Hi there, I am new to the forum but wanted to share our recent davit project with you all. We added a custom stainless steel arch to our Hunter 41 DS. It was welded directly to the original traveler arch.
Key Features.
PROs:
1)1340 Watts of Solar. (four 335 watt pannels) Provides some serious shade.
2) Large storage area under solar (5 ft x 5ft x 18") We call it the "garage."
3) Great place to hang a hammock or 2
4) Designed to hold up our 8' x10' Solstice Sports Floating dock. The davits support the dock to keep it out of the water. It easily supports 2 people sitting on the end. This literally adds 80 square feet to our boat! It's also way easier and safer to enter and exit the boat from the dingy this way.
5) Fits our 12' 6" highfield CL360 WITH the 25 yamaha perfectly. - we spent 4 months in the Bahamas last season and the Davits handled great. (very little flex or movement with the 300+ lbs crossing the gulf stream.
6) Added an awesome Shower in the center. We used the original controls, and plumbed up through the stainless. Honestly I was so stoked on how this came out. I built several prototypes with varying size holes. The welder nailed it.
Cons"
1) More weight in the transom (estimate 600lbs with dingy hoisted) our bow raises about 3-4 inches.
2) Docking- we have a big butt! Also often pay for a 50 foot slip rather than 42.
3) Increased Rocking at Sea. We added a lot of weight up high and increased our center of gravity. This boat already has a high center of gravity being a deck salon, with a shoal keel 5 Ft.
All in all the way we use the boat it has made our life in the Bahamas so much better. We do a lot of water sports, Foiling, Kiting, spearfishing, and having the dock off the back is a great place to set up gear, filet fish, and really just enjoy the water. We are costal cruisers and when doing major passages we always look for the best weather windows, and we generally stay a month or two in one location and then move. The decrease in sailing performance isn't something that affects us too much, but the increase in space and livability is huge!
I designed the entire systems in a CAD software and worked closely with a Dan Morgan at Morgan Metals in Jacksonville. He did an outstanding job. This system is Beefy! with 2" stainless tube and over 100 welds. He nailed it.
Cheers from SV Swell Seeker!
Jon K
Key Features.
PROs:
1)1340 Watts of Solar. (four 335 watt pannels) Provides some serious shade.
2) Large storage area under solar (5 ft x 5ft x 18") We call it the "garage."
3) Great place to hang a hammock or 2
4) Designed to hold up our 8' x10' Solstice Sports Floating dock. The davits support the dock to keep it out of the water. It easily supports 2 people sitting on the end. This literally adds 80 square feet to our boat! It's also way easier and safer to enter and exit the boat from the dingy this way.
5) Fits our 12' 6" highfield CL360 WITH the 25 yamaha perfectly. - we spent 4 months in the Bahamas last season and the Davits handled great. (very little flex or movement with the 300+ lbs crossing the gulf stream.
6) Added an awesome Shower in the center. We used the original controls, and plumbed up through the stainless. Honestly I was so stoked on how this came out. I built several prototypes with varying size holes. The welder nailed it.
Cons"
1) More weight in the transom (estimate 600lbs with dingy hoisted) our bow raises about 3-4 inches.
2) Docking- we have a big butt! Also often pay for a 50 foot slip rather than 42.
3) Increased Rocking at Sea. We added a lot of weight up high and increased our center of gravity. This boat already has a high center of gravity being a deck salon, with a shoal keel 5 Ft.
All in all the way we use the boat it has made our life in the Bahamas so much better. We do a lot of water sports, Foiling, Kiting, spearfishing, and having the dock off the back is a great place to set up gear, filet fish, and really just enjoy the water. We are costal cruisers and when doing major passages we always look for the best weather windows, and we generally stay a month or two in one location and then move. The decrease in sailing performance isn't something that affects us too much, but the increase in space and livability is huge!
I designed the entire systems in a CAD software and worked closely with a Dan Morgan at Morgan Metals in Jacksonville. He did an outstanding job. This system is Beefy! with 2" stainless tube and over 100 welds. He nailed it.
Cheers from SV Swell Seeker!
Jon K
