Wanted: Cockpit tent for a Bayraider 20

[MarkDarley]

I will need to buy one or build one.  Anyone have a satisfactory one they want to pass on?
Mark
"Pippin" Wooden Bayraider 20

[Matthew P]

Hi Mark

I presume you have a spray hood which is a good start.  On Gladys the sprayhood big enough to shelter my head and body and the lower half of my sleeping bag is protected by a gortex bivy sack.  This is OK on a mooring or at anchor because the boat swings head to wind and the mizzle doesn't come inside the sprayhood.  But for berthing against pontoons or heavy rain or sleeping on the boat on the trailer it is good to extend the shelter. 

The simplest solution is a tarp rigged over the topmast, if you are fortunate enough to have a gaff rig.  Ella is the great exponent of the tarp and it has survived and provided shelter in some spectacularly bad weather.

Originally I used a cheap garish nylon festival tent but it felt flimsy and the thin carbon poles were quite wobbly.  Also it looked like a cheap garish festival tent.

A purpose made tent supported by a hoop is more sophisticated and more robust if a tarp seems too flimsy.  Being time rich and mean with money I made my own with help from Kath who usually makes curtains.  It took me about 4 days.  A description of this and other useful guidance (mostly thanks to Graham) can be seen at:

http://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php/topic,1456.msg10636.html#msg10636

http://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php/topic,716.msg4486.html#msg4486

and http://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/?p=1114

Incidentally I made a similar tent for another boat out of some very sophisticated breathable material that famously leaked like the proverbial sieve when subjected to true Scottish rain. Gladys's tent is made of unsophisticated coated pvc and works just fine.  It rolls up over its hoop and folds into the sprayhood. Very rarely is it necessary to zip the door down over the stern, so ventilation is good and if I do have to zip up, the spray hood acts as a tent liner and I'm from protected from condensation at the stern end by my gortex bivy bag.

Matthew
BR20 Gladys

[jonno]

Hi Mark

Thanks Matthew: ‘the great exponent of the tarp’.  Hardly.  But you’re right in that we’ve stayed dry and comfortable enough in Ella in some persistently wild, wet and windy weather.

The tarp is 3 metres square.  It is suspended between the masts and hangs below the boom and paraphernalia.  It overlaps the spray hood.  It hooks onto studs in the undersides of the rubbing strakes.  I don’t know how you’d manage this bit in a wooden boat without the strakes.

Advantages are that it is cheap, tough, light and roomy enough.  By collapsing the spray hood, one gains access to the foredeck.  Useful.  And there’s some flexibility: you can pitch just half or three quarters of the tarp, rolling up the surplus, leaving space aft for lounging in the sunshine.  Disadvantages are that you can’t see out apart from sternwards; it’s a minor fiddle to assemble; it’s flappy.

The tarp’s made and sold by DD Hammocks.  Should it rip to shreds, I’d get another.  Actually, I’ve already got a spare one aboard.  Having praised it thus, I do always look enviously upon Gladys’s elegant, engineer-designed tent.

John
 

   

[Graham W]

In addition to a very expensive yard-supplied cockpit tent, I have an 8’ x 10’ one of these https://www.cjmarine.co.uk/boom-awning.  When not using the tent, I throw mine over the boom and, like John, lace it to the studs on the rubbing strake.  Generally not much of a faff to erect and, probably because of the material, not too flappy.

[Ged]

I used Tencate Allseason to make the tent for my storm 17.
It's the material used to make caravan awnings.  It seems tough, breathable and sewable with a normal sewing machine. 
It also comes 243cm wide which means there are no seams in the bit above where I sleep.
I bought a roll end from Esvo for about £50 including shipping, I'm delighted with it so far.

https://www.esvocampingshop.com/en/tent-canvas/polyester/?sl=en