Dorades ! need your ideas.

[sy_gilana]

Hi, we have a haulout in the next weeks. One of the locals there is a good fibreglass worker.

I am going to dump those silly Vetus style deck vents, and install Dorades made in GRP, using a plastic tool chest as the mold. (the Vetus ones have cost us new headliners recently installed)

Inside the box will be a 4" diameter PVC pipe going from the headliner up into near the top of the box, a distance of about 12" or 30cm.

I intend to use the standard PVC end-cap to storm shutter the top of the tube.

I don't want an external solution to fix the end caps, I need to be able to reach up through the pipe and pull the cap on, and push it off. I have been thinking magnets or velcro to hold the cap above the tube when not in use.

Do you have a bright idea to share?

[antoha]

how much space do you plan to have above the cap? because if you have enough clearance, you can glue/screw two of them together back-to back (so the profile looks like an H), have a handle on the bottom one (that you will be using from the inside), and a short piece of the same pipe for the upper cap, attached to the top of the dorade box and used for storage of the cap. starting in the closed position, you can then reach through the pipe and take it off, and simply push it onto the top short pipe. no magnets (that's probably just shake off) or Velcro (don't know how that would hold up), but the same idea - to use the dorade box space for stowage of the cap when not in use, just making sure you can secure it and reach it from the inside conveniently. or just have a wider short length of that stowage pvc pipe, so the cap just fits inside. you don't have to secure it with friction alone - you can make vertical then horizontal cuts and glue stubs onto the outside of the cap (to secure it like a typical bayonet bulb goes into its socket).

would this work?


p.s. as an afterthought: if you're reluctant to go outside because of bad weather, putting your arm through a 12"x4" pipe sounds like a sure way to break it, if you're planning to do it that way. then of course you can think of a system of levers that will let you do it from inside without placing your body parts in harms way, but this sounds complicated already. fwiw, our dorades do not have caps on the tubes that go through (there's only a mosquito net on it, on the liner side); instead, when weather is bad you're supposed to go up, take off the vent and replace is with a deck plate. and it's probably a good idea to do it preemptively.

[hugosalt]

No bright idea...yet, but thinkin.
In mean time, if of interest I am ordering a Hatch Dorade from a friend and one of our own members bene 505.
Should be able to see on youtube... hatch dorade

[sy_gilana]

Thanks for suggestions. The space above the tube will be = the area of a cylinder that equals the area of the diameter of the pipe...

and a very interesting amount it is too... a 4" pipe has an area of 12.57" and it also has a circumference of 12.57" soooo a 1" gap at the top is required to balance the flow, unless I'm having a total brainfart, in which case I better open the dorades now.

Point taken about a trapped arm in a seaway.

Experience and a positive attitude has normally meant that such dorade closing measures happen too late

I am going to make bag type mosquito nets, with a weighted skirt, that can be thrown over the whole cowl. They block so much air though...

[belizesailor]

Hola from Chicheme, Gilana. Where will you be hauling?

[sy_gilana]

Hi Curtiss and Theresa. Were heading to Cartagena, Ferroalquimar...

[antoha]

I'm no engineer, but: our mosquito screen is on the inside of the saloon, and while it's probably not too effective against noseeums (it's a copper mesh), it doesn't prevent airflow - which most likely scales with the area of the ventilator intake, rather than the area of the dorade tube itself; wider "ear" for that thing translates into more wind being captured. we get a good breeze through our 4" dorados even now and even on quietish days, and they are narrow plastic vents (I am planning to replace with wider metal ones, just haven't gotten around to it yet).

[belizesailor]

Cool. Have some friends (Halcyon y Wind Whisperer) who planning to head that way soon also.

[belizesailor]

Ive got some drop over nets that I dont need if you are nearby.

Bug Buster Hatch Cover Mosquito Net - 25" x 25" - Like New with case.

Bug Buster Hatch Cover Mosquito Net - 18" x 22" - Like New with case.

They have weighted edges and could be cut down if needed.

[SVTatia]

Just curious, how are you catching the wind (scooping?) into the box?
I have found that during storms the dorades provide great ventilation below when everything else is closed.
One hint for aesthetics, don't make them squared, have one side sloped the same angle as the cabin sides, unless of course the cabin sides are square to the deck.

[Bleemus]

Just go on deck and turn the scoops to not take waves like the are designed. And if the **** is gonna hit the fan you remove the scoops. Worked for a hundred years.

[sy_gilana]

Hi, some answers to above questions.

This is the current system.



The box will be molded from the inside of a plastic toolbox.


The sides will be inclined. I will place them in position, and then level the top surface, mark out the deck camber and cut. The drain holes will not be mouse-holes, but truncated corners. There will be teak cleats glued and screwed to the deck, internal to the box, and the box will screw to that. The original cowl will be fitted to the top (bottom) of the toolbox.

I will take photos of the job during and after construction.



If this thread is alive

[Djarraluda]

A further refinement that may be of interest:

Cut a circular hole directly above the vent pipe. Cover with a clear perspex (or similar) plate. This lets in a bit more light and brightens the area beneath.

Roger

[sy_gilana]

Excellent idea Roger, and sandpaper them for privacy. Defnitely will think about that with my main brain, (wife) We do have a lot of light though.

[antoha]

I was keeping these for myself, but you're welcome to them, if you get to the project first:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-OLD-STO...paXmzn&vxp=mtr

you can put this inside (or instead of?) the dorade pipe. but it really is too beautiful to live in a box, it should be exposed to the world!


(on edit: this is not my auction, I just couldn't stop salivating over these when I first saw them. I wish I had space for all the shiny stuff I come across...)