Hard Dodgers Height

[ktuthill]

Hi Folks,
My husband and I are buying a new boat (Caliber 47) and would like to put a 6 ft. high hard dodger on it. We''ve been told to not go over 53 inches high and that a soft dodger is better. We want good visibility, we don''t want to have to unzip a connector from dodger to bimini everytime we come into the mariner or go out, and we don''t want to keep ducking everytime we go down the companionway or keep watching guests hit their heads. We''ll be going with a fully enclosed canvas cockpit system. Most of our sailing will be on the east coast between Maine and Florida. We do plan to go to Hawaii, Bahamas, and Azores, and basically live on it full time when we retire in the next few years. Are we completely wrong to want comfort and good visibility knowing the doghouse look is not as sleek looking as a lower profile dodger? Does anyone have a high hard dodger and are sorry they went with it? Do you believe a high dodger is not a good thing to have when on a passage like going from Chesapeake Bay to Azores?
Thanks,
Karen

[c172guy]

My experience has been that if you ask enough people someone will tell you what you want to hear. But most people will tell you that a high dodger will add windage and probably hurt boat performance. Do the math.. How many square feet of "sail" will your dodger add to the boat. How big is your storm trysail??? I really envy the trawlers with their elevated steering position. Always having plenty of electricity and not having to get wet to adjust the sails...Most of all could you imagine how easy it would be to dock with two props???