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More cowbell (and umbrella)

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Occasionally I am blasted by sun through the companionway, mostly when at the dock.

I have now installed a holster, on the ladder, to hold a glamorous parasol overhead as befits any respectable maharaja.

It's the same umbrella that mounts at the helm when needed.

Every boat needs more umbrella. One simply cannot have too much umbrella.

companionway umbrell.JPG...holster umbrella companionway holster.JPG
 

bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
I love my umbrella!

I've developed an approach for attaching a section of PVC to various stanchions with velcro straps, so I can easily adjust the location of the umbrella as the sun moves.

Requires a periodic interruption in the requisite good-book-and-great-scotch-in-the-cockpit regimen, but... well worth the effort.
 

Bolo

Contributing Partner
Christian, That’s why most of the eastern sailors on the Chesapeake have dodgers and biminis! Took the side panels off my dodger (they zipper off) yesterday to get more air flow into the cockpit, kept the connector between the dodger and the bimini on and sailed mostly in the shade while still keeping an eye on the main’s telltails through the skylight in the bimini on a hot & humid late August day. IMO only way to sail in Maryland in the summer.

0039119A-ACE2-4239-BF7D-1D3F83A83136.jpeg

Just kidding cause I know how much you dislike dodgers and biminis on sailboats. We actually also use a big umbrella to block the setting sun, while at the dock, to keep it out of our eyes when having adult beverages in the cockpit At the end of the day.
 

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
Christian, That’s why most of the eastern sailors on the Chesapeake have dodgers and biminis! Took the side panels off my dodger (they zipper off) yesterday to get more air flow into the cockpit, kept the connector between the dodger and the bimini on and sailed mostly in the shade while still keeping an eye on the main’s telltails through the skylight in the bimini on a hot & humid late August day. IMO only way to sail in Maryland in the summer.
Humidity? What's that?
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Re blanket: It's a big success. I noticed on a long cruise when motoring for days that stuffing blankets and pillows under the ladder really cut diesel noise.

The photo shows the blanket I made, anchored with Velcro at the top, that now permanently resides there and is easy to remove for engine work. It's a commercial "sound deadening blanket," heavier than typical moving blankets. More on insulation upgrade here.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Humidity? What's that?
In my younger days I spent a couple of years stationed on a shore base on Guam. (Naval Communication Station.)
Stepping off the plane, arriving from NW Oregon, I was amazed by the average humidity there. The air felt like a 'wet blanket'.
Just checked the forecast there for today, and some things never change! :(

Of course that duty station was waaaay better than any assignment into the 'Nam.... !
Living in an open air barracks, we could have sworn that the humidity was over 100% some days. (!) Luckily the EM Club was air conditioned.
 

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toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
This is a problem that the canvas companionway cover solves for me. (The early morning sun-blast, not the humidity.) The umbrella might work in the early hours if one added a swivel to point it more horizontally to the east. Blinding sun seems to want to blast the table (of both boats) just at the breakfast and news-reading hour.
 

Alan Gomes

Sustaining Partner
In my younger days I spent a couple of years stationed on a little Navy base on Guam.
Coming from NW Oregon, I was amazed by the average humidity there.
Just checked the forecast there for today, and some things never change! :(
Of course that duty station was waaaay better than any assignment to the 'Nam.... !
Yowsa!

I shouldn't be so smug, though. Our youngest has settled down in Tennessee and just married a wonderful young lady there. So it's possible my wife and I, both southern California natives, might find ourselves relocating--especially if grandkids come into the mix at some point.

So my gloating post, forever archived on the internet, may come back to haunt me....

BTW: If we did move there, I'd take up sailing on Kentucky Lake. Lots more isolated cruising destinations there for anchoring out than in southern California, actually. Catalina is swell and all that, but after the first thousand trips or so--I've been sailing there for close to 55 years--one does get a bit jaded.

(Apologies for the thread drift. FWIW, I too have an umbrella instead of a dodger, at least partially inspired by Christian's earlier posts on the subject. I dislike dodgers for all the same reasons Christian does, but I confess that I've never actually owned a boat with one. Mine is a Magma, though the mount it came with is a bit different from what is shown in that link. Mine mounts on the aft side of the bridge deck. It lives most of its life in the starboard quarter berth (i.e., the garage), and I can deploy it from inside the cabin, standing at the companion way and leaning over into the cockpit. It does block the sun coming into the cabin fairly well, sometimes, though the way Christian has his positioned is even better for dealing with that issue.)
 

Tin Kicker

Sustaining Member
Moderator
I really appreciate the thought by whomever designed our bimini (no dodger), as it can easily be put up or taken down in three sections, from bare boat to full cover. We generally just keep the aft and forward up, then zip in the mid piece if it is rainy.
 

Prairie Schooner

Jeff & Donna, E35-3 purchased 7/21
Re blanket: It's a big success. I noticed on a long cruise when motoring for days that stuffing blankets and pillows under the ladder really cut diesel noise.

The photo shows the blanket I made, anchored with Velcro at the top, that now permanently resides there and is easy to remove for engine work. It's a commercial "sound deadening blanket," heavier than typical moving blankets. More on insulation upgrade here.
Sweet. It looks functionally professional, or professionally functional. That'll go on the list.
 
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