Reader tip of the week: Build your own davits: crane the outboard motor with ease

Hoisting the outboard motor from the yacht onto the dinghy quickly becomes a feat of strength. The person hoisting the outboard is bent over on board, and there is no safe place to stand in the dinghy to pick up the engine - neither position is ideal. Using simple on-board equipment, we have constructed a crane that makes these contortions a thing of the past. The centrepiece is a 50-centimetre-long aluminium tube that was left over from the construction of our sprayhood.

It forms the crane arm, which is attached to the solid support of our equipment carrier for solar cells at the rear. The movable connection is formed by two pipe clamps, the ends of which are screwed together. The pipe clamp on the equipment carrier must remain slightly loose (so that the crane can rotate) and be secured against slipping downwards with a hose clamp.

With two ends of cordage, blocks and additional hose clamps, it becomes a real small crane. Two cleats on the post of the equipment carrier for attaching the lines complete the whole thing.

- Werner Schwenzfeier, by e-mail

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Downloads:

Motor: Outboard, 5 hp, 6 models (pdf)