I have been dealing with figuring out how to lift stuff onto the fore deck of the boat.
I have the Boom, and a telescoping whisker pole. I made a strap like the belly strap for a horse saddle, using the ratchet straps from a trucker. Watch the shoulder of the roads; I see them all the time. I made it with 3 runs of the straps. I have the triangle shaped rings on the ends. I then put a piece of thick canvas across it so I can use it to hold the tack of my A-Sym Spinnaker. When I put it on the w-pole to lift my dinghy on to the deck, it really put too much strain on the pole. The halyard was on the end of the pole and the pole was attracted to my mast. SO I went out and found a spinnaker pole that would be tough enough to do it. Well, those things be real heavy.
So after some thinking and a few weeks of staring at it, I came up with a mod.
I added another ring to the center on the outside. So now I attach the halyard to the ring on the center, the belt or strap units goes over the pole and the block and tackle attach to the rings on the bottom side. I also have a line running from the top ring to a block on the end of the pole. This line is how I move the belt in and out on the pole. The pole actually doesn’t carry much of any weight now. I can raise the dinghy from the deck and then put it outboard easily without banging the crap out of my lifelines and freeboard like it used to.
I tried lifting the dinghy up and lowering it in the vertical position but that was really a pain in the butt. Not to mention the time I got ‘brained’ by it and almost fell overboard. Think I got a mild concussion from that one. Huge dent in the back of my head, lights went out for a moment, headache ensued for a long bit.. Not to mention the blurry eyesight…
So yep, the dinghy goes over the side and sets into the water horizontally and also I can lift it out during the night when I am at anchor and therefore have less of a chance of losing it to folks who feel like thieving is OK.