this easy-to-make lifting stress on the glued-on towing ... · webbing covered with some...

PHOTOS BY TOR PINNEY Dinghy Lifting Strap bought a 9-foot inflatable dinghy to take cruising, intending to carry it in davits when island-hopping. Its plywood transom had a secure attachment point for a davit hoist line, but there was no provision for hoisting the forward end. I tried attaching liﬅ lines to the port and starboard towing rings, but realized they would chafe the tubes over time and might stress the glued-on D-rings. So I designed a wraparound liﬅing strap, which works well. e strap is made of heavy-duty 3½in nylon webbing covered with some chafe-resistant mate- rial my canvas shop had lying around. It passes around the entire front end of the dinghy, with a seamed joint at the sides to shiﬅ the angle so that it lays flat against the tubes. e ends overlap on top—amidships, level with the flotation tube tops a foot or so abaﬅ the bow—and are strongly stitch-bonded together, making a sturdy joint through which I installed the eyebolt to which the davit hoist line clips. To prevent the sling from slipping forward, it is lashed to the dinghy’s port and starboard towing rings. e strap’s eyebolt is also tensioned with a line that runs aﬅ through the transom’s midship attachment point and is brought up tight with a rolling hitch. Although the liﬅing sling can be easily removed, I find it convenient to just leave it on when the dinghy is in the water. In fact, when the dink is tied behind the boat I habitually clip on the davit line as a second “safety painter.” As an added bonus, whenever rainwater collects in the dinghy below its transom drain, I can drain it in a minute by liﬅing the bow with the davit line. —TOR PINNEY BOATWORKS This easy-to-make lifting strap makes it a cinch to lift the dinghy in the davits without putting stress on the glued-on towing rings THINGS THAT WORK Navigate and create waypoints 100% global satellite coverage from Iridium Contract-free and annual plan options Plan, track, and share your journey Send and receive text messages Trigger an interactive SOS inreachdelorme.com THE WORST PLACE TO BE ON A BOAT IS STRANDED. The world’s first satellite communicator with built-in navigation. 1408-BWtips-3.indd 64 6/24/14 3:31 PM

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Page 1: This easy-to-make lifting stress on the glued-on towing ... · webbing covered with some chafe-resistant mate-rial my canvas shop had lying around. It passes ... Although the lifting

Photos by Tor Pinney

DinghyLifting

Strap bought a 9-foot inflatable dinghy to take cruising, intending to carry it in davits when island-hopping. Its plywood transom had a

secure attachment point for a davit hoist line, but there was no provision for hoisting the forward end. I tried attaching lift lines to the port and starboard towing rings, but realized they would chafe the tubes over time and might stress the glued-on D-rings. So I designed a wraparound lifting strap, which works well.

The strap is made of heavy-duty 3½in nylon webbing covered with some chafe-resistant mate-rial my canvas shop had lying around. It passes around the entire front end of the dinghy, with a seamed joint at the sides to shift the angle so that it lays flat against the tubes. The ends overlap on top—amidships, level with the flotation tube tops a foot or so abaft the bow—and are strongly stitch-bonded together, making a sturdy joint through which I installed the eyebolt to which the davit hoist line clips. To prevent the sling from slipping forward, it is lashed to the dinghy’s port and starboard towing rings. The strap’s eyebolt is also tensioned with a line that runs aft through the transom’s midship attachment point and is brought up tight with a rolling hitch.

Although the lifting sling can be easily removed, I find it convenient to just leave it on when the dinghy is in the water. In fact, when the dink is tied behind the boat I habitually clip on the davit line as a second “safety painter.” As an added bonus, whenever rainwater collects in the dinghy below its transom drain, I can drain it in a minute by lifting the bow with the davit line.

—TOR PINNEY

BoatWorks

This easy-to-make lifting strap makes it a cinch to lift the dinghy in the davits without putting stress on the glued-on towing rings

things that work

Navigate and create waypoints

100% global satellite coverage from Iridium

Contract-free and annual plan options

Plan, track, and share your journey

Send and receive text messages

Trigger an interactive SOS

inreachdelorme.com

THE WORST PLACE TO BE ON A BOAT IS STRANDED.