Sundance was originally fitted with davits from the Linssen factory. However, the previous owner removed and sold the davits as he did not need them. I on the other hand would like davits. The good news was that as the factory fitted davits there are a pair of suitable basis to fit replacement davits. I tried trying to find a pair via social media with mixed results, but nothing suitable. A chance conversation with the owner of the vessel next to me at the marina revealed that he had a spare pair of suitable davits. I went to his house to take a look. Sure enough a nice pair of stainless steel davits. The only problem was that one of the davits had a missing handle. Convinced I would find a spare handle on the net I began to search, but to no avail.
Port Davit Base
On the port side there was an outboard engine bracket and the Starboard side was covered with glue on rubber matting.
Starboard base with glued rubber matting
These needed to be removed and the base cleaned prior to fitting new davits.
Port side after the removal of the engine bracket.
Starboard side after the glued rubber mat was removed
I opted for a pair of new Simson davits. I decided to go for the swivel type as this would give me more options as I could either stow the dinghy in the usual
New Simson Davit
fashion hanging from the davits or I could rest the dinghy on the transom swimming platform vertically and swivel in the davits to be out of the way.
I like options!!!
Clean up begins
Cleaned, painted and marked out for new drill holes to be tapped
Once the base pads were cleaned up and painted. I marked out the locations for the new davit base plates. Luckily the pad was big enough and the new holes to be tapped were in a different location to the original tapped holes.
New holes being tapped
New Port davit base fitted
There are six hole and taps to make. The holes had to be absolutely precise with no second chances.
This type of precision is somewhat out of my comfort zone. It was a case of measure three times and check ten times!
The new davit basis and bolts were sealed with marine Stikaflex. Hopefully that will keep any ingress of water.
First davit fitted
It felt good to get the first davit fitted on the Port side, just one more to go.
After the davits were fitted the next job was to prepare the dinghy to be hung from the davits.
Job done
This entailed fitting of two eyes to the transom of the dinghy and clueing two ‘D’ rings to the inside of the side inflatable tubes. While the clue fixes the ‘D’ rings immediately with the contact type clue. The maximum strength is not attained until seven days, so the dinghy stayed inflated on our storage shed for a week before taking it down to Sundance. The carabiner clips I fitted to the hoist block are a little large and I need to attain some smaller carabiner clips to get the back of the dinghy to fit better against the underside of the davits.
View from the stern cockpit
I am pleased with the new davits, just waiting for the harbour office to say that they don’t like the way the dinghy hangs over the pontoon. At the time of writing the weather has turned nasty with high winds. I will mover Sundance further down the pontoon finger to move the dinghy away from the pontoon.
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