Designer Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 Here is a couple of picks of my dodger being made. The frame is 1/2" PVC with 3/8" ss pins glued to the bottom ends. The pins fit into epoxy/glass shop made fittings that resemble side mount oarlock sockets made by Tom Lathrop. The cover is made from 1.5 oz. ripstop nylon that I already had. The front end has a sewn in boltrope that slides into a 6' length of PVC flexrail. The sides clip on with Dot fasteners. The back end zips onto the main cover and has a no-seeum screen which I hope will be bug proof when I put in a pair of under deck ply gussets to close off that area. I went for a low profile dodger so that I could sail with it up. I just have sitting headroom at the aft end and have found it to be very comfortable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Williams Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 Looks great Graham. I was envisioning something similar for mine someday. Did you have to heat the PVC to make the bends? I was planning on snaps that attach to my cockpit coming --- any problems with that idea? Thank for the pics. I can't wait for my firsy night in CS17! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Designer Posted April 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 I drew out the curve I wanted on a sheet of ply and clamped a 1x2 against the PVC and used my heat gun to soften it where I wanted the bend. You need to to be very subtle with the heat as once the pipe becomes plastic it has no stiffness at all and is easy to deform. Just keep moving the heat around so that you don't burn the pipe and to get it to bend where you want it. I plan to make up some drawings for anyone who needs them so keep bugging me to finish them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Neuman Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 Nice! Is the frame collapsable? Is the flexrail attached to the coaming, or does it stay there because the sides are attached to the coaming? Actually, I'm not sure what a flexrail is. Does it have a track, similar to a track in a mast? Charles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Designer Posted April 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 I just checked the catalog, it is called Flex-a-rail. It is just a PVC track extrusion. It is inexpensive and light. The two bows join at the center with tee's which are glued to the top fore and aft piece. the whole lot comes apart and stows easily in a forward side locker. The Flex-a-rail is screwed down to the deck in front of the coaming. I increased the gap to the coaming at the center to make room for the forward center PVC strut which fits over a dowel that was drilled to the front angle. The picture shows the forward strut fitting over the dowel. The track was installed in front of the strut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffM Posted April 9, 2005 Report Share Posted April 9, 2005 Very nice, Graham. I've been waiting to see your dodger/cabin design. I like the flexibility of being able to sail with it up. How high could you make it on a CS20 without catching the foot of the mainsail? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Whitney CS#70 Posted April 10, 2005 Report Share Posted April 10, 2005 Thanks for the pictures Graham - drawings would be great - this is one of my next projects (as things get a bit colder here it will be good to have a bit of shelter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Niemann Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 Thanks Graham for the above information. I encourage you to produce the plans because there are a lot of us that want a cruiser camper configuration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Blackburn Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 Graham, And another request.. Could you take some close ups of all the 'detail' points ie the attachments to the coamings, the way the bows clip together etc?? all the little fiddly bits in other words. We have had our boat rejected from the "Bay to Bay" race at the end of the month. We don't have enough foredeck ... it should come to within 100mm of the centreboard and no ballast (God knows the beers will weigh a heap). I can understand why they have to do this in this litiginous age so no worries. We are getting a friends lawyer wife to do us a letter of Marque such as was given to Sir Walter Ralegh, Sir Francis Drake etc and we are going in as a privateers. It is 90km from Tin Can Bay to Hervey Bay and requires an over night camp and "socialisation session". Shall let you know how we go. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Designer Posted April 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Rob, The bits are not that tricky. Beside the 1/2" pvc there are only two T fittings with a hole drilled at the appropriate angle in the forward T to accept the front vertical pipe and the 3/8" stainless rod for dowel pins. The pins were bent to the correct angle and then taped with glass and epoxy so that they would fit into the pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Whitney CS#70 Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 Graham Thanks for all the detail. I have been fantasing about building a Belhaven - there is something about a cabin. However after the look on my wife's face when I mentioned it, the extra weight, and how much I enjoy sailing the CS17 - especially when she gets up an planes - I think I will go for the 'dodger cabin' for the mean time.(especially give the limited number of times I would actually sleep aboard) The back end zips onto the main cover and has a no-seeum screen which I hope will be bug proof when I put in a pair of under deck ply gussets to close off that area. Could you explain what the 'main cover' is - how you handle things aft of the dodger. Also - do you cook on the boat (like during the watertribe challenge) or cook on the beach - just trying to think about the best way to do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Luckett Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 We are getting a friends lawyer wife to do us a letter of Marque such as was given to Sir Walter Ralegh' date=' Sir Francis Drake etc and we are going in as a privateers. Rob[/quote'] Sam and Ben will want this too. Their raids on picnics along the shoreline will be legendary....or at least infamous. They land, turn on the charm, and people feed them. What a racket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Batchelor Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 Here are some photos of the dodger/cuddy that I made for CS17 #122, Kirsty Ann. We wanted something that could fold down out of the way when coming in to a dock or making our way through crowded waters, and could keep the kids out of the wind and water at a moment's notice. After a few month's thought, and a couple of abortive attempts, I finished up with a cover sewn in 4oz sailcloth, using pvc tubes shaped with a hairdryer. It works well for the kids, but I have to crouch a bit to get under it. This was a compromise - I wanted to still be able to see where I was going when it was up, so it couldn't be made too tall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noklin Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 I have been told that if you pack the PVC pipe with sand that you can heat and bend it without worrying about it deforming. I have never tried this. Does anyone have any experence with this method? Sounds like it should work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Pyeatt Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Problem is how do you heat the sand once it is inplace enough to accomplish the bend without damaging the PVC? We poured hot sand into PVC and had it help with gradual bends but it cooled too rapidly to be really effective for us to do much production type bending. We heated it with boiling water and a steam box and then placed it quickly into a form and had pretty good results for snowshoes for a scout project. We also used a steam wand to heat the inside of the lengths of pipe to keep them pliable while wrapping them on a form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Oyster Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 WOW, Peter, where have you been? Your boat is very nice and seems to be fully functional. Thats very nice. Please feel free to add some building comments to some of the threads, and as always we like pictures of trips. There is another guy from downunder that use to give us updates with great detailed shots. Now where are his latest trip shots this season? Hint?? We miss them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dunn Posted March 15, 2006 Report Share Posted March 15, 2006 I participated in a scout project to make snowshoes,. We heated sand to about 350 F and poured it into the PVC, placed the PVC in the mold and released the sand. You have to be quick. The PVC cools quickly. Worked real well. We made about 20 pair of snowshoes. We used a big burner and steel pots to heat the sand. Aluminum pots wioll melt. You need a steel funnel to get the sand into the PVC. Tap it as it is poured in. Welders gloves required so you don't get burned. We used 3/4" SCH 40 PVC. I am not sure how 1/2" would work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickG Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 Graham: It would seem to me, that if your dodger was a height to allow sitting headroom while sailing, a binini top could be rigged in the same manor????Would it work and be pratical?? MickG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffM Posted March 30, 2006 Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 The mizzen foot is quite high -- plenty of room for a bimini. I made one experiment at it (for the wife's sake, mainly), but shelved the idea when I had trouble seeing the mizzen to trim it properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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