A Sailor’s Cockpit Enclosure—Part 2

Published Oct 15, 2016 33 comments Updated April 14, 2018

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In Part 1 I wrote about my conversion from a dyed-in-the-wool cockpit enclosure hater, to an enthusiastic convert.

But not to just any cockpit enclosure. Phyllis and I wanted a sailor’s cockpit enclosure. Achieving that end was, as always with voyaging boats, all about compromises, mind set and details…lots of details.

And that’s what this post’s about, with lots of pictures of what we got right, and one or two of things that still need work.

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Meet the Author

John

John was born and brought up in Bermuda and started sailing as a child, racing locally and offshore before turning to cruising. He has sailed over 100,000 miles, most of it on his McCurdy & Rhodes 56, Morgan's Cloud, including eight ocean races to Bermuda, culminating in winning his class twice in the Newport Bermuda Race. He has skippered a series of voyages in the North Atlantic, the majority of which have been to the high latitudes. John has been helping others go voyaging by sharing his experience for twenty years, first in yachting magazines and, for the last 12 years, as co-editor/publisher of AAC.

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Often what will really govern how much fun and how safe your cruise will be is how good you are at maintaining your boat.

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Nothing on this website or in direct communications received from us, or in our articles in the media, should be construed to mean or imply that offshore voyaging is anything other than potentially hazardous. Dangers such as, but not limited to, extreme weather, cold, ice, lack of help or assistance, gear failure, grounding, and falling overboard could injure or kill you and wreck your boat.

Decisions such as, but not limited to, heading offshore, where you go, and how you equip your boat, are yours and yours alone. The information on this web site is based on what has worked for the authors in the past, but that does not mean it will work for you, or that it is the best, or even a good way for you to do things.