In Part 1 I wrote about my conversion from a dyed-in-the-wool cockpit enclosure hater, to an enthusiastic convert, albeit with reservations.
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.
I think this illustrates that habits of mind and of sailing are as important as construction and materials. Your willingness (and readiness) to take the enclosure apart in a blow is obvious to me, but not obvious to the many boats with enclosures I’ve seen where they’ve been buttoned up in bad weather…until they leave at an angle.
Hi Marc,
I agree, when thinking about enclosures (and most things), good seamanship does not come from gear, it comes from attitude.
Hi John,
Sounds and looks good.
For those who are designing enclosures (or already have one), a suggestion: The panels around where one exits and enters always seem to take a beating, especially the zippers. We hold ours down (see 1st part for description) with shock/bungy cord which allows for a our clumsiness exiting and entering when bouncing around under sail to be absorbed by shock cord rather than the panel fabric/plastic or, more likely, the vulnerable zippers.
And, a couple of questions: Any thoughts on how an enclosure on a smaller boat might work, say the Adventure 40 size? It seems that smaller boats are less likely to have a robust hard bimini aft or other strong tie downs to use.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Hi Dick,
Good Question. I think that as boat’s get smaller a good enclosure gets more difficult to do, although, on the other hand, a smaller boat’s enclosure will be, in turn, smaller, so the wind loads will be lower. As to the A40, that should be easier since there is a hard dodger that will give a strong starting point to attach to. Add a couple of 1″ pipe bows securely fastened and I think all would be good.
A few thoughts, based on my experience, and also on a bunch of testing I have been doing for Practical Sailor (I’ve had test panels with ~ 30 windows up for 5 years).
1. Fold up is better than rolling or fold down (my forward windows fold down). Less scratching. Mine fold or roll down: hard to roll when cold and always a scratching risk; Forward the wind can catch them (I should add hold-down snaps–it would only take 2 each–just thought of it!) and I can step on them if careless; in they can rub on the slider.
2. Colder it gets the more chance of breaking, particularly after 5 years. I try not to move them below 50. I’ve had them shatter below freezing just from cleaning.
3. For more flexible vinyl try O-Sea. Coated like Strataglass, but better in every way. Just less used in the marine sector, but big in the high-end convertible business.
4. I like View Guard better for cleaning. Sheets the water better. I use the Imar cream.
5. You can make extenders for most fasteners. Yup, they swear the materials don’t shrink, but…. Take Sunbrella or similar, laminate 3 layers with Sika 295, 3M 5200 or similar, and then put a male in one end and a female in the other. The 3-ply laminate is easy to make and tough as nails.
Hi John,
I spent a couple of weeks on this boat bringing it up from Panama. The hardtop design worked out really well as a basis for removable panels that allowed full breezes in the heat and weather protection when needed. No reason why the same concept couldn’t be expanded to form a basis for the complete enclosure you have worked out for colder climates.
http://www.sailmagazine.com/boat-reviews/perry-59/
Hi Richard,
I think you make a good point that having a hard topped bimini and dodger, as we did, gives a much better start to building a seamanlike cockpit cover.
It may not be immediately apparent, but this design is a “super hardtop” strong enough that the traveler for a 1,000 ft mainsail is mounted on top. So no worries about it being destroyed by wave or wind impact.
Nice job John.
Just 3 points.
When we roll up the side curtains, we put a towel material in between, which prevents any scratching.
We store the rolled up curtains in a vertical position in order to prevent sagging .
We use the 3″ diam cardboard tubes to facilitate the rolling up and pull it outbefore storing,
as some curtains are 3ft or more wide.
Hi Rene,
Wow, you take it to the next level. That said, I’m not sure I could see us going through all that every time we wanted to roll the curtains up, particularly as we do that every time we sail. Also, while vertical storage sounds good, I’m not sure how we would ever find a place for that, and anyway our horizontal bags seem to support the curtains quite well.