Dodger question: Do most people

[GrowleyMonster]

Originally Posted by longjonsilver

Do they even have batters and catchers for those dodgers?

Well, dodgers catch hell and get battered.

[SuW]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

if you decide to make your own, sew it with ptfe thread (one trade name is Tenara). It will last the life of the dodger. Plan on wasting a fair wee bit of it as you learn to work with it, but it lasts a treat, comes in clear, white, and black.

This is very good advice. I like using Tenara now but, there are a couple of tips that are worth knowing:
1) You need to increase the tension of the machine to very high, this stuff if slippery. If needed, loop the thread twice around the tension plates.
2) Don't try to sew through seam stick or double-sided tape. It makes a rat's nest. If you use seam stick, place it so that you are sewing slightly to one side of the glue.
3) Don't try to sew hook side of Velcro with Tenara. Again, rat's nests! The trick here is to design the project so as to sew the loop side with Tenara and make that face the sun, and sew the hook side with regular UV protected polyester and have that stitching protected from the sun.

I've successfully made 2 dodgers. The second one is pretty good but I have been sewing canvas and vinyl for many years. A dodger is a complex project and it will take you a long time.

Incidentally, I find it easier to discard the old canvas/vinyl item and pattern the project again. You'll get a better fit. It really doesn't take long and the pattern you make can be used over and over. Sailrite has great tutorials about the process of making your own pattern.

[Souzag818]

I sewed the dodger for my boat, over the course of about three months, a couple winters ago. I'd work on it for a while then stop for a week. I bought a used industrial walking foot machine(Juki), because the vinyl windows and multiple layers of Sunbrella are pretty tough to sew with a basic sewing machine. Tyvek was used to make a pattern, because it doesn't stretch, is easy to tape together and write notes on with a Sharpie. I bought a new Sunbrella patio cover off Ebay for a fraction of the cost. It was 10'x 14' and more than enough fabric for my dodger. Everything else-vinyl window material, Goretex thread, bias tape, Top Gun fabric, zippers, double sided tape, etc was purchased at PerfectFit or online. Canvas Workers Guide by Jim Grant is a good book for reference. Biggest lesson learned was there is an order to assemble the different parts. I found out the hard way- have a good ripper. Take your time. It is a lot of work, but can be done. Good luck.

[Icarus]

FabioC said it all in his post.
Better to give the job to a pro, if you want to learn start on something small and not expensive.
Good luck

[JPA Cate]

@ Amzng Grace: something to consider for your first one. It was reading the advice to get a good, big grip seam ripper that reminded me. I made a dodger for our first Insatiable, using the old one for a pattern. It is true that the bias cut fabric will stretch out of shape. If you use the old one for a pattern, leave the old windows in. Guess who took hers out? Mmm hmmm.

I was able, with advice from a pro, to come back from that mistake. The other thing I did was to use zig zag stitching for all of it. It is a different look, but it is way easier to rip out. I found I prefer the straight stitching, after all, but you know, all of one's sewing is an experiment at first, and the more problems one accidentally creates, the more you can help other people solve.

All of my big sewing projects for the last 35 yrs. or so have been sewn below decks on our boats. It helps tremendously to have someone else on board (Jim, in my case) to support the fabric and help it around.

You definitely need to protect the "windows" from scratching. The front window should open to allow air flow through the cockpit. Plan to make covers over those zippers, and allow enough space for them to velcro down. It is handy to have pockets on the sides for sunglasses, e-reader, sunscreen.

It is definitely doable. I do think the idea of sewing something simple and rectangular first is a good one, it will let you learn about keeping seams straight. And, sometimes you can find bargains on E bay for Sunbrella, if that is what you want to use. There are a couple of PVC cloths available, Stamoid, the heavy weight, with a 10 yr. guarantee, and there is a marine hooding product that has a fabric backing, that is what we have, and it needs to be finished a little slack, as it shrinks as it loses plasticizers over time.

Ultimately, if you are cursed with being a perfectionist, or don't really have somewhere to leave the project set up and walk away from time to time, I would not attempt it as a first project. I haven't made one at all, except for the first one, a long time ago. It was a simpler, smaller one than our present dodger, and was made so it could fold down. We discovered, we always wanted its protection, never folded it down. Go figure.

Good luck with it, however you decide.

Ann