We bought our Island Davits from Craigslist in San Diego and had no idea how to install them. We found a boat just like ours at the Kato Marine Island Davits on the boat list and copied the installation. The davits have worked for two cruising seasons but it is time they get modified for ease of use and safety.
This picture is off the Kato Marine site and is what we used to install our Kato Island Davits.
This boat is an Islander Freeport 36' just like ours.
We found out this is not a good cruising design hence the re-fit by us now.
This picture is off the Kato Marine site and is what we used to install our Kato Island Davits.
With the dinghy blocking the stern steps this is not good for us.
The dinghy swings fore and aft and back and forth which can get worrisome at anchorage.
It is also hard to secure hanging this far out from the davits. This is not the davits fault it is the way they are installed. Could be fine for thee day sailors but not good for cruising as we have found out by doing it.
This is a picture taken in San Diego as we were installing our Kato Marine Island Davits at Marina Cortez in San Diego Harbor Island .
Back in the day at Marina Cortez in San Diego Cal. first installing the davits.
Present day in beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!
Here we are tying off the Kato Island Davits with bungies and lines to hold them in place for our "lifting the dinghy test".
We added 12" to the Kato Island Davits. We had before cut 6" off the end of the davits so they would install as the picture with the stern rail mount where it was needed.
We added 8" to the stern mounts for the Kato Island Davits.
Not our boat but same Island Davits and cross bars.
The dinghy should sit up in the corners of the davits resting against the davits as shown in this Kato Marine site boat picture above. This is what we are trying to accomplish along with getting the dinghy higher than the stern steps. Also we were sailing on a passage and there were large swells and I was getting worried our dingy would hit the water while we were healed over. So raising the davits would eliminate this worry.
It is cool that the Air Breeze wind generator support pole fits right through the Kato Marine Island Davits as we thought it might. Nothing is straight now but will be on final installation.
Looks a bit shaky but works :)
Because the cross support bracket for the Kato Island Davits is too short at this time we used some make-shift supports using our Shroud boat hook etc poles.
The Kato Island Davits are at least 11 inches further apart at the bottom with the new stern mounts. This is good as it helps straighten out the angle of the Harken blocks as the Achilles dinghy is raised. This makes it easier to raise the dinghy and the dinghy sits better on the davits.
The Kato Island Davits are turned out at the top now so each davit points to the respective side, if you will.
This further gets the 6:1 Harken dingy blocks full straightened out some more. Now the Harken blocks bringing up the dinghy are almost straight. This allows the dinghy to be raised higher also, using the exact same system as before but the blocks are not at angles.
Achilles 10' 2" dinghy sits fine up on the davits now and tucks into the upper corners and rests against the davits..
With the raising of the Garhauer Marine Lifting Davit of 4"
it clears the Kato Marine Island Davits just fine.
The Garhauer Marine Lifting Davit swings enough to get the Honda 9.9 outboard off the stern rail and onto the dinghy.
All our clearances are tight but work fine and can be tight because this is not something that moves around. We do have a 36' Islander Freeport sail boat after all and there is only so much stern to use :)
Working on the adjustments: We got the stern of the Achilles up into the corner of the davit eventually.
More adjustments.
The bow hits the Garhauer Marine Lifting Davit or Engine Hoist
but that is fine. We will not have it up most of the time and for short runs
the dinghy is secure resting by it without the motor on it.
Up come the stern steps without a problem!
The out board side slide bolts worked just fine.
So now we can launch our Solstice Trekker Kayak or our Starboard Whopper paddle board and then climb right in or on from the stern steps as they will come up\down with the Achilles dinghy on the davits, not so before.
We will be adding more support for the stern rail to the Kato Marine Island Davits supports on the stern. This is because with the Honda 9.9 and the 3 gal gas tank and DaNard dinghy wheels etc there will be a lot more weight.
This is the bow "D" ring which will secure the Achilles dinghy
to the Kato Marine Island Davits .
We will most likely use a hook and strap that is quick release and with a a quick pull cinches up. This will make it a snap to hold the Achilles dinghy in place once it is raised. We raise and lock it each time we use it at the end of the day. "lift it - lock it or loose it" as they say. We have and will add another "D" ring on the stern pontoon.
Stern of Achilles dinghy raised and resting against the Kato Marine Island Davits.
Looking good!
When we have the Honda 9.9 on the Achilles 10.2 dinghy it will be flipped around.
Now the bow is on the starboard side. When the Honda 9.9 outboard is on the Achilles dinghy the bow will be facing to port so the weight of the motor is on our starboard side.
Heinz, Margarite and daughter Dominique on s\v Meridian. This is a 48' Tayana CC. It seems to me a lot of cruising boats have these big arches with the dinghy's up high.
We will be removing this whole set up from the boat and sending the parts out for more welding. We made some templates and did some more engineering so off to the weld shop
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