Spray Dodgers on a PSC37 - Inspiration

[arisatx]

There's a great thread over on the "list-server" part of the sailnet site, discussing Mods made by PSC owners to prepare for Offshore Cruising - started by B. Balme and with major contributions by S. Cross et al.

Link here and also continued here (Good Reading)

But along with the descriptions of the mods, there were many requests for pictures to be emailed. And while the list server is great for those of us lucky enough to be cruising full-time (text only conserves bandwidth), for the rest of us still tied to shore and for now having access to good bandwidth, pictures can really enhance the discussion.

So while this lame post doesn't really fit under the category of "Mods for Offshore" please bear with me, as I'm trying to figure out how to best incorporate pictures in my posts here on the SailNet site (thanks to our moderator - Camaraderie).

It all started with the purchase of a Sailrite sewing machine and Don Casey's bok on Canvaswork.


He has some "easy" projects in the early chapters, one of which was "Spray Dodgers". We saw a PSC37 anchored in the Grenadines this February and the couple on that boat looked so comfortably ensconced in their cockpit...

[arisatx]

I seem to have an incurable urge to look at boats. It seems like I spend many hours trolling thru Boat Web Sites and especially other PSC's for sale. I often save pictures of other owner's boats when I see what they've done to theirs.

Here are some other PSC's with Spray Dodgers I used for inspiration:

[arisatx]

and a few more

[arisatx]

Of the different configurations, we liked the coverage and clearance for the jib sheets that the Spray Dodgers on s/v Cloud Messenger. For us, some of the others seemed too big or too small - after all, that's why I bought a machine so I could CUSTOMIZE the canvas to my liking, right?

The area I wanted to cover was between the gate and the stern pulpit:



It measures 102" across the top lifeline and 26" to the top of the teak cap rail. As I wanted about 2" clearance all around, to be able to keep the dodgeer under tension, our finished dimension would be 98"x18". The angle at which the top lifeline meets the stern pulpit rail is about 56 degrees - but best bet I think is to make a template by usin a sheet of newspaper and folding it over to match the angle.

[arisatx]

Well, as I decided to post this project AFTER I actually sewed the dodgers together, I don't have any good "in construction" pictures.

Suffice it to say, I'd recommend Casey's book for instructions. I used the same Sunbrella acrylic fabric I had bough for other projects, V92 Polyester thread and #2 spur grommets and 1/8" dacron line to lace them onto the lifelines.

The SailRite site here (no affiliation) has those spur grommets, installation tools and some nice online instructional videos.

Well I'm gonna have to drive up to the boat today to take pictures of the finished project to post here later.

[camaraderie]

Ted...here's some friends of ours who have a nice spray dodger...the handles on the sides are indeed handy!

[arisatx]

Well, here are the ones I made on our PSC37 s/v Talisman .
What do you think?

[camaraderie]

Very nice...like the color too. You keep her looking good!

[unomio]

You made the dodger as well as the side curtains? Wow! That's beyond my skills (but my new Sailrite arrives next week ;^) These look really great!

Sue
s/v Fugue PSC 40 #60

[arisatx]

Thanks Cam and Sue.

I can't take credit for the dodger. I've restitched it and also replaced the windows with Strataglass per the Sailrite site instructions (trick is to keep the old windows in until the new ones are installed and then cutting out the old ones).

Have fun with your new Sailrite machine.