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michaelmrc · 05-01-2010, 11:22

good day everyone
just wondering if anyone out there has built a temporary full cockpit enclosure on their boat. im looking for ideas on enclosing the cockpit on my catalina specifically for the winter. something that i can still go out and motor around for the day if i choose but at the same time keep everything dry. thanks

**David M** · 05-01-2010, 11:31

I would call a canvas maker and see what kind of ideas he or she has.

michaelmrc · 05-01-2010, 11:36

i did call one here she told me would be around $5000 to make a full enclosure damn near had a heart attack.

rustypirate · 05-01-2010, 13:46

On our center cockpit boat we had a permanent bimini with side curtains on 3 sides that rolled up when not in use. The folding dodger also mated up at the front so that we could fully enclose it when we wanted. It came in handy in really rough weather, but mostly we only let down the side curtains on the upwind sides to allow for more ventalation and visibility.

**Pblais** · 05-01-2010, 15:30

To hold up in weather it has to be built right. To be able to to sail or motor with it it has to have visibility and the ability to take on weather. The idea of temporary enclosure is more like it might only have to last a year or so, but the performance criteria would be far more than that. I think the difference between what you say you want and something not temporary is not that much. For your part of the world a real enclosure would be worth the investment, not saying if you could afford to or not. If you got one year out of it the average annual cost would be higher than a real enclosure. If you used it one year I think you would use it the next and the one after that too. Early Spring and late Fall can also share the benefit as well.

There is always PVC pipe and blue tarps. Spending more than that would not be worth a one year or one season solution. You just have to know you could lose it all on the wrong day.

Pegasus · 01-10-2016, 11:27

I just found a website selling a design called a Habitant - a temporary cockpit enclosure. Google .it.

chuckr · 02-10-2016, 01:26

We had side curtains that zip to each other and roll up that we had made in Trinidad before we crossed the Atlantic - they were down most of the crossing and down all winter in Tunisia and Turkey -

the guy who made them in Trinidad, Carlos, did a grade c-- job and we will some things worked out on them this year in Kusadasi Turkey over the winter and may have a new bimini and dodger built and still attach them as zip on and off and roll up - - not sure the cost as I would have to do some looking about it but in the couple of thousand range

**JPA Cate** · 02-10-2016, 02:57

$2000 for a full cockpit enclosure seems to me to be a great deal! Hired out canvas work is dear, but the results can make your life much more comfortable.

Fwiw, new boom bag, here in Australia, would run around 1 to 1.5 k for our boat. Mmmmm....we just built it, but with berthage costs, and time away from sailing, maybe not too good a financial deal, but of course, we did get the Sail Rite, too.

Ann