Dodger for CD30K

[Mitch F]

Hello all -

We plan to add a dodger to Pilgrim this spring. Does anyone have any recommendations for layout, features or options? Any recommendations for canvas guys who work in the Casco Bay region of Maine? We have looked at Hallett and Mobile Marine. Does anyone have pictures of a ketch with dodger they would be willing to share or wish they had done anything differently with their installation?

It seems like the dodger will have to be low to fit under the main boom and short to not impede access to the side decks with the mizzen rigging. Clearance for the cabintop jibsheet winch may pose problems too.

Thanks for any info/advice.

- Mitch

[Ron Turner]

It seems like the dodger will have to be low to fit under the main boom and short to not impede access to the side decks with the mizzen rigging. Thanks for any info/advice.

- Mitch

Mitch,

My dodger is all those things. I like to use it dockside to keep cabin dry but it really impedes getting on and off the boat. Luvit does not have mizzen spreaders thus more shrouds to get around. I have started using bungee cord to hold it up but flexible enough to fold it down to get on/off. I'll look to see if I have a picture of it.

[Maine Sail]

Seth will custom build it however you want. He might be a little more money than Fortune, Hallett etc. but it's what he does and he does it well. The second best guy on the Maine coast is John Lemole at Gemini canvas in rockland. Seth specializes in dodgers and they are all custom! As for specs you'll want Strataglass windows, welded grab bars, bracing struts, gore-tex thread etc. If you have it built right and treat the windows properly it will last a long, long time. The worst thing you can do is design a dodger you can't see through from the helm then you wind up putting it up and down all the time which destroys a dodger and the windows. A properly tensioned dodger will last many times longer than one that can flap in the breeze. When the fabric flaps it breaks down the fibers and coating. 95% of the dogers out there are not properly made, installed or tensioned. It's a complete package. One trip to the boat to measure for the frame, a trip to fit & mount the frame and pattern the dodger then a final trip to fit, tension & mount the finished product. Seth has done many Cape Dory's! I can't speak highly enough of his work but book him before the Maine Boat Builders Show or you won' t have one until September at the earliest. He is in high demand for a reason....

<a href="http://www.mobilecanvas.com/Sail/Alden6 ... .jpg"><img width="540" src="http://www.mobilecanvas.com/Sail/Alden6 ... ).jpg"></a>

The size of the image has been restricted by the webmaster.

[Scott MacCready]

My ketch came with one in poor condition, and poorly fitted. It was too low to easily enter the companionway. I've removed it and plan on having one made very soon. As Ron stated, if your boat has the fore & aft lower mizzen shrouds, it really makes entering and leaving the cockpit quite tricky. One that I looked at while shopping for a boat was that way. I'm fortunate that the boat I decided on has the mizzen spreaders and thus, no forward shrouds.
The Carolina Chapter is hosting a canvas seminar on 3/4/06. I was hoping to get some ideas and possibly a quote for a dodger/bimini combo for my boat while there. I'll keep you posted. Scott

[Mitch F]

Thanks for the comments! Dodgers are one of those things that can either make a boat look salty or look like a Winnebago. I've been scanning Yachtworld and the web trying to find pictures 30Ks with dodgers. Pilgrim does have mizzen spreaders so I guess we are lucky with respect to sidedeck access.

Acoustic - Nice pic of the Whelp! I doubt our dodger will be that commodious but Seth sure did a fine job on it. Lion's Whelp sure is a work of art. I helped lay the teak decks on her back when I worked at PYS. I'll call Fortune for a quote - forgot about them.

Scott & Ron - Dodger height is my biggest worry. The main boom is fairly low to begin with so I can imagine that trying to get under the dodger and down the companionway could be tricky. Any pictures you might have would be very helpful.

Thanks!

[Maine Sail]

Is your boom lower than on a sloop?

http://www.mobilecanvas.com/capedory30.html

[Mitch F]

Is your boom lower than on a sloop?

http://www.mobilecanvas.com/capedory30.html

I worry that it might be. Its hard to tell from those pictures but it sure feels like ours would be lower.

[Joe Mac Phee]

Mitch,

I have been anxiously following your thread to see if anyone has a good design for your dodger. There is no dodger on my 1977 CD-30 ketch but I would certainly like to have one.

A dodger for this boat seems to be an over constrained problem. At the forward edge, the mainsheet traveler is aft of the retracted companionway hatch. So the dodger has to go under the traveler and then reach forward to the sea hood to find a place to land. In the vertical direction, the dodger must be under the very low main boom. On the after end, the dodger can go no further than the mizzen mast. On the sides, the dodger must be clear of the forward mizzen lower shroud, or you cannot get out of the cockpit to go forward.

The only design I can conceive that could satisfy all of these constraints would be a rigid dodger which is totally supported by a frame requiring no further supports and which extends no further aft than the back edge of the cabin. Years ago, I saw something that might be adapted to the problem that I think was called a waverider dodger.

Good luck in your quest. Keep us posted on your progress.

Joe Mac Phee
S/V Iolanthe
CD-30/K
Bristol, RI

[Scott MacCready]

You may want to contact Don Kolenda. Here's a picture of his ketch with both a dodger and a small bimini...

[Jim F]

Mitch
My dodger came with the boat and is at the present time on the living room floor for some restiching and the boat is in the my yard in bradford nh. you or your dad can stop by and check it out any time you like. It may not be perfect but it gets the job done.I do not have the mizzen mast spreaders and I have not had a lot of trouble getting out of the cockpit.Good Luck I think that there is a person here in Bradford who can do the canvas work I am not sure of the frame part I was going to try and get in touch with her if I can't do the stiching myself. Take care and see you on the bay sometime Jim F.

[Ron Turner]

One of our local sailmakers made this canvas for a local 30K hull #260. Main clew was cut up some. Mizzen boom was raised and it has spreaders.
The last photo shows how clear the side is with the spreader.
It is still a tight fit to get below, but you get used to it, unless you are tall I guess.

[Sea Hunt]

Here's another dumb question from a "tadpole sailor" and a Cape Dory owner "wannabe".

Most of the sailing I have done has been on daysailors in South Florida that do not have bimini tops, dodgers, etc. I look up and see the shape of the mainsail, the luff, etc. I look forward and I see the shape of the jib, etc. I may not yet understand exactly what I am looking at (or looking for) but at least I see it.

When sailing with a bimini and/or a dodger, how do you see your sails? From the pictures I have seen, most biminis completely block view of the mainsail. I sailed on a Hunter 36 a few weeks ago that had a bimini deployed. It was practically impossible to see the shape of the mainsail or the genoa.

I assume you could fold the bimini down while under sail but from my experience (admittedly limited) in South Florida, most people sail with their bimini top fully deployed.

I would be very interested in the thoughts of experienced sailors. In my search for a CD I have found them with and without biminis. If it came with one, I guess I would leave it rather than remove it and patch deck holes, etc. If it did not come with one, I would be reluctant to add one.

I have seen sailboats that have a large cloth (like a tarp) that they throw over the boom when at anchor or at a dock (sort of like pitching a small tent) and attach the ends to the lifelines port and starboard. This seems like a good idea, I guess, unless you have lazyjacks.

I would very much appreciate, and be very interested in, the thoughts of this board.

Thanks,

[mahalocd36]

When sailing with a bimini and/or a dodger, how do you see your sails? From the pictures I have seen, most biminis completely block view of the mainsail. ... I assume you could fold the bimini down while under sail but from my experience (admittedly limited) in South Florida, most people sail with their bimini top fully deployed.

The dodger alone is no problem at all in seeing the sails.

We used to fold our bimini down, for that reason, but then a few times left it up and I really liked it up (I have very fair skin and already had one melanoma removed so I'm pretty careful about the sun). So we decided to put a window (strataglass) in it, above the helm, so you can see the sails, and the wind indicator at the top of the mast. The ones on boats chartered in the caribbean often had windows in them. It was a fairly simple modification, and I made a cover for the window that attaches easily when at anchor. If you aren't comfortable doing it yourself, any canvas maker can do it, and you can order them that way.

We do fold ours up when leaving the boat, because of the windage; we are on a mooring.

Hope this helps.

[Mitch F]

Thanks for the pictures Ron! They are very helpful to visualize what a dodger would look like on Pilgrim. I hadn't even considered access to the main traveller. I frequently adjust the traveller under sail and when at anchor or motoring I usually slide the traveller all the way to port to clear the headroom over the companionway. With a dodger in place it would be difficult to adjust the traveller without control lines like those installed in the pictures you posted. However I guess the dodger would become the limiting factor for headroom, not the boom. That is the first CD ketch I've seen with pedestal steering!

Jim - we definitely need to catch up on the water this summer. Good luck with your restitching project.

Sea Hunt - Though I've sailed on a few, I've never had a boat with a bimini and don't really see a need for one up here in Maine. Most have a little zippered porthole thing that you can open to peek at your sails. You can see it over the helmsman's head in the photos Ron posted.

[Ben Thomas]

http://www.photoworks.com/share/shareLa ... C04A&cb=PW

The aft support for the dodger was causing bruised knuckles so I changed it to allow the winch handle to pass by unobstructed.
The link above may or may not show the photo. Ben