Dinghy Dock--New Cradle Design Needed

Dinghy Dock--New Cradle Design Needed, September 5, 2017  I need a new cradle for the dinghy dock.  Last spring we added two rollers and it helped only a little.  The Tanzer is a heavy boat--450 pounds before you add:  the mast, the boom, the centerboard, the rudder, the outboard, the sails, the anchor, the paddle, the boat hook, the spinnaker pole, the sails, the life jackets, the beer--but of course beer goes out, but doesn't come back.

Seriously this is a lot of weight to haul up out of the water.  We can do it now because we have a two-speed winch and two fairly strong old guys.  I could never do it by myself--which makes it difficult to single-hand.  I would sure appreciate a better design if you have one to share.  The boat comes out on September 11 so I have all winter to work on it.

jim

Even the Harpoons are lighter than the Tanzer.

Tanzer 16 Dinghy Dock --added a roller

Tanzer 16 Dinghy Dock --added a roller--May 1, 2017  Spent all winter (and spring that felt like winter--it has been the wettest winter/spring in 126 years) thinking about how to make the dinghy dock easier to get the 400 lb+ Tanzer up on the bunks.  I probably went down and looked at it five times, but couldn't come up with a plan.

Since the boat is going in the water in two days, I finally sucked it up and went down there in the rain with some string, sticks, and a measuring tape.  The only improvement I could think of was to add another roller.  It's the one with the lighter color wood.  Dinked around and determined the height and position of the roller.  Then I was able to make it at home.

The roller might be 1/2-inch high (we can remove the spacer between the 2 x 8's if we need to).  We won't really know until we pull the boat up on the dock.  Wish me luck--oh yeah, they are predicting lightening for our first race on Thursday.  Luckily the marina has a bar.

Besides adding the roller, all the screws were tightened or replaced and some
cleats were added to fasten down the boat cover.  Yes, when the boat is on
the cradle it touches the Lido.  Or almost touches.

Tanzer 16 Dinghy Dock and Roller Furling Genoa

Tanzer 16 Dinghy Dock and  Roller Furling Genoa  --  July 23, 2013  Life is sweeter on the dinghy dock.  We unexpectedly got a place on the dinghy dock--thought it would take years. Definite improvement in our dinghy sailing lifestyle.

Now we go down to the boat at 5:00 pm.  I used to arrive at the launch and 3:00 pm.  I would take my sweet time rigging, and we put the boat in about 4:30.  Even though rigging is much easier with a hinged mast, it still takes time. (Plus I like to fuss over every pin, line and knot.)

Now we bend on the main and go.  It is a little tight getting out of our berthing area, but it's quick. When we launched from the trailer, I would leave the boat in the water overnight and then go pick it up in the morning--Cost 25 bucks for launch and overnight space.  Total cost for the dock for four months: 80 bucks!

We are especially enjoying the furling Genoa from Schurr sails.   It took some dinking around to get the tension right on the shrouds and forestay (wire inside sail)* but totally worth it.  The only sacrifice is that you can't use it partially deployed.  It's out or it's in.  Last night we started out at 1830 with 16 knots steady and much bigger gusts.  All we used was a reefed main.  By 2030 it was a drifter, but we hadn't rigged the spinnaker.

Mostly this year we have had the bad luck of rain on race nights--not the finest Pacific Northwest summer, but we were spoiled last year when it was sunny from May straight through to September.

The Genoa is easy to deploy.

Easy to stow.

*My advice:  Have them make the wire inside the sail an inch or two shorter than your forestay and make up the difference with a longer shackle--it would save a lot of time getting the mast rake correct.