Beautiful |
Ta Da!
Double zippers are the key |
I haven’t written previously about this because it was quite
a complicated project and we have still been testing it out and getting used to
it. Additionally I really didn’t have
any good pics that show the features and benefits (previous life in sales still
slips through occasionally) until we got away from the dock.
Starboard side door - screen in, glass rolled up |
Starboard side door, screen out, glass snapped back |
Another view of the glass snapped back |
Now that we are underway and using the new canvas, we LOVE
it! Currently I am writing this from the
cockpit while we are anchored in Walburg Creek and it is blowing! Winds 15-20 with gusts to 25. But I am completely comfortable. We have all the glass panels down in place
except one. That panel the screen is
letting in just enough breeze to keep some air moving within the
enclosure. We used our enclosure while
motoring up to St Catherine’s sound. We
had some rain move in that day and our enclosure, especially the dodger and
port side curtains keeps us dry and again comfortable. We didn’t have all the panels down because we
didn’t want asphyxiate ourselves –* yes we are being careful about that.
Screens in, glass rolled up |
It was a rather long road to get to “We Love it” and I will
tell you about it so perhaps others can learn from us.
Glass up for the breeze |
Screens in protecting us from bugs |
However first I want to make something very clear. This is
our experience with ONE vendor on one project.
I We simply REFUSE to paint an entire industry or subset of an
industry with a the same broad brush. None of us would want others to do that to us
in our given professions so we refuse to allow ourselves to do that. We have worked with some really terrific
people in the marine industry. Mr Lester
Forbes ranks at the top of our list of peeps we just plain like and respect. Our diver in Brunswick Lee Porterfield is
awesome. He is by far the hardest
working guy in the marina. Lee is a full time teacher and then spends every
single weekend (full days), summers and many evenings diving on other peoples
boats. Once when he was trying to get
out of town for the weekend, he took the time to free dive on our prop so we
could go pump out the next day and then he came back later once he returned to
town to do the entire bottom. Heck of a
guy. I have talked many times about how wonderful
BLM Dock Mistress Sherry is. Our diver in Charleston Harbor Marine was
good too. Chuck town is where we met diesel mechanic Aaron Vickers – Oil’s in a
Day’s Work. Aaron quietly and quickly
worked his magic to find our issue and then spent another hour (no charge)
giving us hints and tips that only a long time diesel mechanic would know. *Tom used one of his tips yesterday when
changing the fuel filter and it worked like a charm! There are many more….our broker Sonny White,
our surveyor Captain Rick Corley, Towboat US Captain Woody, etc….We approach
each new interaction with a positive attitude and strong dose of respect for
what each of these professionals does.
This has definitely made a difference for us. We take a genuine interest and in return they
have taken the time to teach us additional valuable tools we have put to good used. We
have really enjoyed all the wonderful people we have met and worked with.
Dodger with the sun cover on - excuse the stuff - liveaboards |
Our new canvas – We knew we needed new dodger and bimini
and therefore planned and budgeted for it.
As long as we were doing a replacement, we decided an enclosure would be a
wise investment. We heard from so many
cruisers how it extends their cruising, allowing them to do more and in comfort. It is essentially like adding a room
onto the boat and who doesn’t want a little more livable space on their boat! The old dodger height was such that it was
exactly at my line of sight when I was at the helm, so we raised it a touch and
I can now see perfectly through the front windshield. Tom can still see over. I insisted on making our dodger a California
dodger even though the framing isn’t supportive of that style. A California dodger is structured so all the
side panels can come out, leaving just the top on. I wanted this style only for purpose of
ongoing maintenance. Having each panel
separate will allow me to mend any panel much easier in the future.
Front window zipped up - the one exception to our U shaped window ban |
Our old connector piece – the canvas connecting the dodger
and bimini was solid canvas. Our new one
has a window. This is awesome. It lets in tons of light. A skylight if you will. On rainy days the cockpit still has some
light, where previously it was pretty dark on cloudy days. At night, we can see the stars through it. It also has a solid cover that snaps in place
for protection when the sun is beating down.
View through the front window |
We changed the binimi as well. Previously it had its own frame that was on
the edge of the cockpit coming. We
removed that frame and built the new frame off the arch and cockpit rail. This opened up (widened) our cockpit living
area by a good 20%. The aluminum frame
for the old solar panels was replaced with a stainless steel frame. We found aluminum just isn't strong enough. We had our aluminum frame on our C30 bend back in Kansas due to wind. Can you imagine what ocean conditions would do to an aluminum frame!
Screen with glass rolled up |
There are many, many styles of enclosures. Most options are for either screen enclosure
or glass. If you want both then you have
to zip one out and then zip back in the other panel. This leaves storing the unused panels. Storage of the screen panels isn’t that bad
but the glass must be stored flat or CAREFULLY rolled with nothing crushing
them. You try finding a safe place (NO
CRUSHING) for glass panels – 7 of them -in a liveaboard boat where every little
nook and cranny is being used. Fat
chance! Some people opt for panels that
stay in place with both screen and glass where a big U shaped zipper allows you
to open up and roll up the glass. We are
not big fans of this design. We don’t
care for the look and more importantly zippers don’t like U curves. *Zippers and I have a love/hate relationship
due to zipper canvas failure – plus I struggle with them in my sewing. We really wanted both screens and glass.
View through port side door - north wind was blocked by the glass |
Caliber 40 s/v Brilliant Star to the rescue. Caliber Chris figured out a brilliant design
for their lovely boat that is both screen and glass. Double zippers. It is truly an elegant design. I took tons of pics and then took our canvas
guy over there. “Can we do this on our boat?” “Sure.”
Well yes and no was the real answer.
Back door - access to dinghy and swim platform |
Even though our canvas guy said yes, he got distracted,
forgot or whatever and as he started to deliver parts of our new canvas – VERY,
VERY slowly over weeks and weeks and weeks – the bimini didn’t have the double zippers. “No, problem.
We will add them in.” And they
did. However they put both zippers on
top of one and other using the same seam line.
Not good when working with big zippers under extreme conditions. The zippers should have been offset by 1/4 . Then we discovered a few missing. These were added, well most. The back edge of the dodger only has single zippers and should have double. By the time we finally got our completed
canvas (so to speak ) it was LONG overdue.
Well over a month overdue. We
were not happy. This delayed our
departure out of Brunswick GA and drastically changed our cruising plans. Additionally, because it was SO overdue, we
rushed through thoroughly checking it out.
We just wanted them off the boat. It was NOT a happy working relationship at this point!
I figured I would have to fix the issues as they popped up and tweak it as we lived with it (normal).
Back door, screens down, glass rolled up |
Things to fix/enhance
1. Both
sides of the dodger leak into the cockpit where the hand hold attaches. The canvas guy tried to fix it at the end but
the solution is halfass and only works in perfect conditions at the dock and
only if it’s lined up exactly. My interim
fix since leaving the dock was to cut off the backstay wraps off the old bimini
and wrap those around there. It worked
for the most part as we traveled up to Morehead City NC. I have discussed this with a couple of
different people (Caliber Chris – designer of the brilliant double zipper
enclosure and a canvas guy here in Morehead City) and I believe I have a couple
of different solution options that will work.
2. Backstay wraps leak slightly. I don’t know if they aren’t tight enough or
really leak. I am going to try tying
them tighter and see if that does it but I also have an additional solution that should work to stop
the leak in the event tying them tighter doesn't.
3. Connector piece leaks slightly at connector to
bimini point. The finished bimini edge
should have been a little bit longer or had Velcro to keep it in place. It doesn't lay as flat as it should. I think I am going to sew a small extension
on the bimini to lengthen it and then add Velcro to keep it all down
securely.
4. Back edge of the dodger does not have double zippers. Thanks again to Caliber Chris ( for another brilliant idea), I have a fix for this. However, it hasn't been a huge issue to date
5. The double zippers sewn on top of each other is working so far. If it becomes a problem I should be able to use the same fix for the missing double zippers on the dodger.
6. Make a screen for front -middle panel in the dodger.
Canvas box is where our two outboards are attached to the rail |
1.
We did not get enough references- specifically sailboat
enclosure references.
a. Red flag – Canvas guy mentioned that while he
lives on a boat, he has never really experienced canvas at sea – in the
conditions. This means he doesn’t really
know where and how water can get in.
b. Because I am supposed to have a B when I have an A
2. We should have taken the boat to Fernandina where
the canvas maker was. They said it
wouldn’t be an issue but we had 3 no-show days and many, many, many delays or “I
am now coming day after next instead of today.”
3. We should have been more firm on when we needed
the canvas to be complete. Additionally
we should have made it clear up front that any delays past a set date would
mean reduction in payment. *I don’t know if
this would have worked but…
4. We should have questioned more as they were
working. This was our first project of
this type. We assumed too much that they
knew what they were doing and it would work out in the end.
New stainless steel solar panel mounts replacing the aluminum |
1.
Getting
new canvas.
2.
Investing in design changes of dodger and bimini
to suit our cruising.
3.
Enclosure – Soooo nice
4.
Enclosure with glass and screens. This is such a brilliant design. Thank you again to Caliber Chris.
Summary - Now that it is over, we are very glad we made the investment in our new canvas. We love the design. The changes are working out well. The cockpit enclosure is awesome. First, keeping the bugs to a minimum. Second, keeping the elements (wind and rain) out.
Wow, the canvas looks and sounds great, despite the minor issues. It's a very complicated thing to build, especially when the canvas person is not right there at your boat nearly daily to re-check, re-measure, etc. It's actually very impressive how much he/they got right. I am sure you are the envy of most of the cruisers out there who don't have anything nearly so nice!
ReplyDeleteI can't remember if you have a CO detector aboard or not. With the enclosure as tight as it is, there can be a bit of exhaust pick up in the cockpit when motoring with wind astern and abeam from discharge side, If you don't have one you might want to get a portable one.
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