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Old 06-11-2015, 23:54   #16
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Re: Can I see your dodger?

Iverson is the BEST available, I would never have anyone else build one! of course I've only sailed 20K mile so maybe I'm a newbie....
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Old 07-11-2015, 00:44   #17
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Re: Can I see your dodger?

Quote:
Originally Posted by El Pinguino View Post
If you really want protection from the elements don't muck about with canvas... get something like this....
Aft cabin / wheelhouse is one thing but what the heck happened to the mast ???
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Old 07-11-2015, 01:47   #18
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Re: Can I see your dodger?

One (or two) option(s) might be to build a hard dodger, but more in the form of a wind screen. And design it so that it has a Cabriolet style, canvas top. Which you can make as high or low as you want. And even incorporate a zip open flap in the portion over the companionway.

Or, build a hard dodger, & put a sliding hatch, akin to the one in your companionway, into it's top. That way, you get the perks of a full dodger, but fairly easy entry into your boat, sans restrictions.
And for full on watertight protection with such a rig, you could attach some bolt rope track around the hatch in the dodger, & build a canvas storm cover for it. Much like is done for deck hatches.

Also, with either route, were it me, I'd build a fair percentage of the dodger's "lid" out of Acrylic, or Isenglas; respectively. So that I could check the trim of the mainsail without having to poke my head out from underneath of the protection of the dodger.
It's a wonder that more aren't built this way, IMO.
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Old 07-11-2015, 02:16   #19
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Re: Can I see your dodger?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wotname View Post
Aft cabin / wheelhouse is one thing but what the heck happened to the mast ???
No point in carrying around tophamper you don't need. If you always have 3 reefs down why not just accept it....

If I tell you it was taken in Macquarie Harbour (west coast Tasmania for them as don't know) ( 15 years ago) would it all make more sense?
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Old 07-11-2015, 11:02   #20
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Re: Can I see your dodger?

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Originally Posted by Don C L View Post
...and sea hood? Especially for a boat like a Columbia 29, or Triton, or Bristol or Cape Dory or others in the 27'-32' area. I am trying to conjure up a good dodger for mine and would love to see how others have done it. My boom is fairly low so I am curious what kinds of creations others have come up with. Thanks!
I've had several standard folding dodgers over the years but I have never folded them. With my present dodger, a couple of years old, I extended it aft several inches to provide extra shelter close to the cabin. As I didn't want to fold it I made some extra struts in the frame using aluminum tube and canopy fittings. They can easily be taken out in a few minutes if it is required to fold the dodger.
I do have a central handle at the back angled up a little. It's very useful and there are various ways to do that if you need to clear the boom. You can make a more satisfactory dodger shape if you don't want to fold it.


If your low boom is an issue, you could have a sailmaker take up a seam in the mainsail shortening the leach but not the luff with a wedge shaped cut at a seam. Not at the bottom of the sail as some fullness is built in there, rather 2 or 3 feet up. That would raise the boom at its aft end. You won't need very much and it will make no noticeable difference to sailing ability. The sailmaker could simply fold in a tuck and stitch it without cutting the cloth for you to try it before making it permanent. If your mainsheet rope is a minimum length already it could become too short. If it is 6 part, you might loose 6 X the extra boom height. You could then drop the top blocks down the extra amount with a wire or spectra strop. That all depends on where on your boom the mainsheet is attached.


I'll try to take and post a couple of dodger photos later. I considered a hard dodger but that was too "hard" and too much extra weight higher up.
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Old 07-11-2015, 13:28   #21
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Re: Can I see your dodger?

Hi DL
I'm in the process of building a Dodger right now. I've attached a couple of photos for you. I'm using a Sailrite kit and modifying as I go. For example I made it of separate panels so that the top, front and side panels are joined by fasteners. On a warm day I can just remove one or both front windows. I added Phirex (sp?) sunguard covers to give the vinyl some UV protection but still allows me to see out when things are covered up. Finally I built in a small boom gallows that let's the boom rest on top of the Dodger.

Good luck with your project
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Old 07-11-2015, 13:29   #22
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pirate Re: Can I see your dodger?

I've seen a couple of these lately. This was made from a sheet of PVC, and I think the sheet cost $140. Took the curve nicely, and now has solar panels on top.
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Old 07-11-2015, 14:01   #23
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Re: Can I see your dodger?

Quote:
Originally Posted by El Pinguino View Post
If you really want protection from the elements don't muck about with canvas... get something like this....
Please tell me that's not yours Ping?
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Old 07-11-2015, 14:38   #24
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Re: Can I see your dodger?

Not mine... see #19
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Old 07-11-2015, 15:56   #25
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Re: Can I see your dodger?

Quote:
Originally Posted by El Pinguino View Post
If you really want protection from the elements don't muck about with canvas... get something like this....
That's not a dodger, it's a mother-in law apartment!
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Old 07-11-2015, 17:38   #26
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Re: Can I see your dodger?

Quote:
Originally Posted by GrahamHO View Post
If your low boom is an issue, you could have a sailmaker take up a seam in the mainsail shortening the leach but not the luff with a wedge shaped cut at a seam. Not at the bottom of the sail as some fullness is built in there, rather 2 or 3 feet up. That would raise the boom at its aft end. You won't need very much and it will make no noticeable difference to sailing ability. The sailmaker could simply fold in a tuck and stitch it without cutting the cloth for you to try it before making it permanent. If your mainsheet rope is a minimum length already it could become too short. If it is 6 part, you might loose 6 X the extra boom height. You could then drop the top blocks down the extra amount with a wire or spectra strop. That all depends on where on your boom the mainsheet is attached.
There's a bit of wisdom. Thanks.

I'll try to take and post a couple of dodger photos later. I considered a hard dodger but that was too "hard" and too much extra weight higher up.
Guys, as I've posted before, a properly built hard dodger needn't weight much at all.
When properly designed & built, they weigh less, & cost less, than a custom canvas on frame, conventional dodger.

For example, Steve Rander & his crew @ Schooner Creek Boatworks, built one for the racing boat S/V Jelik using; 2 layers of 6oz carbon fiber, on either side of 1" Divinycell foam. And then glued on a piece of 3mm Lexan, using some stuff in a cartridge tube by Plexus.
The whole thing didn't weigh but like 40lbs, on a boat close to 80' long. http://archive.schoonercreek.com/images/1998_professional_boatbuilder.pdf
Which adds up to a lot less than $1K in materials, or FAR less than a pram hood.

Such would also be the case for a DIY job, made out of a few layers of 3mm ply, some core, as a stiffener, & a couple of layers of E-glass.
It ain't rocket science.

And they'd be a far sight tougher than a standard dodger. Plus, you'd have the option to use, say, a couple of Lewmar Ocean Series hatches, for openable front windows.
Or, one better, have the hatch lids secured with Fast Pins at their hinge points, so that you could remove them entirely if you so desire.

IMO, all boats should have the option for such. As if mass produced, they'd be mega cheap. And built in a modular fashion, one could always add one to their boat later. Plus, you'd have the option to unbolt it & stick it in your garage, if you wanted to reduce your windage for racing.

Also, think on this. At least half of the boats in SoCal have conventional dodgers, & the number's even higher amongst cruisers. Yet the temp rarely drops below 50 degrees, even in the winter time there. Ergo, an obvious demand for dodgers, even in warm climates.
So, if consumer's would pull their heads out of their backsides, & demand such features, they'd be common, & CHEAP.
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Old 07-11-2015, 18:02   #27
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Re: Can I see your dodger?

Quote:
Originally Posted by El Pinguino View Post
No point in carrying around tophamper you don't need. If you always have 3 reefs down why not just accept it....

If I tell you it was taken in Macquarie Harbour (west coast Tasmania for them as don't know) ( 15 years ago) would it all make more sense?
Well, yes, perhaps it would work at Macquarie Harbour...

They do issue a special weather warning there on those 2 days a month when shadows appear on the water
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Old 07-11-2015, 18:31   #28
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Re: Can I see your dodger?

Don,

Some years ago I had a Columbia 29 Mark I (a fine boat!). I added a sea hood and dodger that worked very well. You can see photos in a video I made from slides of a cruise to Mexico in 1985-86.

Mexico on Sonrisa

Towards the start you can see the mold I cobbled together with wood and masonite to lay up the sea hood. You can also see that I didn't use gelcoat, which would've required a very well finished mold -- after removing from the mold I filled and faired with epoxy, then painted it.

John

p.s. this is my first post on this forum, and I don't quite get the link procedure -- hope it worked.
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Old 07-11-2015, 19:35   #29
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Re: Can I see your dodger?

Cascade Yachts
Try these guys, they make one for a Cascade 29. My Cascade 36 has one and I mounted the boom crutch up there, have two solar panels on top, and can safely stand on it. I sail out in the ocean with it, as far as Hawaii and back to BC.
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Old 07-11-2015, 21:16   #30
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Re: Can I see your dodger?

Quote:
Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED View Post
One (or two) option(s) might be to build a hard dodger, but more in the form of a wind screen. And design it so that it has a Cabriolet style, canvas top. Which you can make as high or low as you want. And even incorporate a zip open flap in the portion over the companionway.
For some examples of these, just do an online search of some of the Northern European boats; Malo, Hallberg Rassy, & a bunch of others in that neck of the woods. They're pretty much OEM parts with said vessels, & for good reason. The water is NEVER warm up there, & pretty much, neither is the air over the seas.

Or, build a hard dodger, & put a sliding hatch, akin to the one in your companionway, into it's top. That way, you get the perks of a full dodger, but fairly easy entry into your boat, sans restrictions.
And for full on watertight protection with such a rig, you could attach some bolt rope track around the hatch in the dodger, & build a canvas storm cover for it. Much like is done for deck hatches.

Also, with either route, were it me, I'd build a fair percentage of the dodger's "lid" out of Acrylic, or Isenglas; respectively. So that I could check the trim of the mainsail without having to poke my head out from underneath of the protection of the dodger.
It's a wonder that more aren't built this way, IMO.
For some other, helpful, & interesting ideas on this topic, have a look at; the Hunter HC 50, the vessel Route 66 (from which a lot of ideas in the HC 50 came), Tuesday's Child (or possibly Thursday's), any & all of the French/European Single/Short-Handed boats. Ditto on the RTW racers, & all of the other solo classes. Like the 6.50, the Class 40, & a half a dozen others of said ilk.

Almost all of them have hard dodgers, & or extended coach roof structures. Which are possessing of a multiplicity of handy design features. For example, polycarbonate panels forming part of the rear of the coach houses, as well as panels which allow their Skipper's & crew to view sail trim, while remaining either; inside of the boat, or underneath of the protection of the coach house extensions.

And ALL of the boats of this type, have small, but critical, ergonomic structures & items, designed to protect the skippers/crew, so that they have more energy to race. And are less exposed to the elements, long & short term. So that the crews don't get worn down so much by the elements, nor by having to get fully kitted up in their foulies, to go on deck, just to have a look at the mainsail trim, or take a quick 360 of the horizon.

So much so, that in one of the recent, solo, RTW races, the credit for winning the race went to the boat's enhanced dodger/coach roof structure. And the extra protection which it gave the skipper, for these exact reasons.
Though sadly, I can't recall the name of the boat or the skipper @ the moment. But such "technology" translates/transfers directly to good cruising boats. Which are nothing more than slower, lightly crewed vessels, faced with a lot of the same challenges as their racing bretheren.

I mean, think back on how old the polycarbonate half domes set into the coach roofs of the early TRANSAT boats are. And the reasons for the boats & skipper's having them installed there (half a century+ ago). The irony, if it is such, is that they still work great today.
Much as the title of the book (by Oliver De Kerson) states, The Sea Never Changes.



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