Sailing with a Dodger

[jibes138]

So it's personal - another perspective

Why have a dodger if you are going to remove all the windows, it no longer blocks the spray or rain? So what is it doing? Protecting the hatch from the sun?
I started folding it down when I was in my first race and liked it so much that I sail that way all the time now. Now if it is raining or you're getting spray over the bow then you can't see through it because the windows are all covered with water. Do you drive your car without windshield wipers? I don't care how clear the "glass" a wet window is hard to see through. Yes I have a center window that unzips and rolls up, I leave it that way always unless at dock and it's raining. I'd rather look at the world through my eyeballs and glasses without another set of lenses. Yes it is personal but try sailing without it for a change and you might be surprised what a different view of the world, how much better you can see, how you can see no matter what position you are in, sitting, standing, heaving over the side, etc. I agree on a freezing cold day with 50 degree water blasting you in the face it might be good, you know, like the new england coast in mid summer.

 

[Bad Obsession]

I sailed all over the Chesapeake Bay in a Hunter 22 with no dodger. My Catalina 30 has a dodger. Sorry, but I wouldn't have a boat without one. To each their own.

 

[Maine Sail]

Depends

When cruising I'm never without it and would not have it any other way. Racing, NO WAY!!!!

Folding a dodger is one of the worst things you can do to it. A properly designed dodger should not need to be folded and options like a zip out center window and zip off side curtains allow you to stow the glass without bending, or scratching it...

 

[jibes138]

Doing your own canvas work makes a difference

I built my own dodger by taking my old rotted out one, ripping out all the stitches, using the pieces as patterns and then sewing up a new one. Came out great. I also built my own bimini, a storm jib, storm trysail, 130 headsail, a cruising spinnaker, a mainsail cover, and my dinghy sail. Changing out the windows with new material is needed about every five years as the sun wrecks the material anyway. I highly recommend everyone take up making your own canvas, the amount of money you save is incredible. Maybe the pros do a little better job or know all the tricks. Sitting under my bimini out of the sun it is really hard to tell who built it. So MainSail I hear you about bending and folding the windows but in my case I haven't found it to be that much an issue.

 

[Bad Obsession]

Mainsail is right. It prolongs the life of the windows if you don't fold them or bend them. You want to store them as flat as possible. That material is expensive to replace too. It would be cool to be able to replace the windows myself but it doesn't look like it would be easy to stitch!

 

[Mike B]

Why have a dodger if you are going to remove all the windows, it no longer blocks the spray or rain?

You leave the front and side panels in when it's cold or rainy. They come out on dry, sunny days. That way you have the best of both worlds. As for when it's raining, I just sit or stand to the leeward side and let the dodger block most, if not all the rain. Can't imagine being without it.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Not yet noted, oddly enough

is that a dodger keeps the rain out when you're anchored and you can leave the hatchboards out and the hatch open without getting wet down below.

 

[Ron20324]

A cover for the windows when the boat is in the slip will prolong their life.

 

[Jimmy P]

Dave,

I started with an extended bimini on my Hunter 33 but recently added the dodger. I guess it's a tall dodger because I'm also 6'4" and have no problems walking under it. Because my bimini extends over the companion way there are no restrictions or vision problems.

I recently sailed outside down the Florida coast to the Keys. Night sailing was a challenge but I was always able to see and yield to gross tonnage as I passed all the popular cruise ship inlets. I leave the center panel rolled up so plenty of air circulates through but this time of year it is nice to drop the flap and sail every weekend. Of course, our winters here are like summer to some of you (It did get down to 30 a few weeks ago but it's usually back to 65 or 70 by the following weekend).

Ok, the short answer is I am now spoiled and won't be without one. They aren't particularly sleek and attractive but they are darn function and provide more sailing time in varying temperatures.

Jim P.

 

[ITMaster]

I love my dodger and the connector and bimini. Couldn't imagine life without them. And, there are some special times that I put them down and have that open free look and feeling. But, when it rains, when the wind is cold and blowing into your face with sea spray, when the sun is blasting and it is pushing well over 95 degrees, when it is snowing, it is really nice to be able to be "inside" the protection of the three of them.
But I don't race, and there is too much wuss in me to give them up so I'm happy that I have them and plan on keeping them. I try and take real good care of them since they do the same for me.

 

[Benny]

There are days here in Florida when I wished I had a dodger but there are even less days when I may have considered taking the bimini down.

 

[higgs]

When the weather is good, you leave your foul weather gear in the hanging locker and wonder why you bought it.

When the weather is bad, you find your foul weather gear is more than worth its weight in gold.

 

[MacMikey]

I sail a Macgregor 25 and I (my wife) makes our canvas. We (I design) have a pop top and made a modified doger for it. It is still a work in progress and slated to be finished in the next few months after all the northern family has finished their vacations to Florida at our house.

We made a trip to the Florida Keys back at the end of October and I was sure glade we had it mostly done in time for that trip. I allowed us to keep the pop top up the entire trip, giving us the additional head room below. Although we don't have the side wings done yet it served it's purpose very well. I still had to use the foul weather gear on the overnite trip in the wee hours of the morning when the head wind blew up and the temps dropped to the low 50's (not accounting for chill factor)....I was wishing for the wings. Filler panels to connect the bimini is to come.

 

[RichH]

Dodgers are for dodging spray and do keep it 'comfortable' BUT when in inshore navigation/piloting when they are wet and water beads up on the plastic, fog is 'depositing' on them, salt spray is 'drying', etc. etc. they can sometimes grossly obscure the visibility.
If your dodger is too high to see over under all conditions - perhaps they can become almost visually obstructive. How does one see through all that depositing fog, salt spray, salt crystals, condensation?
Many of the more modern designs are for a low 'windshield' that has a removable top section that completes the form of the traditional dodger.

Certainly in a heavy-blow, a dodger adds a LOT of windage .... then consider the added windage and obstructive nature of the bimini and the 'granny/sissy enclosures' used for dockside living enlargements, etc.

My preference in a Dodger - low/small, low windage, can see over easily, removable (front) panes, easily foldable/removable.

 

[jibes138]

Has anyone

has anyone ever made a dodger out of that blue tarp material you get at discount stores? I remember reading about a guy that used to use it to make sails out of. In spring he would raid dumpsters at marinas when the boats were being uncovered and the tarps thrown away. He cruised the east coast like this in a 25 for years. If there was such a thing as a homeless sailor he was it.
Also the window material is not that expensive if you replace it yourself, unless you get the high end stuff with the extra good visibility. My position is the only time you can see through it is on days when you don't need it. When covered with dew in the morning it is a hazard, then you'll say don't wipe off the dew you'll scratch the windows. When it is raining or drizzl or spray your vision is distorted and obstructed. If you are tall enough to see over it you'll get a facefull of spray anyway. On cold days the dew turns to ice and visibility is zero. Taking the panels off, storing them so they don't get damaged, by the time you're done with all this getting ready to sail it is time for cocktails. I agree they are good at anchor on a rainy day, but don't have much use for them other wise. They are a lot of windage at anchor. Why not just get a full face motorcycle helmet, It would do the same thing and be a lot cheaper.

 

[BobM]

I like the idea of fixed panes

I really like the concept someone presented here of a dodge with removable plexi or lexan panes. That would help improve vision significantly. I should imagine that, given that they make convertible tops with glass in them, you could even fashion a dodger where you could leave solid panes in place. There was a boat featured in Good Old Boat magazine March/April 2008 called a Monsun 31 that has a fixed windscreen like a power boat. Sounds awful, but the manufacturer did a pretty good job of matching it to the oversized coamings, which were raised in front of the hatch and then sloped down to make a base for the windshield. Found a photo...they were made by Hallberg-Rassy. 902 hulls from 1974-1982.

I have a frame for a dodger and haven't resolved whether or not to make adding canvas to it again a priority. My Wife has an entire room dedicated to sewing...but not much desire to do any canvas work for yours truly! I am toying with the idea of buying a used heavy duty machine to try my hand. I came quite close to buying a machine at one point, but she talked me out of it.

 

[seadaddler]

Wow

Holly smoke so many different opinions on this subject,sounds normal to me every body uses their boats so differently what a shocker.
Where you live how you boat all so many places so little time to see it all.
We could all sit here and say what we don't like including me but unless we are their we don't really know what's a good way to go,North,South,East,West,I see more boats with lots of canvas than boats with out.
Make your boat user friendly and versatile for the different weather conditions and if not do it your way.
When we sailed off shore from NY to Florida east coast and than down around the keys and up to Punta Gorda every one sure was liking all that Canvas for sure.
Nick

 

[Maine Sail]

We..

A cover for the windows when the boat is in the slip will prolong their life.

My buddy who owns one of the most high end canvas companies in Maine has much time and observation of this in over 25 years of doing marine canvas.

Here's his take.

#1 Air pollution & city dirt/dust still gets between the cover and the window and when the cover moves with the wind this abrades the glass.

#2 With darker colored Sunbrella the added heat from solar gain can leave fabric imprints and bake contaminates directly into the glass.

#3 Surface movement of the covers can eat through the optical coatings on products like StrattaGlass much quicker than using no UV cover..

His take is that he will make them if a customer insists on it but he tells them up front that the life of the glass may be cut by as much as a third and the optical quality diminishes rapidly.

Good care and treatment with the proper products will keep them looking great for a long time without UV covers.

The windows behind my daughter were 8 years old when this photo was taken. No UV covers only proper care with the proper products. Oh and the boat spent five winters in the Carib with those windows. Living with poor optical quality dodger glass is the result of either a low quality glass or improper care and maintenance..

This dodger window was at the end of it's fourth season when the photo was taken.

Oh and this is pouring rain with a light fog rolling in. I could see fine and my wife and daughter were bone dry..

 

[Todd Smith]

Re: So it's personal - another perspective

Who helms a sailboat from right behind the wheel anyway ? I always end up sitting on the rail on either side, where I can see around the dodger no matter how tall it is.

Todd

 

[Benny]

Who helms behind the wheel? I do; will not give up my comfortable helm chair.