[C320-list] Dinghy davit shopping results so far FWIW

[Scott Westwood]

Clarification.  I was engaged with Ocean Marine through IPad emails but I can't place order until after Sep 15th?? or take delivery,,, or something is closed until then.
There provided a "rough" quote around Aug 9th. 
Didn't want to say anything wrong about Ocean Marine.  They were/are  a contender.  Looked OK to me.

 
Thanks,
Scott Westwood scottwestwood at bellsouth.net H (919)-362-8538    C (919)-618-7185

      From: Scott Westwood <scottwestwood at bellsouth.net>
 To: "C320-List at Catalina320.com" <C320-List at Catalina320.com> 
 Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2018 9:21 AM
 Subject: Re: [C320-list] Dinghy davit shopping results so far FWIW
   
I was looking at Ocean Marine too but they were not going to be open July 31 to Sep 15.  
They were within $100-200 of Martek but I can't work with anybody until "after" Sep 15th.
Not sure I want to wait for a maybe.
Kato has very good reputation.  Nothing against Kato (at all)  but $800 worth?
I have not heard anything "against" Martek yet.  For that matter I have not heard anything bad against any davit maker/product yet.
 
Thanks,
Scott Westwood scottwestwood at bellsouth.net H (919)-362-8538    C (919)-618-7185

      From: Allan S. Field <allan.field at verizon.net>
 To: C320-List at Catalina320.com 
 Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2018 9:05 AM
 Subject: Re: [C320-list] Dinghy davit shopping results so far FWIW
  
My experience is that no one does stainless steel better than Kato. The last time I dealt with them, I had to take the boat to Annapolis for them to do the measurements and they would not install. That was about 15 years ago so things may have changed. On our C320, we went with Ocean Marine and were very happy. We have Garhauer on our C387 and while the OM was a better product all around, both do the job they were built for. Had the C387 not come with the Garhauer already installed, we would have gone with OM again.

Allan S. Field

On Tuesday, August 14, 2018 Scott Westwood <C320-List at Catalina320.com> wrote:
We are close to purchasing new davits.  I thought I would let you all know what I learned (right or wrong) so far.

I am focusing on Martek and Kato.  I looked at Garhauer but the size they listed was shorter than I want/like.  Garhauer are about same price as Martek.  They may be able to custom make but...  Ocean Marine isn't open for business until much later in the season.  I was going to try searching for fabricators but I am just burned out on shopping and I wanted to benefit from the experience of the pros.
Locally many people praise Kato but, as far as I can tell, Kato is about $800+ more expensive for "basically" the same end results.  Also Kato arm tubing walls are .083" and Martek are .12" thick.  However, both are rated for same overall load (Design limits- not material??)??  Martek arms are also 5" higher and only 3" shorter.  Our dinghy isn't wide enough for 3" to be a factor.  Dinghy only weighs 100lbs and has 2.5hp OB.
It may boil down to customer service but $800 worth?  They do have Harken vs. Ronstan blocks but, again, $800 worth??
There are, like most everything else, pros and cons for each/any maker of anything.  Each one has something they claim to do better than the other.
I just wanted to try to provide some of what I have found so far.
Anybody else have anything to add?  Feel free to weigh in.  Very willing to learn. 
Thanks,
Scott Westwood scottwestwood at bellsouth.net H (919)-362-8538    C (919)-618-7185