Coastal sailing without a dodger

[hz293]

I'm back to sailing after a quick hiatus with a power boat. The inboard part of the I/O blew up while I was on board and the boat burned to the waterline. The cause was declared "undetermined"

After 4 weeks my burns are healed and I have purchased a 1976 Catalina 27 in Bremerton, WA which shall be called PHOENIX. I'll be sailing it from Bremerton, WA, up to Port Townsend, along the WA coast to Astoria OR and then up the Columbia River to Kalama, WA which is about 35 miles before Portland, OR. Hopefully the trip will be made by the 1st of June and I'll wait for a decent weather window. I'll have someone with me who has done coastal cruising.


I've used all the insurance money to buy the boat which is pretty well equipped except for a dodger. However it does have a SS dodger frame.

My question is, since I have a frame, has anyone jury rigged a dodger to use for one trip or if the weather window is good, will I really need a dodger?


Harris

 

[CBSanford]

Check the prevailing wind. If going into it, you will be really miserable without a dodger. If it is windy and choppy, you will be getting lots of spray in your face. If conditions ar light, you will probably get fog, and dodgers are great for keeping comfortable in the fog. BTW: great name with that history... Your karma gotcha for going power, huh.

 

[FourPoints]

here on long island sound, sailing without a dodger in the summer is actually preferred (at least by me), but it in the late fall it can be nice. I suspect the west coast is a little cooler though, and it is probably needed more than here.

 

[kenn]

If you have the frame, the cost of a new dodger won't be prohibitive. Go for it.

 

[darkaegisagain]

I traveled the opposite direction from grays harbor to Seattle with no heat or a dodger... It was cold but not that harsh, you will need a good weather window. You can hang out at neha bay and make a run of it when the window looks good. Also find out the location of the no crab pot zone.... Thousands of pots along the way.

The first thing I bought was a dodger

Now I have heat also....

 

[higgs]

Dodgers are great when going into waves, but not vital equipment. They are a very nice luxury. Kind of like roller furling.

 

[Rick D]

You Want It

Why not just get some blue tarp material and some cheap clear isinglass from an upholstery shop, and hot glue them together for the trip? When you are there, you can do something more durable (and less likely to bring laughs at the dock). I would opt for some shelter with some kind of dodger rather than winging it.

Mind you that this opinion is from some one who hated dodgers. However, I got married, etc. and dodger it was. Wouldn't be without one now. I even race with one. Don't tell my wife.

 

[Roger Long]

I took the dodger off of my boat and have never missed it. She is drier than most boats (or any other I have sailed) so it may not be a good general data point.

I would put it back on to avoid having to open and close the companionway so often but lobster pots in Maine make the that visibility line very critical and my main sheet location is very poor for a dodger.

I am having weathercloths made which I think will make a big difference. I'm much more conscious of cold wind from the side. Besides, they look so salty with the boat's name on them.

 

[thinwater]

I would hesitate to jury rig; much of the dodger's suport, like a mountaineering tent, comes from the cloth itself. I have seen frames mangled when the cloth was not attached properly.

Wait and buy proper canvas.

 

[higgs]

The weatherclothes do make a big difference in keeping the crew out of the wind. Very nice for spring and fall sailing.