Dinghy Davits for CD30

[Don Metznik]

Any experience using dinghy davits on a CD30? Is the CD30 too small? How will a 8'8" inflatable look on them?
Thanks,
Don Metznik
Magic Dragon CD30



don@metznik.com

[Carl Jones]

Any experience using dinghy davits on a CD30? Is the CD30 too small? How will a 8'8" inflatable look on them?
Thanks,
Don Metznik
Magic Dragon CD30

Don,

Our Cape Dory 30's don't have a lot of buoyancy in the stern. I've noticed on mine, that when I get two or three big guys in the back of the cockpit, she drags her stern through the water and slows down. For that reason (performance), I try to limit weight in the stern. Of course the farther aft the weight is (as in a dingy on davits) the more affect it has. I suggest you consider this before going with the davits. Its always good advice on any boat to keep the weight out of the ends (bow and stern).

Good Luck,
Carl Jones
Spanish Eyes CD30



GreatCells@aol.com

[Joe Sankey]

Any experience using dinghy davits on a CD30? Is the CD30 too small? How will a 8'8" inflatable look on them?
Thanks,
Don Metznik
Magic Dragon CD30

Don:
Carl is right, I think. I have seen one CD30 with davits, several years ago. It was a New England boat, I think, cruising in the Bahamas. It appeared to have two davits constructed much like tillers supporting a small traditional rowing dinghy. It was a classy deal to watch it do its job and serve the purpose, but my guess it messed with the lines as Carl suggested, particularly if you add the weight of an outboard.
Joe



sankey@gulftel.com

[Larry DeMers]

Don,

The Cape Dory 30, especially, is a poor candidate for dighy davits. The CD30, especially those with the Volvo MD7A/B engines are about 220 lbs overweight in the stern, as they come from the factory. The reason is that the CD30 was originally intended to have a lighter engine installed..like the Yanmars, which are aluminum blocks weighing in at around 275 lbs. The Volvos that we have weigh around 450 lbs. Unfortunately, the balance was upset, causing the CD30 to be low on her lines by the stern. Adding the weight of the davits and the dinghy and motor and fuel will add another 150 lbs out 4 ft from the stern, so it has a tremendous effect on the balance of the boat.

There are a couple ways to mitigate this effect if you have your heart set on having davits. One is to use my idea of installing sand bags under the vberth, behind the holding tank, in the molded in area that seems to be made for this exact application. We added 270 lbs of sand there 3 years ago now, and it has improved our sailing immensely.
You could add more than 270 lbs..probably around 400 lbs to the bow, and counteract that weight, but now the boat has to lug that weight around..dead weight.

Or.....why not do as we do. We have an Avon Roll-Away inflatable, and we simply roll her up tight and stow her in a wood cradle mounted over the companionway hatch seahood..under the boom end. The dinghy is out of the water, and stowed at essentially the center of gravity so that it does not upset the balance of the boat. It is ready for launching in 10-15 minutes, using the boom and main halyard with a lifting harness.
There is another problem with a davit mounted dinghy. It offers a great place for waves to land and do damage to your dinghy and boat..if the wave should overwhelm your davit mountings. It's also a wind catcher, so will slow you down on a beat and in high winds will be a source of worry over the torquing and beating that it will take from the winds.

Dinghies belong in the water or on deck with our boats. The stern is far too fine to support this loading well. I encourage you to reconsider your options here.

Cheers!

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 Sailing Lake Superior

Any experience using dinghy davits on a CD30? Is the CD30 too small? How will a 8'8" inflatable look on them?
Thanks,
Don Metznik
Magic Dragon CD30

demers@sgi.com

[Ken Coit]

Larry,

Do I recall correctly that you were designing some sort of a container for your dinghy? Did you do it or are you covering the dinghy in some other way?

We now have our Avon lashed in its bag to the hand rails and it is much better than being inflated on the port deck, but I do think something more sturdy would be good. Currently we are using plastic conduit to run lines under the dinghy; clearly this needs work.

Ken
S/V Parfait
Raleigh, NC

Don,

The Cape Dory 30, especially, is a poor candidate for dighy davits. The CD30, especially those with the Volvo MD7A/B engines are about 220 lbs overweight in the stern, as they come from the factory. The reason is that the CD30 was originally intended to have a lighter engine installed..like the Yanmars, which are aluminum blocks weighing in at around 275 lbs. The Volvos that we have weigh around 450 lbs. Unfortunately, the balance was upset, causing the CD30 to be low on her lines by the stern. Adding the weight of the davits and the dinghy and motor and fuel will add another 150 lbs out 4 ft from the stern, so it has a tremendous effect on the balance of the boat.

There are a couple ways to mitigate this effect if you have your heart set on having davits. One is to use my idea of installing sand bags under the vberth, behind the holding tank, in the molded in area that seems to be made for this exact application. We added 270 lbs of sand there 3 years ago now, and it has improved our sailing immensely.
You could add more than 270 lbs..probably around 400 lbs to the bow, and counteract that weight, but now the boat has to lug that weight around..dead weight.

Or.....why not do as we do. We have an Avon Roll-Away inflatable, and we simply roll her up tight and stow her in a wood cradle mounted over the companionway hatch seahood..under the boom end. The dinghy is out of the water, and stowed at essentially the center of gravity so that it does not upset the balance of the boat. It is ready for launching in 10-15 minutes, using the boom and main halyard with a lifting harness.
There is another problem with a davit mounted dinghy. It offers a great place for waves to land and do damage to your dinghy and boat..if the wave should overwhelm your davit mountings. It's also a wind catcher, so will slow you down on a beat and in high winds will be a source of worry over the torquing and beating that it will take from the winds.

Dinghies belong in the water or on deck with our boats. The stern is far too fine to support this loading well. I encourage you to reconsider your options here.

Cheers!

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 Sailing Lake Superior

Any experience using dinghy davits on a CD30? Is the CD30 too small? How will a 8'8" inflatable look on them?
Thanks,
Don Metznik
Magic Dragon CD30

parfait@nc.rr.com

[John R.]

Any experience using dinghy davits on a CD30? Is the CD30 too small? How will a 8'8" inflatable look on them?
Thanks,
Don Metznik
Magic Dragon CD30

I know stones are going to start flying when this is read but......I considered this several years ago but I never followed through on it due to other projects at the time but will most likely reconsider it in the future. I agree with some points made by others but I also think it is feasible if good planning goes into the process. The CD30 has a problem dealing with a dinghy, period. Dealing with dinghys is a very controversial subject and nothing is ideal. In the case of the CD30 the lockers are too small to store one decently with other gear, the cabin top is too narrow to store one. No matter what choice a person makes it is either going to add windage by storing on deck inflated or deflated in a container, or hanging in davits or create drag by towing. Personally I don't totally agree with the "weight" point of view except for the added davit weight. If they were aluminum it would be a slight difference. I think if a dinghy is stored in a locker it is fairly close comparison to being hung on a pair of davits, especially if a crew stores the dink in the aft portion of a locker (I understand the dinks center would be about 2' off the stern). If a dinghy is stored in a port or starboard locker that alone will affect the balance of the vessel athwartships and fore and aft unless offset by other gear or equipment. Another issue is some folks sail single handed and some folks sail with several crew on board. That all contributes to huge variations of weight in the stern and throughout the boat. I'm sorry but I don't see that there is a big problem that a dink can't be placed in davits on a CD30 because of a weight issue.

It seems to me if a person were considering placing a dink in davits they are thinking about long distance cruising. In that case they more than likely would have considerable ground tackle gear and other weight in the bow which should offset a typical dink hanging on the stern. In my situation for example with a A/C unit and a watermaker installed forward plus the weight of chain, rode, twin anchors, two furling units, and all other stored gear in the bow I think a dink on the stern would have a minimal effect keeping in mind it were a small dink and lightweight. I'm making these points based on the way our CD30 is laid out. A person would have to evaluate their own situation.
Also if a person were doing long distance cruising it seems the vessel would be better off with the dink in davits rather being towed in my opinion. Many a dink have been lost by towing, on deck storage inhibits visibility and creates an obstacle, locker storage is very inconvenient and uses up valuable space etc,.

I would not rule out putting the dink in davits, however I would seriously study my given situation and then decide on the davit option as opposed to others.

Do some experimenting, place an equivalent weight on the stern and store gear in a manner below deck that would help offset the weight. Consider adding chain to your rodes and other changes that can benefit your plan.

[Larry DeMers]

Goodday Ken,

Parfait is gorgeous by the way! Nice job.

Yup, a few years ago, I built a cradle for the Avon. It was huge, ungainly and a bummer to see over. So last year, I took it apart and rebuilt the cradle into a low profile box with 6 in. sides..the front piece folds down for easy access to the dinghy. This box is basicly a square frame that mounts on the coach roof, tight to the teak pieces running fore and aft on the sea hood. It extends over the top of the hood, with slats that are slightly above the hood itself. The Avon is placed into this box (line the inside sufaces of the sides with leather to avoid chafe), the front piece is folded back up and latched in position, then the whole package is covered with a sunbrella cover that is reinforced with nylon webbing. This is attached tot he side pieces, using a 1/4 in shock cord and also a rope in the hem of the material. This has worked ok so far..only a few sails with it so far. I constructed this out of pine for now, and if it works well, I will rebuild in teak next winter.

The main thing is that the wood base be tall enough to cover the lower section of the Avons frame..the rigid part.

Cheers!

Larry

Larry,

Do I recall correctly that you were designing some sort of a container for your dinghy? Did you do it or are you covering the dinghy in some other way?

We now have our Avon lashed in its bag to the hand rails and it is much better than being inflated on the port deck, but I do think something more sturdy would be good. Currently we are using plastic conduit to run lines under the dinghy; clearly this needs work.

Ken
S/V Parfait
Raleigh, NC

Don,

The Cape Dory 30, especially, is a poor candidate for dighy davits. The CD30, especially those with the Volvo MD7A/B engines are about 220 lbs overweight in the stern, as they come from the factory. The reason is that the CD30 was originally intended to have a lighter engine installed..like the Yanmars, which are aluminum blocks weighing in at around 275 lbs. The Volvos that we have weigh around 450 lbs. Unfortunately, the balance was upset, causing the CD30 to be low on her lines by the stern. Adding the weight of the davits and the dinghy and motor and fuel will add another 150 lbs out 4 ft from the stern, so it has a tremendous effect on the balance of the boat.

There are a couple ways to mitigate this effect if you have your heart set on having davits. One is to use my idea of installing sand bags under the vberth, behind the holding tank, in the molded in area that seems to be made for this exact application. We added 270 lbs of sand there 3 years ago now, and it has improved our sailing immensely.
You could add more than 270 lbs..probably around 400 lbs to the bow, and counteract that weight, but now the boat has to lug that weight around..dead weight.

Or.....why not do as we do. We have an Avon Roll-Away inflatable, and we simply roll her up tight and stow her in a wood cradle mounted over the companionway hatch seahood..under the boom end. The dinghy is out of the water, and stowed at essentially the center of gravity so that it does not upset the balance of the boat. It is ready for launching in 10-15 minutes, using the boom and main halyard with a lifting harness.
There is another problem with a davit mounted dinghy. It offers a great place for waves to land and do damage to your dinghy and boat..if the wave should overwhelm your davit mountings. It's also a wind catcher, so will slow you down on a beat and in high winds will be a source of worry over the torquing and beating that it will take from the winds.

Dinghies belong in the water or on deck with our boats. The stern is far too fine to support this loading well. I encourage you to reconsider your options here.

Cheers!

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 Sailing Lake Superior

Any experience using dinghy davits on a CD30? Is the CD30 too small? How will a 8'8" inflatable look on them?
Thanks,
Don Metznik
Magic Dragon CD30

demers@sgi.com

[Ken Coit]

Larry,

Thanks for the complement on Parfait, but how do you know? Did I inadvertently post a photo somewhere? Were you by the slip? I have been trying to keep it a secret, although it is hard in a marina.

Thanks for the description of the "box." I was thinking of one that would totally enclose the Avon; you have a better idea. I gather that the forward side folds down so you can "roll out the dinghy"? Is the reinforced sunbrella substantial enough to keep the dinghy aboard if the deck is swept? Will it still be there when the dodger has been washed away?

Ken

Goodday Ken,

Parfait is gorgeous by the way! Nice job.

Yup, a few years ago, I built a cradle for the Avon. It was huge, ungainly and a bummer to see over. So last year, I took it apart and rebuilt the cradle into a low profile box with 6 in. sides..the front piece folds down for easy access to the dinghy. This box is basicly a square frame that mounts on the coach roof, tight to the teak pieces running fore and aft on the sea hood. It extends over the top of the hood, with slats that are slightly above the hood itself. The Avon is placed into this box (line the inside sufaces of the sides with leather to avoid chafe), the front piece is folded back up and latched in position, then the whole package is covered with a sunbrella cover that is reinforced with nylon webbing. This is attached tot he side pieces, using a 1/4 in shock cord and also a rope in the hem of the material. This has worked ok so far..only a few sails with it so far. I constructed this out of pine for now, and if it works well, I will rebuild in teak next winter.

The main thing is that the wood base be tall enough to cover the lower section of the Avons frame..the rigid part.

Cheers!

Larry

Larry,

Do I recall correctly that you were designing some sort of a container for your dinghy? Did you do it or are you covering the dinghy in some other way?

We now have our Avon lashed in its bag to the hand rails and it is much better than being inflated on the port deck, but I do think something more sturdy would be good. Currently we are using plastic conduit to run lines under the dinghy; clearly this needs work.

Ken
S/V Parfait
Raleigh, NC

Don,

The Cape Dory 30, especially, is a poor candidate for dighy davits. The CD30, especially those with the Volvo MD7A/B engines are about 220 lbs overweight in the stern, as they come from the factory. The reason is that the CD30 was originally intended to have a lighter engine installed..like the Yanmars, which are aluminum blocks weighing in at around 275 lbs. The Volvos that we have weigh around 450 lbs. Unfortunately, the balance was upset, causing the CD30 to be low on her lines by the stern. Adding the weight of the davits and the dinghy and motor and fuel will add another 150 lbs out 4 ft from the stern, so it has a tremendous effect on the balance of the boat.

There are a couple ways to mitigate this effect if you have your heart set on having davits. One is to use my idea of installing sand bags under the vberth, behind the holding tank, in the molded in area that seems to be made for this exact application. We added 270 lbs of sand there 3 years ago now, and it has improved our sailing immensely.
You could add more than 270 lbs..probably around 400 lbs to the bow, and counteract that weight, but now the boat has to lug that weight around..dead weight.

Or.....why not do as we do. We have an Avon Roll-Away inflatable, and we simply roll her up tight and stow her in a wood cradle mounted over the companionway hatch seahood..under the boom end. The dinghy is out of the water, and stowed at essentially the center of gravity so that it does not upset the balance of the boat. It is ready for launching in 10-15 minutes, using the boom and main halyard with a lifting harness.
There is another problem with a davit mounted dinghy. It offers a great place for waves to land and do damage to your dinghy and boat..if the wave should overwhelm your davit mountings. It's also a wind catcher, so will slow you down on a beat and in high winds will be a source of worry over the torquing and beating that it will take from the winds.

Dinghies belong in the water or on deck with our boats. The stern is far too fine to support this loading well. I encourage you to reconsider your options here.

Cheers!

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 Sailing Lake Superior

parfait@nc.rr.com