Essential options - davits

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I'm so thankful for our davits. On the Open 40 it means that raising and lowering the dingy with the 3:1 pulley setup is simple and can be done with minimal effort. 

We are in our fourth year as liveaboards over 20,000 nm sailed. We have left our Highfield CL130 with Suzuki 9.9 outboard on the davits throughout. That's pretty good going, to think that we can prepare the dingy to cross an ocean in under three minutes. 

Often overlooked when securing the dingy are the cleats placed specifically to stop sideways movement. It's horrible to see someone sailing along with the dingy crashing from side to side, when it is so simple to tie up. 

To secure it from sideways movement: 

Lift up the dingy, aim to get the dingy side tucked in right up to the bottom of the davits. 
Take the painter to the cleat just behind the main sheet winch, and tighten the so that the side of the dingy presses firmly up against the back of the boat. 
Take a line from the stern of the dingy to the cleat on the port side and tighten.
To test it out move the dingy back and forth, and side to side. If it doesn't budge you're all set.

We have seen all conditions, waves on the beam, a rough gulf steam, even surfing at 20kts in 6meter waves. Throughout it all the dingy has held secure on the davits with this simple solution, that takes seconds to apply.

Having a dingy that can deply in seconds is not only practical, it has gotten us out of a few jams, and as a last resort we can even tow the boat!

Well done to Nautitech for designing such a simple, effective, and easy to use system.



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