Cradle for item transportation and storage, especially watercraft storage

A cradle assembly for moving and positioning a watercraft with respect to a support module in a watercraft storage assembly, the watercraft including a bottom, the cradle assembly comprising

• a plurality of cradle beams;
• at least one cradle wall vertically extending upward from one of the cradle beams;
• at least one stanchion vertically extending upward from one of the cradle beams;
• a padded support operatively attached to the at least one stanchion and positioned to engage the bottom of the watercraft as the cradle assembly moves the watercraft with respect to the support module;
• a positioning system operatively connected to the padded support to position the padded support to selectively engage the bottom of the watercraft;
• further including a guide arm pivotally attached to the stanchion and the padded support and positioned to horizontally and vertically vary the alignment of the padded support with respect to the plurality of cradle beams;
• wherein the positioning system is operatively connected to the guide arm to rotate the guide arm about the attachment between the guide arm and the stanchion;
• wherein the rotation of the guide arm by the positioning system varies the location of the padded support with respect to the plurality of cradle beams;
• wherein the padded support is a pair of guide rollers rotatably attached to the guide arm for protected gripping of the watercraft;
• and
• wherein adjacent cradle beams are spaced a distance apart and the pair of guide rollers substantially spans that distance.

A cradle assembly for moving and positioning a watercraft with respect to a support module in a watercraft storage assembly, the watercraft including a bottom, the cradle assembly comprising

• a plurality of cradle beams;
• at least one cradle wall vertically extending upward from one of the cradle beams;
• at least one stanchion vertically extending upward from one of the cradle beams;
• a padded support operatively attached to the at least one stanchion and positioned to engage the bottom of the watercraft as the cradle assembly moves the watercraft with respect to the support module;
• a positioning system operatively connected to the padded support to position the padded support to selectively engage the bottom of the watercraft;
• and
• wherein the stanchion is slideably connected to the one of the cradle beams and horizontally positionable with respect to one of the cradle beams.

A cradle assembly for moving and positioning a watercraft with respect to a support module in a watercraft storage assembly, the watercraft including a bottom, the cradle assembly comprising

• a plurality of cradle beams;
• at least one cradle wall vertically extending upward from one of the cradle beams;
• at least one stanchion vertically extending upward from one of the cradle beams;
• a padded support operatively attached to the at least one stanchion and positioned to engage the bottom of the watercraft as the cradle assembly moves the watercraft with respect to the support module;
• a positioning system operatively connected to the padded support to position the padded support to selectively engage the bottom of the watercraft;
• and
• further including a floating centering assembly attached to the cradle wall, the floating centering assembly attached to the cradle wall and comprising at least one pair of buoyant arms to direct the watercraft to the center of the cradle assembly by applying pressure to sides of the watercraft.

A cradle assembly for moving and positioning an item with respect to a support module in a storage assembly, the item including a bottom, the cradle assembly comprising

• a plurality of cradle beams;
• at least one cradle wall vertically extending upward from the plurality of cradle beams;
• at least one stanchion vertically extending upward from one of the cradle beams;
• a padded support operatively attached to the at least one stanchion and positioned to engage the bottom of the item as the cradle assembly moves the item with respect to the support module;
• and
• a positioning system operatively connected to the padded support to horizontally and vertically position the padded support with respect to the plurality of cradle beams to selectively engage the bottom of the item;
• wherein adjacent cradle beams are spaced a distance apart and the padded support substantially spans that distance;
• and
• wherein the stanchion is slideably connected to the one of the cradle beams and horizontally positionable with respect to one of the cradle beams.

A cradle assembly for use in a watercraft storage system including a support wall, at least two watercraft support modules mounted and stacked in relationship to said support wall, said support modules each including a pair of cantilever beams having opposing ends, one of each set of opposing ends being attached to said support wall and the other end of each set of opposing ends cantilevering out from said support wall, a remote support unit spaced from said support wall in a direction of the other opposing ends of said beams and beyond the said other ends of said beams, the cradle assembly comprising:

• a plurality of cradle beams having a left and right side;
• a cradle wall vertically extending upward from each side of the cradle beams;
• a plurality of stanchions vertically extending upward from each of the cradle beams;
• a padded support operatively connect to the stanchion and positionable in both a horizontal and a vertical direction with respect to the plurality of cradle beams to engage the bottom of the watercraft as the cradle assembly moves the watercraft with respect to the cantilever beams;
• and
• a positioning system operatively connected to the padded support and aligned to selectively position each padded support to correspond to the variance on the bottom of the watercraft.