Dodger

[Becka Anne]

I'm new to this forum and have a question. Does anyone know where we can find a dodger for a 1985 Catalina 30?
Thanks in advance

 

[jrowan]

I know that many sailors, including myself value a bimini shade over head in the cockpit more than a dodger in front. Many of us buy the bimini first, & then have a dodger made to fit the space between the bimini stainless steel frame tubing & the surrounding fiberglass at the perimeter of the companionway. As a southern sailor, I think you may value the shade & protection of a bimini over the dodger much more valuable. I have a dodger & bimini & I rarely ever use the dodger, unless its raining cats & dogs. Otherwise it totally blocks airflow to the cabin & also gets in the way of trimming the main on the cabin top winch & traveller.

 

[mortyd]

i have both a dodger and bimini, love both, and always use both as they are a unit. my dodger apparently was done at the factory and i have no problem with the winches and the traveler lines come through slits in the dodger side windows and i always sail with the center window open to get good airflow and visibility. on hot summer days on long island sound i can't imagine surviving without them. a good part of the reason i can use this rig is that i have a large destroyer wheel and con the boat while i sit on the side rail instead of from the centerline,

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Well, again, no one is answering your question. There is a company called Island Nautical who does dodgers and biminis for lots of different boats. You can try them. Or, find out who builds the canvas work for Catalina and contact them, as they will have all the patterns. Or, have a local canvas maker guy/girl measure up your boat to get an exact fit. There are some generic biminis one can buy, but they are pretty cheap and use aluminum tubing. They won't last and are a waste of money. Get good stainless steel tubing. Also some companies have different pricing based on the thread they use. Get the better thread as they hold up to the sunlight for many years while the cheap threads break down too quickly and you will be in for expensive repairs too soon.

 

[mortyd]

my dodger/bimini is a product of both. the dodger is factory made and the bimini by island nautical/doyle on city island

 

[Bad Obsession]

Have someone custom the dodger for you. You want it at a good height where you can see over it when standing but not too low where it makes it hard to get in and out of the companionway.

When they make the dodger for you there are several options that you can consider. The California style, I believe it is called that, has side panels that you can remove where a traditional dodger is all once piece. Make sure you have the front with a large window that you can open up as that allows you to get a nice breeze when it is warm.

Lastly.....Make sure that when you have the dodger made you have covers for the windows and you use them when the boat is not in use. If you do not have covers the strata-glass tends to get cloudy quickly.

If you are doing a dodger you probably want to do a bimini and a connecter.

 

[NiSe]

I recently purchased a 1985 Catalina 30 and added a dodger and cockpit cover. Here in Oregon it rains a good deal. In fact no one names their kid Noah because of fear they will gathering animals and building drift boats. Anyway, Hayden Island Canvas did this custom one for me on Ni'Se'. In full disclosure the idea came from my neighbor at the marina how also had a C30 and had done the same years before.

I can sail without leaving the cockpit and stay dry. Because of the lack of sun the black keeps us a wee bit warm as well. In the photos there are covers made for the windows so we keep the plastic clean.

Good luck,

 

[Lost Parent]

Do you remeber the price . I would be will to come down from BC if the price was right

 

[mortyd]

i don't want to make more of this thread than it's worth, but my factory dodger is way over my head - the boom just clears it - and the windows are clear enough since 1991. however, the windows are not glass so i sail with the big center window open and i do have and extension that connects the doger and bimini. l also have a window in my bimini so i can see my main and wind vane, even though my wind vane seems to have come wih a sun included since it's almost always in the sun and close to invisible. and yes, like others, this helps lots with the rain. why not call catalina? they make the boat and have always been helpful and curteous to me.

 

[NiSe]

Do you remeber the price . I would be will to come down from BC if the price was right

The price is based on features like extended wings, covers for the windows, handholds, etc.... I went with the deluxe version and it was about $3600. I can stand up and still steer the from under the canvas. The work they do is very high quality, and this is second one I bought from them. I had them do a dodger for a Capri 25 I had several years ago. But that was two boats ago, and a wife ago.

Ask for Josh when you call, he did mine and the boat next to me. Both of us are really happy with the work.

NiSe

 

[Coriolisbc]

I have a dodger on my 1988, C30, and after 6 months, I finally found the original Bimini, one day after fabbing up and installing another Bimini, I didn't recognize the first Bimini, it was custom made in Seattle, and zips onto the dodger , and only has one plastic pole aft that attaches to the backstay, and then is tensioned with Bungees. It was stowed in a bag in the bottom of the lazarette, I was looking for more poles and such, the previous owner said there was a Bimini, but I only found the pole, and almost threw it out, the simplicity and elegance of the design evaded me, even after i found the bimini canvas, I still was looking for more hardware. took 20 minutes to re install.