Building a custom hard dodger

[flightlead404]

My dodger and bimini are at the end of their useful life. I am considering building a removable hard dodger. I want to:

• Raise the dodger slightly and bring it slightly further back
• Include both fixed and opening lexan/plexi windows on the front and sides
• Add high and how grab bars to the sides
• Some sort of mechanism to attach a sunbrella/eisenglass connector from dodger to bimini that doesn't leak rain
• Rain gutter or shape it to guide rain to the sides away from companionway
• Be lightweight
• Be removable
• Be not unattractive

Right now I'm considering shaping a "frame" from the sort of closed cell foam used in homebuilt aircraft construction (EZ, Velocity and so on) with fiberglass over it, embedding wooden and/or metal into the foam as necessary for the "hardpoints" where I'll attach to the boat, snaps/zips/? for connector, grab bars.

I'm considering building in cavities and using pins so I can use the existing cabin top grab bars (currently unusable under the dodger) and the dodger strap attach points to attach/mount the hard top.

Anyone have any experience with this? Words of wisdom and so on?

 

[Tom J]

Interesting concept. I am familiar with the construction of the EZ's and Velocities. Obviously, this is an airworthy construction technique, and is very strong. The rigidity of the wing, I believe, comes from the thickness at the chord. Do you know how thick your sides and roof will have to be? Also, this type of construction was not impervious to moisture intrusion. Timely inspection of the wings for moisture content was required, and I saw one EZ that was in the process of having a wing refoamed and reglassed.

 

[flightlead404]

Interesting concept. I am familiar with the construction of the EZ's and Velocities. Obviously, this is an airworthy construction technique, and is very strong. The rigidity of the wing, I believe, comes from the thickness at the chord. Do you know how thick your sides and roof will have to be? Also, this type of construction was not impervious to moisture intrusion. Timely inspection of the wings for moisture content was required, and I saw one EZ that was in the process of having a wing refoamed and reglassed.

I don't really indend for it to be weight bearing, so a thickness varying between 1" and 2", maybe a little thicker around the attachment points would be fine. This should give a more easily constructed, and lighter product as well as being easier I think to make compound curves to match the coachroof shape and be attractive.

 

[Tally Ho]

Here are 2 videos to watch:

these guys built a hood from foam and fiberglassed it…

This guy is not quite so diligent, but made one that worked…

ok..last one…

Interesting series (and short episodes) taking a historic old racer and trying to turn it into a cruise…

in all cases, there may be more episodes before and after that address the various dodger builds.


Good luck!


Greg

 

[kbgunn]

Guy on this site built one for a H40: Repairing Hunter 40 damage from Hurricane Matthew
Materials were plywood, rigid foam board, and fiberglass. Most of the shopping list can be found at big box lumber store.
I think your biggest design challenge will be:
removable - the tolerances needed to make it securely attached without wiggle and the potential for wear. Also making a fastening system that is removable but strong enough to support people or getting pooped by the occasional wave might be a challenge.
attractive- most of the DIY hard dodgers I see are boxy and look like the cockpit of the millennium falcon. Not my aesthetic.

 

[flightlead404]

Guy on this site built one for a H40: Repairing Hunter 40 damage from Hurricane Matthew
Materials were plywood, rigid foam board, and fiberglass. Most of the shopping list can be found at big box lumber store.
I think your biggest design challenge will be:
removable - the tolerances needed to make it securely attached without wiggle and the potential for wear. Also making a fastening system that is removable but strong enough to support people or getting pooped by the occasional wave might be a challenge.
attractive- most of the DIY hard dodgers I see are boxy and look like the cockpit of the millennium falcon. Not my aesthetic.

I was thinking I'd use the existing hard points for the bimini and grab bars as fastening locations and using pins or bolts. I can fashion the lower part of the frame to make the fit more or less exact, although estimating the thickness of the fibreglass might throw me off a little. Perhaps putting something like a thin layer of felt underneath to prevent chafe.

Making it look good is definitely my challenge, I'm not an artist.

 

[MNF]

Did you ever build that hard dodger?

 

[flightlead404]

Did you ever build that hard dodger?

no I worked with a local shop to make some design changes and then had them build a dodger, Bimini and connector which I can build some side panels for to make a full enclosure

 

[JamesG161]

This site can do all of those, but the cost of Canvas is unstable for now
Bimini, pre-measured

Jim...

 

[MNF]

no I worked with a local shop to make some design changes and then had them build a dodger, Bimini and connector which I can build some side panels for to make a full enclosure

Pics would be awesome.

 

[PatAndEuan]

The bimini and, to a lesser extent, dodger on our 2002 Hunter 466 are also on their last legs. We have been getting more a more solar panels (4 x 100 flexible at the moment) and have been thinking about replacing the canvas b&d with something rigid so that panels could be more or less permanent. The big issue is making something that fits the existing frame (I've read that that the framing is the most expensive part of this design) and looks good.

Has anyone considered using the existing canvas as a "mould" to create the new b&d? Maybe applying some kind of barrier (duct tape) to the existing canvas then applying layers of FG to make a rigid surface, removing the FG product, gel coating it and then affix fasteners. Then the new one would be a nice shape.

 

[flightlead404]

The bimini and, to a lesser extent, dodger on our 2002 Hunter 466 are also on their last legs. We have been getting more a more solar panels (4 x 100 flexible at the moment) and have been thinking about replacing the canvas b&d with something rigid so that panels could be more or less permanent. The big issue is making something that fits the existing frame (I've read that that the framing is the most expensive part of this design) and looks good.

Has anyone considered using the existing canvas as a "mould" to create the new b&d? Maybe applying some kind of barrier (duct tape) to the existing canvas then applying layers of FG to make a rigid surface, removing the FG product, gel coating it and then affix fasteners. Then the new one would be a nice shape.

So, caveat, I haven't actually built one

I did think about this approach, the problem is at best you'd have a duplicate of your current setup with all the inherent problems and limitations. I think the end result would be ugly as heck

I honestly think the best approach would be FG over foam, similar to the way a lot of experimental aircraft are built. Long EZ or Velocity wings for example. Then you could easily shape with hand tools, you could use 6-8' lenghts of wood as sanding blocks to get nice straight lines, you could cut with a large hot wire. It would be simple to incorporate things like internal wiring conduits, brackets for flip up windows, etc.