One of the delights of cruising is anchoring out at your favorite gunk hole and launching the dingy and taking in the sights of the region or visiting other yachts; its a good way to meet new friends. But if your tender is not very accessible or difficult to launch, you will not likely use it often.

All tenders require adequate storage. Towing is not always practical and can be dangerous in bad conditions. The same goes for on deck storage; a big wind and you may lose it. But if properly setup your yacht with the appropriate davit system, your dingy will provide carefree service.

However before you select your davit system, youll need to choose the right dingy for your boating needs. Do you favor a rigid dingy or inflatable? Remember punctures are very common with inflatables? Where will it be used? On the high seas or inland waters? How big do you need her?

Many of the answers to storage locations and systems lie in how large it is and much your tender weighs.

There are four standard davit arrangements ready to store a tender

clip-on, where the tender rests on its side on the swim platform;
stanchion mounts on the transom, the dingy hangs over the stern;
rotating davit mounts on the decks; and
hydraulic - powered lifts attached to a swim platform to raise large dingies or personal water craft.

Clip-on davits are a great product. Weaver Davits, one of the top marketers, are an economical choice for trawlers with swim platforms and small tenders and outboard motors up to 10 horsepower. But the motor must be removed from the tender before hoisting out of the water. Most boaters have an outboard storage rack attached on the transom for easy access. Another worry is lifting the dingy from a horizontal place in the water to a vertical position for storage. Weaver Davits are limited by the weight of the dingy. I have the davit system on our trawler and I could not be more pleased. We can launch and retrieve the tender in less than 10 minutes.

Stanchion mounts are secured to the rails, deck or transom. Designed for heavy dinghy-engine setups, these davit systems come with adjustable riser arms for a custom fit to your boat. Heavy dingies may need optional support kits mounted on the transom or swim platform. When properly installed, the tender rests horizontal from the stern of the boat. On these installations, the tender outboard motor can stay in place. On a negative side, the dingy setup requires a fair amount of manual labor to hoist the dingy using 2 block and tackles. These are popular setups on sailboats.

Rotating davits lift, rotate and place the dingy onto the foredeck or sundeck. If the deck can hold the load, these systems can be directly mounted, or the standing post may be placed on a lower deck. Most setups are provided with an electric winch to mechanically lower and raise the tender. Dingies with big motors (15 horsepower or more) often blend a rotating davit on the transom with a cradle for the dingy mounted on deck. The setups allow raising for the heaviest of tender/motor arrangements. On a negative side, these setups may place the operator at heights that could be dangerous in rough waters. In addition, care must be made to keep the outboard from striking the mother ship as the dingy is raised or lowered, breaking windows or damaging the gel coat.

Hydraulic - powered lifts have become common on large boats to lift heavy dingies or personal water craft. Most are complicated and not easily owner set up. Prices for these davit systems increase as the lifting load increases the heavier the dinghy, the more high-priced the davit system. To use, the lifts are lowered into the water and the tender is driven onto the cradle. A negative feature is that these units may not work well in a following sea.

In most examples when purchasing a used yacht, the dingy and davit system is already in place. You will just need to familiarize yourself with it to see if you like it. If you do not, there are other choices for you.