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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Homemade Dodger

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jmoritz
Deckhand

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21 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/23/2006 : 13:04:53

I am thinking of making a homemade dodger for my '87 C25 by simply making vinyl windows which attach from the front of my bimini to the cabin top. It does not look too difficult and there is a good example of this in tech topics. I think this would be a huge improvement in cruising comfort on rainy or colder days. My question is on the best methods of attaching to the cabin top. The picture in tech topics are not too clear. For one thing snaps set flush on deck seem like they might not hold well enough and could pull loose in high winds. This could be overcome by mounting them on something vertically like a piece of teak. The other question is on how to fasten to the hatch cover since ideally you would like it to slide. Does anyone have any advice on how I best fasten to the cabin top? Thanks,

John Moritz
C25 #5573 FK/SR diesel

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 01/23/2006 : 14:31:15

John,

I, too, have been wanting to add a dodger window to my existing bimini.

Check out this topic about [url="http://www.catalina25-250.org/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=7798"]the bimini/dodger on Windy Britches.[/url]

Edited by - on

Ed Montague
Captain

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USA
499 Posts

Response Posted - 01/23/2006 : 23:08:04

My wife and I put together a dodger simular to Debbie's. It is absolutely fabulous. We had it for our trip to Catalina Island last summer and it made a huge improvement in comfort while under way and at anchor. I hope to extend it over the cockpit in the form of a shade that will also drop down to create an enclosure. Sorry no photos.

Edited by - on

John V.
Admiral

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USA
559 Posts

Response Posted - 01/23/2006 : 23:26:14

Take a look at this:

I had this made by an Amish neighbor who does boats and buggies.

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jmoritz
Deckhand

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21 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2006 : 08:14:58

Thanks for the additional pictures. Any advice on lessons learned? Things not to do? Things you would do differently if you were to do it again? With these custom projects I am usually happy but I always thinks of improvements once I'm done.

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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5902 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2006 : 08:53:30

Often the plastic window gets water streaked, spotted and cloudy, or you get glare from the sun, and it becomes hard to see through it clearly. It's good to be able to roll up the window temporarily, so you can see clearly while leaving the docks or at night. A zipper down each side of the window will do the job. That way you can unzip the window, roll it up, and tie it up with a couple of nylon webbing tie straps sewn at the top of the window.

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tinob
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1883 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2006 : 09:09:35

JMORITZ,

I suppose there are some folks who are capable of engineering a project that is perfect in every respect. I've never met such a person, nor am I one.

Usually such improvements are designated Mark-1, 2, etc.

Even Ford had his EDSEL

Val on the hard DAGNABIT # 3936

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Ed Montague
Captain

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USA
499 Posts

Response Posted - 01/25/2006 : 21:45:55

Val is absolutely correct. I hope that my bimini/dodger will look as good as John V.'s in the Mach III version. I started out with snaps to connect the plastic windows to the bimini. They didn't hold well at all, so I put on Zippers. The next improvement will be to make a roll up window as suggested by Steve. There is always a better way.

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DanM
Captain

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USA
256 Posts

Response Posted - 01/26/2006 : 08:01:00

That's the beauty of this forum. Thanks, guys. With all this discussion you have stopped me from making a huge mistake and wasting time. I went down to the marina on tuesday to check on things and try to figure how to modify our "bimini" frame to mount on the genoa tracks. Turns out it is a "dodger", similar to JohnV's photo above, except that the forward base is on the cabintop sides and without the windows. I would need more height and width in the frame to put it on the rails to provide shade where it's needed in the cockpit. So, maybe I'll just order a whole new dodger, er,bimini, and make the modified rail cars for it.
Winter has returned, so it will be a while before I venture down to do the measuring. (8" snow by wednesday am and still falling here in the hills).

Edited by - DanM on 01/26/2006 10:15:25

djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 01/26/2006 : 08:16:53

Hi Dan, I have a similar Bimini as John V with the addition of side clear panels. My sail guy is going to sew on zipper across the back and we are going to make up an add on bimini that will extend back the the boom sheet. I will post picks when it is completed. Cheers.

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John V.
Admiral

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USA
559 Posts

Response Posted - 01/26/2006 : 10:31:22

The mark II design of my bimi-dodger had snaps across the coach top.
A heavy wind pulled the snaps out and with the bottom free there was flapping and pulling every which way. I replaced the snaps with twist snaps. they hold in a blow however if you are scooting across the deck on your bottom (sorry, I'm an elementary school teacher, we say bottom) with the wind screen out you may get a surprise as the twist snaps stick out a bit. So I suppose this version is the mark II-a. I'm looking into replacing the forward screen with a combination of sunbrella and rigid plexiglass in sections so it could bend and be folded for storage. With the present set up the isenglas distorts the view and I sometimes have difficulty spoting nav-aids. that would make it mark III.

Edited by - on

DanM
Captain

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USA
256 Posts

Response Posted - 01/26/2006 : 10:52:01

John, maybe you could replace the twist snaps with a kind of female receptacle. (Sorry, but you'll have to use your imagination). I think it's called an eylet socket.

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 01/26/2006 : 11:58:18

The twist locks are called "common sense fasteners", (really), Google it. You will have a hard time finding twist snaps

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John V.
Admiral

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USA
559 Posts

Response Posted - 01/26/2006 : 22:36:03

Swivel and eyelet Frank.

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PamC
Navigator

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171 Posts

Response Posted - 01/27/2006 : 10:08:16

The PO of Prozac made a bimini that snaps to the coach roof. In the high stress snap positions he used a different type of snap that has a small tooth (for lack of a better word) that requires it be pryed open from only one direction. The snaps all look the same so it gives a neat consistent appearence. They've never come off unless we really want them to. I'll see if I can get a picture if you're interested.

Edited by - on

DanM
Captain

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USA
256 Posts

Response Posted - 01/28/2006 : 09:31:05

Pam, your description sounds like the lid on my asprin bottle.
Dennis, thanks for your "add-on" idea.

Edited by - on

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.