A boat entry assistance system for use with small, manual or paddle or oar powered watercraft (such as canoes and kayaks) is provided with guide rails on either side of a boat positioning unit, such as a boat lift, which can be utilized by a boater to propel his watercraft into the unit. The system includes a specially designed bench system which assists disabled persons with entering and exiting such small watercraft.

A boat entry assistance system for use with small, manual or paddle or oar powered watercraft (such as canoes and kayaks) is provided with guide rails on either side of a boat positioning unit, such as a boat lift, which can be utilized by a boater to propel his watercraft into the unit. The system includes a specially designed bench system which assists disabled persons with entering and exiting such small watercraft.

A watercraft launch for safely launching and retrieving a watercraft in and out of a body of water from an elevated position has a self-adjusting stairway and hull cradle. The watercraft launch is supported for angular movement relative a seawall as the surface of the water moves between different elevations, such as between tides. The self-adjusting stairway has stair treads that move along with the launch in response changing water elevations and adjust to maintain a horizontal position. The hull cradle moveably connected for longitudinal movement along launch between its upper and lower ends.

Conventional ship launching airbags are made of several layers of rubber and fiber meshes bonded together by vulcanization. With the existing fabrication process, an airbag is strong in standing heavy pressure at its surfaces, but weak against the cutting by sharp edges of metal debris or oyster shells. An airbag's functional failure during a field operation can cause not only stoppage, but also explosion, hence a serious safety hazard. To overcome such structural weakness, a new type of airbags with anti-cutting capability is disclosed in which a conventional ship launching airbag is covered with a layer of anti-cutting armor made of steel cord ply sheets, a standard off-the-shelf product for the making of tires, embedded at the surface of the airbag's main body.

A cylinder mounting assembly for a hydraulic boat lift includes a plurality of H-frame components for pivotally connecting a pair of bunks to side beams of the lift. A trailing pair of hydraulic cylinder actuators pivotally interconnect the side beams to respective trailing H-frame components. The cylinders are selectively operated to pivot the trailing H-frame components closed such that a first longitudinal channel of each trailing H-frame component receives a respective actuator and an opposite, second longitudinal channel of the trailing H-frame component receivably interengages a respective side beam, which lowers the bunks of the lift sufficiently to facilitate driving a vessel onto and launching a vessel from the lift in shallow water conditions.

A shiplift transfer system for moving a ship between a shiplift platform and a shipyard is disclosed. The system includes transition rails coupled with the shipyard that are pivotable about trunnion pins between a position that bridges a gap between the shipyard and the shiplift platform and a position that is clear of the gap and of the shiplift platform. The pins are positioned such that the load is not transferred to the pins. Load on the transition rails is reacted at curved surfaces of the transition rails that are engaged with curved surfaces on the yard. The transition rails are accessible for maintenance and replacement via removable plates. The rails include beveling to accommodate misalignment between the yard and platform.

A shiplift transfer system for moving a ship between a shiplift platform and a shipyard is disclosed. The system includes transition rails coupled with the shipyard that are pivotable about trunnion pins between a position that bridges a gap between the shipyard and the shiplift platform and a position that is clear of the gap and of the shiplift platform. The pins are positioned such that the load is not transferred to the pins. Load on the transition rails is reacted at curved surfaces of the transition rails that are engaged with curved surfaces on the yard. The transition rails are accessible for maintenance and replacement via removable plates. The rails include beveling to accommodate misalignment between the yard and platform.

A watercraft lift with rearward and forward lateral beams, left and right side longitudinal side beams, a pair of left side lifting arms, a pair of right side lifting arms supporting at their upper ends left and right side watercraft supports, and left and right side actuators pivotally attached to the left and right side rearward lifting arms. In one embodiment the left side rearward lifting arm and the left side actuator rotate about their pivotal attachments to the longitudinal left side beam in a left side plane, and the right side rearward lifting arm and the right side actuator rotate about their pivotal attachments to the longitudinal right side beam in a right side plane.

A watercraft lift with rearward and forward lateral beams, left and right side longitudinal side beams, a pair of left side lifting arms, a pair of right side lifting arms supporting at their upper ends left and right side watercraft supports, and left and right side actuators pivotally attached to the left and right side rearward lifting arms. In one embodiment the left side rearward lifting arm and the left side actuator rotate about their pivotal attachments to the longitudinal left side beam in a left side plane, and the right side rearward lifting arm and the right side actuator rotate about their pivotal attachments to the longitudinal right side beam in a right side plane.