Davit height (dinghy bottom height) above waterline

Hi all,

How high above the waterline should davits (or, really, a dinghy's bottom) be? It is understood that dinghies can only stay in davits in protected waters or on short coastal passages in fair weather.

 

People carry dinghies from davits across oceans. They need to be well secured and high enough for waves not to go over them. Some people use covers like on a ship's lifeboat. I have seen them carried upside down too to prevent them from swamping.

 

There is no pass/fail limit as such for the location of davits.
However, what you need to consider is the length of the line down to whatever it is being attached to, and then the relative motion between them, and how easy any lifting will be.

For example, image a line length of 1.0m...seems easy enough to lower attach and lift.
But, if the same davit then has a drop of 10.0m....aaahh..not so easy.

It is all about safety of operations, and is rather subjective.

 

I concur, it is more about what happens to the dinghy where it is stored, than the actual dimensions. If 'I' was storing a dinghy on a davit duning an ocean crossing, it would never be allowed to fill with water, be it a cover or location/orientation (i.e. upside down on th foredeck). A dinghy full of water, from any reason, high in the vessel is a stability issue as well as a davit structural issue.