Brian
I have davits on my Mark I, built 1990, with a walk thru transon. However, they are not the brand you mentioned. I know this because the PO who installed them told me so. I don't know how to post a photo on this site so I will send it directly to you if you whish. This will take some time because my boat is docked behind my house 26 feet away. ;)

Brian:

I have a 1991 boat, pre-Mark II, with the walk-thru transom. I did not install davits, but I did install a motor lift on the starboard side of the transom, from Ocean Marine. I found them very helpful, and the equipment is high quality and has worked perfectly. I preferred their design over Cato and Garhauer. I'm sure you could call them and talk through the issues. The mounting hardware on the transom (the base) should be through-bolted to a backing plate (which they supply) on the inside of the hull. The starboard side was easy because of access through the locker. It might be a challenge on the port side of the transom, however, if your boat, like mine, has a propane locker installed on that side. It would be necessary to pull the tank and the locker out of there to get access to the transom to install the backing plate and the bolts on the insde surface of the hull. (Unless there is access from the aft berth, which I doubt there is, without pulling out the panel at the aft end of the berth).

Good luck.

--Nelson Lee

Brian,

I have hull number 1252 and know exactly what you mean by the narrow walk through transom.

Kato built my davits to my specifications and I have included a photograph that I think you will find helpful.

I have no regrets with the Kato davits, the quality is excellent.

If you gentleman do exchange email directly, I'd appreciate it if you would post any information about removing the propane locker to access the port side of the transom. I'm interested in that project.

Thanks.

--Nelson Lee

Brian,

You have hit on one of the real challenges of the davit install project, but the solution was actually pretty simple.

I didn't remove the propane tank locker, I removed the rudder control cable cover and with the help of a friend and a scrap wooden stick, bolted the davit support base through the port side of the transom.

I first set up the job by attaching the SS washers and nuts to the backing plate with some epoxy glue being careful to line them up and not get epoxy in the threads. I used the finished screws to hold them in position while the epoxy dried.

When the nuts and washers were glued in place, working from inside the boat, I used a very long threaded (temporary) screw run down the nut so that the screw came sticking out backwards through the backing plate.

We pushed the threaded rod with the backing plate attached to it, through the transom from inside to the outside of the boat and then placed a temporary nut on this threaded rod until I had enough pressure holding the backing plate in position. With use of a stick we moved the backing plate until the other 2 holes lined up.

When I had 2 of the other holes lined up I carefully, gently, hand tightened the screws in place. When these 2 screws were snug, I removed the long temporary rod and put the last screw in place through the backing plate.

Just before the last inch or so of the screws were run in, I coated them with 5200 to seal the holes.

We used a Basin Wrench attached to a stick to hold the nuts firmly while we tightened them.

Piece of cake!

I am sure there are other ways to accomplish the same thing, if I was a good welder perhaps you could have the nuts TIG welded to the backing plate or if you used brass backing plate and brass nuts, you could braze the nuts in place making the job easier.

But the installation of the davit supports was not nearly as difficult as I first thought it would be.

Now if you give the wrong measurements to the davit maker so that support flanges don't rest flush against the transom, now that requires some real head scratching. Buts that's another part of the story.

All:

Please share photos w/ me at my email-- [email]jchandley@comcast.net[/email]. I've been into the back space around the locker, steering geer, etc... its not tough and it can be fast with a power screw driver.

Also, what brand and length dinks go well off the MK 1.5 (walk through stern) davits?

Thanks,

Jim

Just a thought. A friend of mine installed Weaver dingy davits on the back of his 44 Benatuea and stores his dingy that way where it flips up. Healing is not a issues either with it in heavy seas.

I installed a set of Kato davits on the stern of my 1986 Catalina 36. No problems! Kato does a great job making quality products and provide great customer support.
The Kato davits replaced a more primitive set.
I also added vertical support bars from lower on the transom to the stern rail to carry some of the load. Kato supplied these based on my measurements to their drawing and the bars fit perfectly. They also make great hand rails for boarding via the stern ladder.
I added the Kato solar panel brackets to the double cross rail stabilizer, which I recommend even without having to add solar panels to make a very rigid structure.

Pete Ludlow
Emerald City

This year I installed the Forespar davits on my Mk I, #1339, Pooka. They are installed on the transom, 60" apart. The swivel bases (3" diam) are mounted on one inch teak blocks with a corresponding backing block on the inside. The only reqret I have is that I can't lower the swim ladder without lowing the dingy. The forespar davits swing in when not be used. This feature can save four feet on your winter storage bill and look neater if your racing. As you can see from the attached photos, the mounting options are limited.

During my cruising recently, I came across a couple of Mk I davit installations. I photographed them for this thread. If the photo resolution here isn't satisfactory, I do have high-res jpegs available. Just email a request to me.

Nice job, Larry. Thanks!

Mike