Spindrift deck cradle

[pwillems]

Hi All,

Looking for ideas for the cradle to strap my SpinDrift 11N to the deck of its mothership. Does anyone have any recommendations, or better, experience and photos of their own design?

Thanks.

[JPower210]

I have gravitated towards storing my dinghy on deck upside down to avoid it filling with water, provide space for a hatch underneath to open, etc.  Currently, I am using blocks that I made, from mahogany that are L shaped, with an eyebolt in each for a tie down.  The blocks are mounted so that the upward leg of the L prevents side to side movement and the portion where the dinghy rests on the gunwale is padded with leather.  I mounted the blocks with big screws set in epoxy, with the idea that if I ever took a big wave I would rather the mounts ripped off without leaving a gaping hole in the deck.  Luckily I have not had to test my theory as of yet.  Other than the pain of having to flip the boat upside down, it has worked out well for me.  This is on a Westsail 32 so if you have a higher mounting point, like on a trawler, the concerns might be a bit different.

 

JP

[Hirilonde]

Are you doing so nested?  Did you do a 100% wrap around fendering?

 

I never really did it while cruising, but I did go through the motions to make sure it would work  I just placed the aft section over the forward section upside down on deck and lashed it down.  I have fendering wrapping around onto the transom, so the boat rested on the cushion.   If I were going to do this at all regularly I would have made notched "chocks" on deck to make securing it faster and more thorough.  Play with it.  Until you get a feel for the process and trying to sail with the added obstacle you can't really know what you want/need.