Dinghy questions

windrose · Post by **windrose** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:57 am

Where do you guys stow the dinghy oars, what does your lifting harness consist of to get the dinghy up on the foredeck without beating the boat all to heck.

Thanks,
Ang

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:18 am

1.) In the dinghy.

2.) Still working on a lifting setup. I did drag it up over the gunwale/toe rail but it takes a bit of care and my toerail is nothing to protect at the moment. I am leaning towards a couple of eye bolts discreetly mounted on the aft ... um? ... braces between the transom and sheer strake. Those two and the painter would provide a three point lift that I could hoist the dinghy with the halyard run through a block on the boom or something lke that.

-Britton

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 11:32 am

bcooke wrote: the aft ... um? ... braces between the transom and sheer strake.

They're "quarter knees", ye philistine.
Yes, more useless knowlege. Really it's just a manifestation of nutshell envy.

My dink is lighter than most, I know, but what's wrong with securing the painter to the jib halyard and hauling away*? Why all the harness?
It goes up nose first, easy to fend off the topsides as it rises, spin it around, set it on its tail, and guide the descent as you please.

*Well, there was this guy who sent his zodiac right to the top of the rig. He was trying out his new cordless-drill-cum-electric-winch-handle on the wrong speed and wasn't paying attention. No harm done, though he did get some dinghy-bottom schmutz on the UV cover of the furled jib, quite beyond the reach of a scrub brush.

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 11:56 am

They're "quarter knees", ye philistine.

Argh! I wrote "quarter knees" at first and then started having second thoughts so I erased it so as not to look stupid and now I just look stupid. Sometimes you just can't win :-)

but what's wrong with securing the painter to the jib halyard and hauling away*?

It isn't very elegant. I think my dinghy would be pretty embarassed to be hauled aboard in such a fashion.

My dink is pretty light too and could definitely be hauled in such a fashion though. I would still like to figure out a way to keep it off the sailboat. Just thinking of it scraping and scratching its way up my soon-to-be newly painted hull makes my skin crawl.

-Britton

Ric in Richmond · Post by **Ric in Richmond** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 12:28 pm

My 8' Walker bay can be hauled up without any problems.

I do have a spare one for sale too!!!
Ric

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 12:51 pm

When I cruised aboard a Westsail 32 with a hard dinghy, we just hauled it up by hand, right over the lifelines. I think we had a bit of carpet we hung over one stanchion top, because sometimes it would stray a bit and I didn't want the dinghy to get scraped. I realize that some of this probably won't apply to a Triton, but perhaps some of it might be helpful anyway.

To elaborate slightly anyway, one of us would grab the bow painter and lift the boat enough so that we could each get ahold of the..... breast plate? (wooden triangle connecting the two wales at the bow). Then we just heaved her up until she was balancing (right-side up) on the lifeline, at which point we'd take up bow and stern positions and flip the boat upside down before lowering it down on the chocks (which were just abaft the mast).

This worked very easily and quickly, and I don't remember the dinghy ever scratching the topsides of the mother ship - I guess the angle prevented it (?) (I can't remember even putting a fender there, but maybe I'm losing it.)

If I were doing it myself, I'd hook a halyard to the bow eye and lift it up to the lifeline balancing point, after which I'd cleat it off and go to the stern to turn the boat over. I'd leave the boat suspended just enough so that it would rotate. This was not nearly as quick or enjoyable, but worked. I might have come up with something more refined if I'd been lifting it solo more often.

Rachel

CharlieJ · Post by **CharlieJ** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:06 pm

And just how light IS your dinghy? Grin- This light?

It's a 6 foot 6 inch Minipaw from B and B Yachts. Sadly, it will not fit on board Tehani, but it WOULD fit the foredeck of our 21 footer- go figure. The foredeck and fore cabin on the Meridian is just wrong for stowing a dink. We are currently investigating a small inflatable so it can be stowed rather than towed.

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:14 pm

Great photo!

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 6:32 pm

Heavens, no. (I wish!) I think it weighs between 85 and 95 pounds, approximately.

That is a great photo.

Rachel

Hirilondë · Post by **Hirilondë** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 8:01 pm

I cut mine in half. This way I only need to haul half of it out at a time. Each half weighs about 35 lbs..

BTW, mine is designed by the same person as Charlie's.

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 10:48 am

Figment wrote:
bcooke wrote: the aft ... um? ... braces between the transom and sheer strake.
They're "quarter knees", ye philistine.

"Breasthook".
Well done. Consider yourself redeemed. :)

gone2ddogs · Post by **gone2ddogs** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 2:12 pm

I use a West Marine (Zodiac) RU260 and I just slide it up on to the cabin roof over the life lines. I remove the outboard motor first and stow it in the cockpit. Sorry this is the best picture I could find with the dingy on-board.

John
Triton Yawl #15

jollyboat · Post by **jollyboat** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 4:43 pm

Why would you want to haul the dink onto the boat? I have a dyer midget and it is still too big to "really" keep on the boat. What is wrong with towing the boat.

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 5:48 pm

I have a Porta-Bote for a dinghy. Although it will fold up to about the size of a small surfboard (it and the seats and transom get lashed to the stanchions) I keep it in the water and tow it. The oars which can be broken down into two pieces are kept in the dinghy, fitted between the sides and a seat support that angles from the seat to the angle between the bottom and sides.

While I have yet to try and assemble/disassemble the dinghy on deck, the procedure seems to be to hoist her by the noise up the mast using the main halyard and do the assembly/disassembly in vertical mode. It is quite a battle to get it get it together so I'm not particularly looking forward to attempting this, although at some point I probably will.

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 7:45 pm

"Breasthook".
Well done. Consider yourself redeemed. :)

Actually, I had no editorial input into Tim's postings. I didn't even read his postings until I got home yesterday. I have been know to call that thingamajig a 'breasthook' before even though it clearly isn't.

One moment of forgetfullness and the world never lets you forget it...