Dingy Racks

G

Gene&Mary

New member
SleepyC- I was looking at the picture of the rack you have for your dingy and have a few questions.
How do you get your dingy on and off the rack?
How is the frame anchored, both at the bottom and at the sides to prevent racking?
Is there a head clearance problem for getting on and off the boat.
What is the frame constructed of?

We are planning on doing more traveling now that I am almost retired and am thinking about mounting a car top carrier on the cabin roof......which would limit the available space on the roof. Your rack is a great solution to carrying the dingy.

Cbrats- what is the best way you have found for getting the dingy up and down from wherever it is stored?

Thanks
 
For the most part we man handle (even with bad backs) our inflatable dinghies onto the roof. From the ground, one pushes and the other pulls, standing on the side deck. In the water, one is forward and one is aft of the dinghy. We stand it on its tail, and then give a big pull-up. I usually have Marie stabilize her side, and I take a quick grip further down and pivot it up on the top.

We have also put the Garhauer Davit so we can hoist the dinghy directly (as well as other items, to help save our back). Inflatables ride nicely on the cabin top. I just don't see a hard dinghy of any sort being ideal for a C Dory. An extra line around the rope which surrounds the dinghy often can allow you to hold the boat in place with a quick slip knot, and then pull it up further.
 
Hi Gene & Mary,

I hope I can explain this so it makes sense.
Getting it up and down is pretty easy when on the water. I do this by myself. The inflatable is a Wolverene, the exact copy of the popular Alaskan, by the same manufacture, just from a different plant. I don’t remember the exact weight but around 55# is close.

I bring the dingy up to the stbd side and lift the bow end up and rest it on the gunnel. Usually let it rest there a while to dry some. Then bring it up and forward toward the CD center line tilting it on it’s side with the bow down into the cockpit so it is standing on its bow end. This is more of a rolling over the gunnel than a lifting movement. The aft end of the dingy then leans back toward the rack. Then, lifting the bow end and letting the aft end rock over the rack like teeter-totter, I slide the bow end forward, lifting it up onto the aft cabin roof. There is no rack on the cabin top, I just use a towel for protection of the gel coat. The dingy is secured with its bowline through the handrails on the cabin top forward and a line aft to the rack.

Deploying to the water is basically the reverse. I tried just dropping it from the rack, over the side once but I got splashed pretty good. Probably be OK on a nice hot day though.

The frame and rack is all stainless steel, 304 I believe. Doing it again I would insist on 316, but moving on. It is in 5 pieces. Two, the bases are permanently attached to the boat at the lazzarette, using the horizontal surfaces for weight support, the verticals for the anti-racking, and the diagonals for stability and all welded together to make the fab guy go crazy. It is through bolted on all angles. The vertical sections are where the “pipe base” is welded onto the plates and where the removable uprights set into. The removable sections are 2 vertical pipes, and one horizontal with two “tees” that fit down onto the tops of the verticals. They are all stainless pipe, not tubing, and when assembled there is very little racking. When apart, the 3 pieces will lay in the galley hallway, if needed, for transport or storage.

The rack height was set so that I would be able to see out to aft with the inflatable up there. That works. The curve of the bow on the inflatable, raises the forward just a bit and is higher on the cabin roof, so there is very little obstruction to getting on and off the CD with the inflatable in place. I carry it in the inverted position, so as not to fill with water should it rain. It is not quite wide enough to keep rain out of the cockpit but it does afford a place to stand that is dry and keep rain out of the door if it is raining. I have used a tarp over the inflatable to enclose the cockpit somewhat. It is not as enclosed as a full camper-back canvas, but then that is not what I was after anyway.

It has worked for me. It was probably overbuilt, by my choice, so has added some stern weight, but is dual purpose and effective. I’ll probably keep it.

Hope that helps.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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dread":1lbzaffw said:
Bob -- What dinghy brand do you like?
Click to expand...

A lot depends on what you want the dinghy to do. In our case, we have a dog, and need to take the dog ashore. We can have as many as 3 people and the dog, aboard (may include the grandkids and my daughter, or Marine and my daughter, plus the dog.

Currently the dinghy is a Avon Hypalon air floor 10 1/2" dinghy. I have owned many inflatable dinghies, up to 30 foot up to 13 feet, including a 12 1/2 foot RIB. The lightest have been the slat foor, with wood transom, and the old Avon Red Seal. The Alaskan, or the Achillies are some of the best boats today. Some of these do not have the hard wooden transom--advantages are that the boats are lighter. The disadvantage is that the floors can be unstable when you step on them and they cannot plane. The air floor is lighter than the RIB or the aluminum/wood floor, and easier to assemble that the two latter. RIB is more abrasion resistant, and handles the chop better. The RIB is also more abrasion resistant, but not really suitable for the C Dory. A compromise is the slat roll up floor. The slates are lighter, and give more bottom stability.
 
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