Can't seem to find thread for custom built block and tackle

M

matt_unique

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C Dory Year
2007
C Dory Model
255 Tomcat
Vessel Name
Napoleon
I once found a thread where an owner built his own block and tackle post system for hoisting things (i.e. MOB).

I'm considering the C-25 for my next boat. I have posted before but as a quick refresher I mostly day cruise for diving and sometimes overnight in Massachusetts. I'm sold on the idea of twins which likely means I cannot have a swimplatform with sufficient support for carrying the weight of a diver. (I weight 170, and when fully suited for tech diving weigh over 300 lbs...in my experience you need a full swimplatform to spread that kind of load). Plus I don't like the idea of adding 300 lbs to the transom in addition to the weight of the twin engines.

Without a dive platform and X-mas tree ladder I have to remove my gear on the surface and tie off to a stern line. Once aboard, I have to haul it over the sides. My doubles with SS back plate and wings weighs about 115 lbs. Even with two of us, it's a nut buster to hoist this rig aboard. Impossible to do without dragging against the side of the boat.

Sooooo....if I indeed choose a pilot house boat with twins and no dive platform I need to find a better way to get dive gear back aboard. I wondered about the idea of some sort of block and tackle rig to hoist it out of the water. (i.e. One person pulls the rope and the other guides it into the boat ideally without hitting the sides).

If someone could point me to the link with the custom built block and tackle system I would appreciate it.

I would welcome any other ideas you have for getting heavy gear aboard. There is nothing like climbing out fully rigged but it's not a reality unless I have an I/O or an inboard.

Thanks

--Matt
 
Matt,

Do a search for davit. There are a number of posts concerning the use of davits for lifting things over the side of all the different C-Dories.
 
Thanks for the reply. I found lot's about davits but not specifically the custom made block and tackle I was looking for. I found it once but chance. Someone made a rig that was mounted to the gunwale just behind the cabin.
 
Perhaps you are refering to the 12 volt crane davit which was installed by Les at EQ marine. I would not just use a block and tackle--I would use a small davit like the Garhauer Marine lifting davit. This has a boom, which is easily pivoted, and a 6:1 block and tackle with high quality sheves. I have owned a couple of these and they are a real joy for hoisting items. You will have not problem hoisting 150 lbs with it.

http://garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=41

You would be pressed to find any custom built davit/hoisting system which is better than that. I have several photos in the "thataway" album of the davit folded down and up in position.

On the other hand, if I was using the boat for diving, I would really consider a swim step or platform and a good ladder. I wonder how you are planning to get aboard the boat?

Modern outboards are so reliable, and the single 80 will not move the 25 much faster than a good kicker--that I might give some serious consideration to rethinking the power system. The 300 lbs temporally on the transom is not an issue. You can build a very strong swim platform if you wish. If you are really serious about diving and can swing it, the Tom Cat is a much better boat for diving, with the good dive ladder, an easy approach to the 2 foot wide engine bracket/swim step.
 
Hi Bob,
You're exactly right - that's just what I was thinking about. How hard was that to install? It seems like that would be the perfect rig to hoist my dive gear.

As with my current boat, I remove the dive gear at the surface and tie it to a line. Once I climb aboard with a ladder (that could not support the full weight of a diver fullu suited) I lean over the side and hoist the gear up over the side.

--Matt
 
The davit has a plastic (probably Duralon) ball mount for the bottom. (We have several mounting locations). The tube is supported by a short tube, which is specifically designed with a bracket to affix it to a railing. However, we have usually mounted this bracket on a flat surface--thru bolted. The installation time is probably half an hour at the most. Basically 4 screws in the bottom and two bolts in the stand off--if a spacer is needed, starboard or a number of other materials can be used.

We use ours for hoisting the generator, for hoisting kicker engines, for hoisting ice chests--and when I get the cabin mount done--hoisting the dinghy to the cabin top.

I have done diving from many types of boats. For the larger boats, we used our RIB or 13 foot inflatable, and just peeled the gear into the inflatable, and then used the outboard cavitation plate to get up and over the stern. We also had a "T" ladder on another RIB. We put a swim step cut back into the transom of our Cal 46, which gave a place for gear to be deposited and secure attatchment of a substantial dive ladder. We had an 18 foot runabout--similar outboard well and freeboard to a C Dory 22. We put the dive gear in the well, since it was just above the waterline, and then used one of the typical hook over the gunnel ladders. (I prefered the inflatable)
 
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