the height of the inflatable so the dinghy does not hit the water when heeled over when sailing,  I also installed removable plates (Weaver Quick Kit) on the stern steps so the davits can be removed when I am not using them. I had Weaver fabricate them with some specific dimensions and snap up positions to work well on my boat.  Weaver used to be based in Seattle, but now are based in Idaho and they have been very easy to work with.  All of the hardware is marine grade stainless steel.  We used our boat in bay and ocean sailing in San Diego and did some trips to Catalina Island with this dinghy setup.  Our oat is now in Puget Sound and we will be using this set up for island hopping in the San Juan Islands, Canadian Gulf Islands, and Desolation Sound all spring and summer.  This set up has worked great for us.

This is the second sailboat where we have used Weaver Davits with great success, our first boat with them was a Hunter 30.  Our inflatable is an 10'3" Achillies LSI with a 2.5 HP Yamaha Outboard that we stow on the stern rail.  Our inflatable has a high pressure floor and not a RIB.  I'm not sure our setup would work as well as conventional davits for a RIB due to the heavier weight of a RIB.

I was thinking about doing an article on these for the Mainsheet, but I need to wait for spring to get some good photos of our installation and setup (dinghy currently stored in my garage).  Some benefits of our setup include:

1.  Lower overall cost for davits.
2.  Simple and elegant hardware and setup.
3.  Removable hardware to maintain the look and function of our stern access.
4.  Vertical and compact storage of inflatable to reduce LOA and minimize sun and weather damage on top of dinghy.
5.  Outboard stored on rear stern rail mount.
6.  Davits help stabilize boarding of dinghy at stern.

Overall, we are very happy with our setup.  We can quickly stow our dinghy vertically on our transom with minimal hardware and rigging compared to conventional Garhauer-type davits.

The following is a link to the Weaver Davits website that show the Snap Up Davits that we used.  These davits are marketed toward powerboats, but we have found great use of them on both of our previous Hunter 30 sailboat and now our Catalina 320 sailboat.

http://www.weaverindustries.com/index.cfm/product/83_6/snap-ups-davits.html

I have PDF sketches and emails that I provided to Weaver that they used to fabricate our davits, let me know and I can send you this information via email if you are interested.

Good luck in your search.  I hope this information helps.

Dave

David Swanson
S/V Emily Ann
2007 C320 MK II, No. 1107
Mukilteo, WA


On Jan 3, 2011, at 9:27 PM, Bruce Stanley <brucestanley36 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I am looking for advice on the purchase and installation of Davitts for our
> C320 MkI.
> Questions that come to mind are:
> 1. Garhauer vs ??
> 2. Ease of installation by owner?
> 3. Do they restrict visability astern?
> 4. Is the Catalina built-in Outboard mount still useful?
> 5. what extra bits do you need to buy?
> 6. when empty ...can they be moved out of the way? (for Stern disembarking)?
> 
> 
> our peak sailing season is in full swing.
> lucky us ;0))
> 
> Bruce Stanley/C320 #1084/Fantastic Lady