Water-sealing lines through dodger

[waterman46]

Need advice on running lines from mast through fabric dodger to the cockpit. Currently I have halyard winches on the mast, but contemplating moving main halyard winch to cabin top when I have in-boom reefing installed. Need a method of feeding halyard and reefing lines through dodger so wind driven spray and sometimes nearly solid water striking the dodger won't result in a wet cabin top and wet cockpit.

I should add that in these rough upwind conditions we sail with our cockpit normally dry, as we have a full cockpit cover that I leave open only in the back.

Sounds impossible to me, to avoid a lot of water getting through, but is there any solution? Perhaps some sort of tight fitting rubber grommet sewn into the dodger?

[NYSail]

On my boats they have always gone under the dodger.... flaps in the fabric. New boat has it as part of the sea hood, however in both cases with a direct hit you will have some water getting through. Beats going to the mast......
Good luck

[Cheechako]

I had small openings in the dodger bottom which were leathered. In theory water could have come thru there. In reality it really didn't. By the time you are taking green water from the bow that is heavy enough to inundate the boat that much you have water everywhere; over the dodger, waves along the sidedecks which roll into the cockpit etc. Of course, you say you are enclosed, but I would think you would be starting to worry about that enclosure if it's coming thru much. So I say.... not to worry.

[JPA Cate]

On our boat, which is timber covered with epoxy and glass, and painted, there is a massive structure which supports the traveler, directly fwd of the dodger, and acts as a dam to divert the water that comes aft. Each line is let through the bottom of the dam, in a pipe that does not touch the line, which comes under the dodger in another pipe through the cockpit coaming to the sheet stoppers and winch. We don't take on water with that set up, but you might be able to make a diversion dam, and then go through the coaming, as ours is. Does your Morgan have a coaming that the dodger is affixed to?

Another thing I have seen, is to scalpel-slash the pvc clears, around the rope penetrations, but it really doesn't seal it completely, and I bet you'll be using rags to stop the water.

It would add friction, but if you have secondary winches, you might be able to run the line down along the side deck, through a turning block, through a sheet stopper, to your secondary winch, or primary and avoid the clears penetration that way. The downside is more string on the deck. You'll need to have access to the boom furling line and the halyard at the same time, especially if you singlehand.

Just between you and me, I wouldn't do what you contemplate. Regular slab reefing into a boom bag just works pretty well, and with a larger mainsail than yours,,if that is relevant to you. If you care about performance and sail shape, you will not be happy with the necessary compromises there. No offense intended, but we've kept our halyards at the mast and the reefs from the cockpit for the last 35 yrs. or so, with lots of sea miles, and it works for us, it's simple, reliable, and the boom bag keeps the sail tidy so you don't have to tie in the reefs. (Plus, the money you save, you can buy a better class of beverages! )

Just my two cents'.

Ann

[Minggat]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I had small openings in the dodger bottom which were leathered. ....not to worry.

Leather patches sewn in to your Sunbrella. Small slits for the lines to pass through.

[Maka]

Interesting question. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.

[alansmith]

Ann Cates, I like your thought about better class of beverages. U r fun Ann

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

On our boat, which is timber covered with epoxy and glass, and painted, there is a massive structure which supports the traveler, directly fwd of the dodger, and acts as a dam to divert the water that comes aft. Each line is let through the bottom of the dam, in a pipe that does not touch the line, which comes under the dodger in another pipe through the cockpit coaming to the sheet stoppers and winch. We don't take on water with that set up, but you might be able to make a diversion dam, and then go through the coaming, as ours is. Does your Morgan have a coaming that the dodger is affixed to?

Another thing I have seen, is to scalpel-slash the pvc clears, around the rope penetrations, but it really doesn't seal it completely, and I bet you'll be using rags to stop the water.

It would add friction, but if you have secondary winches, you might be able to run the line down along the side deck, through a turning block, through a sheet stopper, to your secondary winch, or primary and avoid the clears penetration that way. The downside is more string on the deck. You'll need to have access to the boom furling line and the halyard at the same time, especially if you singlehand.

Just between you and me, I wouldn't do what you contemplate. Regular slab reefing into a boom bag just works pretty well, and with a larger mainsail than yours,,if that is relevant to you. If you care about performance and sail shape, you will not be happy with the necessary compromises there. No offense intended, but we've kept our halyards at the mast and the reefs from the cockpit for the last 35 yrs. or so, with lots of sea miles, and it works for us, it's simple, reliable, and the boom bag keeps the sail tidy so you don't have to tie in the reefs. (Plus, the money you save, you can buy a better class of beverages! )

Just my two cents'.

Ann

The Morgan 462 has a center cockpit with a coaming that is about 5 inches high and has a very shallow slope on it's outboard or forward edge. Installing tubes through the coaming would have a big advantage in that the lines can be kept exactly at deck level so they should feed straight into linestoppers on the cabin top aft of the coaming. But if not installed very well, it could be a source of deck leaks into the headliner.

These tubes, being of a firm construction compared to the fabric dodger, should make it a bit easier to stuff rags up into them around the lines to block large amounts of water flow. Blocking the main force of water before it even gets to the coaming, as you mentioned, is a great idea, but I prefer to keep the deck clear in that area.

The in-boom furling is not actually completely connected to need for reefing from cockpit, but to take full advantage of in-boom mainsail furling it is great to be able to completely douse the main from the cockpit and know it is then fully captivated and no further work is needed for a neat appearance. I'm not terribly worried about optimizing sail shape and in-boom reefing/furling sails can be made with full roach and good shape.

But since the boom bag is probably 1/10 the cost of what I'm considering, I do owe it to myself to somehow try it out on my boat. I do think it will still require a trip to the mast to pull down the mainsail but that's no problem for me. If that is all it takes to make it lie neatly and completely in the bag when completely furled, then that would be great. Guess I would still need a new mast track, modify mainsail for full length battens, etc.