Dodger?

dougpol1 · Feb 22, 2013

My wife and I used to do boat canvas so have a lot of experience with
it. We made a new dodger for Sealegs and were very speptical of the
origunal frame thinking it way to light. We decided since the original
frame was still on the boat it must be heavy enough and did not replace
it with 1" tubing as was our practice. WE stayed aboard here on the
Chesapeake Bay during Sandy so left the dodger up. Though we had gusts
to the upper 50 knots the canvas held up fine. IF your going to sail
around the world a heavier frame might be a good idea but for most of us
the little light weight frame is plenty good. Doug

pjacobs55 · Feb 22, 2013

Hi Nicholas,
Do you already have the frame? If not there are two routes I can suggest:
Make your own:
Here's a couple of links that may help.
Bending a new frame:

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I replaced my original flimsy frame with one made from 7/8" stainless tubing, but kept the original shape.

Making a cover from scratch:

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Or ... Have one made: Dianna Webb in the UK makes an excellent product at a reasonable price. She can be contacted through Steve Birch.
I have a picture of one on a friend's former boat here: (hope this is OK Sheila!):

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Peter
www.sintacha.com

vegatern · Feb 28, 2013

In addition to the Don Casey book "The Complete Canvasworker's Guide" by Jim Grant has a chapter on making a dodger from scratch. You might find ideas there. The book is available from Sailrite.com if you can't find it elsewhere. They also have a waterproof fabric called Seamark. Seamark is Sunbrella bonded with a vinyl coat on the inside surface. I am in the process of making a new fabric cover for the dodger frame and it is what I will be using, in fact the material arrived a few days ago. I agree that there should be handrails fastened through the cover to the frame, I had added some after I noticed I was wearing the sunbrella thin where I was trying to grip it.
I am enjoying the challenge but I don't expect more than a serviceable result. Sewing is a skill, and art, and I am gaining more respect for the professionals the further I get into this.

Craig Tern #1519