building a system to hoist my SIB up to the rafters...

[syncrobutter]

OK, a new quandary for the engineering minded!

I am working on a snatch block/pulley for hoisting my boat up and out of the way to store it, and I need to figure out a way to get it as high off the ground as possible. The pictures tell the tale of my current not-so-great dry run: disregard the bow-up attitude (easy enough to adjust that) and the height of the snatch block itself (I've raised about 8-10 inches since taking the pic), the bigger issue is with how to rig the boat: the distance between the top of the gunwales and the boat's attachment point to the lifting system cable is just too much.

The area where I would like to hoist and store the boat is beneath my deck and directly in front of the entry to my basement shop space. The shop has a "roll up" style garage door and I want to be able to move my vehicles in and out of the shop with the boat in place. My tallest vehicle (VW syncro westfalia) leaves about 4 feet between the top of the vehicle roof and the bottoms of the joists from the deck, so I need the boat to live in that 4 feet if the system is going to work.

Any ideas? The current implementation is both tight and at gunwale level when I am hooking it up to the hoist system with the boat sitting in the pickup bed, but when I lift it gets lots of slack from the flex of the boat, from the stretch of the webbing, etc. Also the attachment points to the boat itself leave a lot to be desired. I'm thinking maybe I build some sort of a rigid "shelf" or frame that the boat sits on, and attach my lifting points to that (maybe with braided steel cable?)? I'm sure someone has had this issue or something similar before, so I am turning to you all for advice etc.

Background:
Boat is an Achilles SGX-122 (167lbs / 76kg and 12'2'' / 3.65M long) that I want to store up under my deck in the back of my house when not in use. The engine, gas can etc will be stored elsewhere. I want to store it up under the deck with a hoisting system for several reasons:
-Ease of unloading from the back of my pickup: just back it in, hook it up and hoist directly from the bed. I am primarily using this boat solo, so being able to unload/store solo is nice to have.
-Protection from UV and weather
-Keeping my yard relatively de-cluttered. Not having a trailer etc was a selling point that led me to this class/size of boat, storing it somewhere "neat and tidy" is ideal.

Limitations and other considerations:
-I'm a mountaineer so I am using some mountaineering concepts/gear here, all of the webbing you see is climbing webbing so PLENTY strong for this application.
-I have small children playing in my backyard. They know not to play in this particular spot but… bottom line, I'm not entertaining any ideas that seem iffy or could have a single point of failure resulting in the boat falling on someone. I'm planning a backup which would, if the steel cable broke or the winch was accidentally released, keep the boat from falling to the ground.

[HDAV]

Looks like a massively overly complicated way to store in inflatable boat to me...........

[syncrobutter]

Originally Posted by HDAV

Looks like a massively overly complicated way to store in inflatable boat to me...........

I'm open to alternatives, so long as I can
1) keep the boat inflated when not in use
2) keep it off the ground (plenty of hungry rodents around here)
3) keep it out of the way
4) keep it out of the weather/sun

[ShinyShoe]

One point of failure from what I can see.

People used to lift mirror dingies off cars into garage loft spaces using similar...

But I would have 4 blocks not 1, taking the load and possibly routed back to one place to lift via other blocks.

I'd probably lift via the handles or a webbing strap underneath... But I may get shot for suggesting either!

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by HDAV

Looks like a massively overly complicated way to store in inflatable boat to me...........

Me too.....
but if you're set on it ...a Cradle of some kind is the way to go....(Cargo net might work)
Another alternative looking at the pic could be a Hinged Platform which you angle (with stops) to help ease of storage and retrieval.

Rodents will climb anything...so plenty of Bait to keep em occupied on the ground

[syncrobutter]

Not set on anything, very open to suggestion here... investment so far is about $5 for some hardware and maybe 2 hours of my time so if this is a dumb idea you can say so :-)

I'm using a hand winch like you would see on any trailer, I've just run it through some pulleys. I've added another pic showing the pieces, seemed very simple to me

Regarding the complexity comments, is your concern about hoisting a boat up to the rafters for storage in general, or about my specific implementation? Hoisting the boat up to the rafters in a garage to store it is something I've seen mentioned a number of times on this forum and I've done this with things like kayaks and bikes. Sounds like ShinyShoe has heard of it too

If I were asking this question more generally ("I would like to store my boat up under the deck, but would need to be able to use the garage") what would you all suggest?

[syncrobutter]

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

One point of failure from what I can see.

I'm planning a redundant strap that I can attach once the boat is up in position. If the entire rest of the system fails, the boat would drop 2-3 feet but not all the way to the ground. If the porch collapses though... i guess I am screwed

Thanks for pointing out the use of similar system for mirror dinghy, never heard of this vessel before but looks like the requirements should be very similar!

[jeffstevens763@g]

the easiest way ive done is to have an hinged frame off say a wall tie the boat to the frame then lift the opposite side side up that could be done with a snatch block and winch we then had legs on the frame that dropped down and secured with bolts. in your case you could drop 4 legs down from the roof joists.

[Poly]

I don’t think you’re totally crazy, but I think you want the lifting cables to be as near vertical as possible otherwise you will never close the gap (and are actually applying a force in the horizontal direction too).

If it were me, I would de lifting from strong points on the transom and ideally the bow inside the boat (but you may not have a ring there).

[Poly]

You should have bought the trailer too - then just lift the trailer! https://goo.gl/images/BYmGfy

[GuyC]

I think my Mk 1 effort would involve a couple of spreader beams transversely in way of the grab handles or bow / stern eyes along with a central spine to make a lifting frame. I'd attach the pulley the the side of the floor joists to reduce the droop and a lifting eye on the central spine to lift from. I suspect 4x2 timber would be sufficiently strong.

Nice looking van and welcome to the forum.

[Limecc]

Keeping and storing a SIB inflated seems a bit counter productive to the concept to me, you have all the performance disadvantages of a SIB with the storage disadvantage of a RIB on top!

The above being said, my solution was to deflate and store in a mouse proof galvanized steel container with hinged lid. I also thought about making a plywood box with glass fibre weather proofing.

Hanging in the rafters you will get bird droppings and dust/debris, will be subject to strong wind at times this might bring other issues like chaffing. Also it's on display to tempt theft.

If you still plan on going ahead you would do well to make dedicated bunks which are hoisted on the four corners. Lack of headroom means four pulleys are needed for a straight lift.

Trying to be helpful sorry if it's sounding negative.

[IainK]

Hi All, hope this helps from our Maidens, West of Scotland boat house. Two 13 Amp winches, a bit of steel and common sense. Doubles floor area of boat house, if you have room!
Best wishes Iain