Garhauer Marine Lifting Davit, where to mount? - 2011

June 2011 - At Marina Cortez Harbor Island, San Diego, CA
Well on and on it goes with the stern of the boat. We are now trying to figure out the dingy outboard motor lift options and final solution.

The PO had left a Garhauer Marine Lifting Davit (motor lift) 26" arm on the boat with a customized aluminum short shaft.

We have the Garhauer Marine Lifting Davit (motor lift) 26" arm from when we owned our Catalina 30.

 So it seems a shame to buy a lift unless it is really going to make a difference or if we cannot get the current ones to work out. So first to see if the current one will work and what are the advantages of using it beside the money saved?

To do this we tried different locations for the lift.

Also we tried the lift with its two different arm adjustments.

First off the lift should be as straight up and down as possible so the motor does not swing  out violently when it is raised off the stern rail mount.

Second it should clear the davits. Then there is the stern rail, does or will it need added support?

Will the lift clear the bimini?

Should it be cut shorter so it goes under the bimini?

Which side of the stern should the motor and lift be mounted on? Etc

We tried some locations and decide we need to try a few more 😅

Should the lift simply be mounted on the wind generator pole?

First try and it obviously too high but does it work?

Not really as the motor would go swinging out from the boat into the davits when released.

Also the stern rail would need reinforcing at that point. The mount is on top of the stern light.

Mounted inside the stern rail.

Has the short shaft from the PO on it

Moved it over and it is better but the motor would still swing out.

Has the short shaft from the PO on it

Probably would not hit the davit but would swing out from boat unless controlled.

This would not be good in a rolling sea or anchorage.

It does not clear the bimini completely but would work

The location was on top of that snap

 If the lift were to come out from the stern more it would stand up straight eliminating the swing out motion for the motor. It may not be centered directly over the motor but would be close enough to pull the motor onto the stern rail with minimal effort. 

The stern rail would not need be re-enforced at this location.

It would clear the bimini and may not need shortening but that is not a big deal shorting the lift.

If mounted on a Air Breeze wind generator(WGP) pole here we could not close up the davits while in a marina. This would be a $$ issue when getting a slip during hurricane season or for when ever. Of course we could take down the wind generator and pole (WGP) with the lift but that would be a major pain.

The motor lift comes off and can be stored away.

But if it were on a WGP it would always be ready and not take up storage space.

 So for now the solution so far is to try mounting the lift outside the stern rail. On the last attempt it was mounted on the inside. 

 Some more tries and possibly a bracket will need to be made to hold the lift on the stern out a ways.

As it stands now (get the pun) the WGP will go on the port stern side and not have a motor lift on it. This may enable us to use an aluminum pole to save weight. It will be on the anchor side so we will need to work on that setup. Hay, a few more feet of stern beam would solve this stuff!