Hard Dodger (Sprayhood) Illustrated Guide - Examples, Tips

[Smokeys Kitchen]

Nice looking Trintella by Ron Holland. I think it blends in with the lines very well and looks to have good seating under the dodger. Currently for sale

2000 Trintella Ron Holland design Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

[groundtackle]

Nick's Friggn Enclosure! That's what I call it.
We sat it on the boat today, finally. It's cool. Aluminum. Not done yet but yipee..
I can start from the beginning and explain why we designed and built it this way?
Chris and Nick

[BigNickMontana]

Looks like she came out nice, can't wait to see it buttoned up!

[Terra Nova]

gt--that did turn out very well.

[groundtackle]

So Nick want me to write the story and I took lots of pics. Why not. It might help someone get it right the first time. I'll just post a little at a time and happy to answer questions along the way.
Here goes...
That combo bimini / dodger/ connector thing sucks. The whole thing is ugly, its rattles like a key chain, you can't walk by the aft portion going fwd unless you are built like a stick, inside the dodger hits you in the chest so you must slither down the companionway, its old and cloudy so you might well turn the radar on every time you leave the dock and it's ugly.
I understand how things developed over time and the vessel came with it.
So replace in canvas again, that's not cheap and do it again in 6 years.
We talked about cored composite and that ultimately might have been a better choice but I like metal stuff and its not itchy to work with.
So we drew it on the floor, found a 10' x 19' sheet of 3/16" 5086, bumped some roof beams, and started tacking it up.
You like your story so far Nick?
Chris

[groundtackle]

Terra Nova, thanks for the kind words. I've been concerned the whole time about its height. That tallness is simply reality based on nicks stature. He needs to stand at the helm and in the companionway with a couple inches to spare.
Lots of playing with crayons and sticks onboard before laying it all out.

BigNick, we cant wait to get it buttoned up too. A few tasks first. The deck has been decored for fastener bolts already, just need to drill them. The hatch garage will come off with the enclosure in place but we want to take that garage off one more time just to make sure there are no leaks from that component. Waiting for glass that will go in after its bolted down. Its pretty flexible before mounted and don't want the glass to add difficulty during the bolt down stage, the glass would change its shape.

So... I used some 1 1/2" sch 40 pipe in all the plate edges for that soft corner look. You cannot form/ bend this thing because of some of its shapes. Also its too big, the material pieces are simply not available.
The lid deck beams will be used for wiring.
I always attempt to build things off a boat but this was going to be tricky making patterns without introducing error. Early on decided to tack it all together onboard. Its a pain having these kinds of tools on boats and keeping vessel damage to zero.
A sister showed up and that's always fun getting the families together.
Then we craned the lid onboard. Just need a decent stretch of weather and we got lucky. At this stage its all been drawn so not much fudging can happen anymore.
Chris

[flyingnut40]

Following

[groundtackle]

Teasing

[groundtackle]

Once a day I'll give you 4 pics. This thing has taken forever, it's not fair that you might watch this start to finish in 5 minutes.

Making door skin patterns with a glue gun. Climb the stairs to the big sheet on dry land and skill saw the pieces out. Sit the panels in place, mark the areas and adjust leaving less than fingernail thickness gap fits.

I like the Makita 9005B rat tail grinder with premium 5" 36 grit soft discs and good Walter cutting wax. That grinder keeps your fingers out on startup and can put it down on its back while its still spinning. All about safe here, this is dangerous work and everything is either sharp or hot. I typically don't wear gloves as it give you some false sense. Ears and eyes always need protection and the area clean, clean is safer.
I'm using an inverted ac/dc 200A Tig machine on a 20A breaker so I can't lean into any heat or I'll pop the breaker. I don't want sparks or the dirt of a mig. It does require protection from wind and the gas flow pegged. I'm just tacking.
Keeping the enclosure outboard pipe edge in a half pipe section keeps a semi straight line to work from, otherwise you have waves. It's all about straight lines or smooth curves.

This vessel like most are so out of symmetry, constantly making sure you can duplicate things to the other side.

I forgot how hot it was on some of these days, for Canada.
Cheers, Chris

[groundtackle]

Where were we, I remember now.
Flip the boat around and repeat on stbd side. I left the lid long or wild running aft. There are some main sheet and drop curtain issues that need to be dealt with. At this stage not exactly sure what we wanted.
Second pic shows the aft vertical posts in. We wanted the option to sheet of the top from the outboard aft upper corners. There is so little room under that boom for blocks and stuff but it's possible, talk about that later. Needed to make sure it's built for it though.
You might notice the aft primary winches have been wedged inboard, Nick has done that huge task, they are elec. The fwd bigger secondaries still need doing. We have toed the whole thing out at the bottom or more like shortened the width. One is for looks but secondly for strength, triangulation is the key to rigidity. That goes the same with ss arches and things. If its parallel or square it's like pushing on a empty cardboard box with flaps open.
The whole thing gets incredibly strong. It's held right now with just over a dozen #10 wood screws and bet it could make to Hawaii.
Ready to come off. Nick and John had tough 10 min voyage to the crane, I cut two little eye holes for them, haha. Looks a little fugly but still early. Laying out each panel to maximize the big sheet was tricky. That one little stbd upper corner I just couldn't get, so close.
Carefully stick that big wobbly thing on the truck and back to Nick's garage.
Chris

[groundtackle]

Back at Nick's garage...
We really tried to get it inside but won't fit. Made a temporary shelter hoping but temps drop and the rain starts. This work doesn't like wet and I hate cold.
Did what I could under these impossible working conditions. I think it was 11C this day.
The added sides are for strength, it needs some vertical support being a long span between side window and aft legs. We wanted to hide the rolled up side curtains in their stowed position and a place to add a handrail running forward within easy reach. Perhaps turn it down towards the deck at the fwd outboard corners, ahead of the side windows. Plan to build those rails in stainless.
All these fits are tight, no gaps or at least the attempt. When the final weld is done it just pulls those gaps closed, goes wonky on you. Lots of tacks, clamps and strong backs as you see.
A good friend of mine Yan has a shop in Victoria. He is into everything cool and works in all mediums. I begged him for some space and some help to finish this monster I've created. It needs Mig, some convenient tools and youth. This is hard labour. Most importantly, he just bought that truck with a crane..
https://www.thefabshopvictoria.com/
Added some 3/4" round rod to soften the plate edges and appears we cut the lid to length from the last pic.
Nice to be inside on a good flat floor with light. thanks again Yan.
Chris

[Diamond Life]

Another aluminium one for you

[groundtackle]

Diamond, I like it. Full glass / full frit approach can certainly cut down the build time.
There are some things going on I don't understand, do you have a few more pics from different angles?
Chris

[Diamond Life]

Chris,

Here are three photos, I have removed the heave aluminium hatch cover, a simple one has been made which can easily be removed whilst at sea or folded back out of the way.

Tim

[groundtackle]

DL, That is a very nice functional vessel. As a metal guy you don't need to sell me on all the positive attributes I see. Really like the size too. What is she?
Difficult to keep this discussion to just spray hoods and dodgers when I see this vessel. Some very good ideas going on here.
When building or designing anything you attempt to make the best decisions based on all the given parameters at that moment in time. I can't help but to be positive but also critical, hope that's ok with you. Some of my thoughts are personal taste so who really cares but you.
The hard dodger suits the vessel well. I'd like more coverage to the weather sides, more protection. The lifeline upper half only mesh weather cloths are are a great concept. You get the protection up high yet still have access under, smart. I understand it's a function of human movement fwd but the aft outboard sides could have been more vertical or even raked fwd at the top. I see that often in dodgers and it just bothers me, I'm not sure why... I guess the sides could have come aft halfway towards the winches and still have good freedom to walk fwd..
Love the fixed bimini. Just build something solid and leave it there, well done. You hang onto the thing anyway so make it strong, tired of 1" ss tube. I like the squashed pipe joints instead of coping all the joints, looks just fine to my eye.
Nice boat Tim.
I was going to write about Nick's Friggin enclosure but lost my direction, you folks don't care anyway....
Chris