Hard dodger house and cockpit top for tartan 34

I'm selecting my thread title somewhat carefully as when I started thinking about this I erroneously made a reference to a solar arch (which is a small but important part of my thinking) and ended up being told to get solar panel sails and flexible panels to reduce windage and never build a hard top ever.... So I'm going to try and talk about this more comprehensively over here.

Hi! I've been lurking this forum for years and never got an account or posted, but my project book is full and I need to move from maintenance to modification- so here's project #1

short version: how to build hard dodger. how to and how big to build a hard top bimini/solar/davits/cockpit-cabin

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We live aboard (not cruising yet as we are still working on mechanicals and decks) a 1978 Tartan 34c. Wonderful boat, if more than a bit skinny down below. Speaking of, one of the important aspects of family living on a skinny boat is usability of the cockpit.

Right now (album link at bottom) we have a rather undersized bimini that makes no sense given the short boom of the t34, and a rather low folding canvas dodger that doesn't fold (because it folds into the traveler)

Summer at the docks is a bit brutal and shade is important. Both of these accessories are undersized and while the dodger is actually decent for sailing, (I was very glad to have it last time out) it's impossible for anchoring or at the docks - just low enough to be a major problem for using the companionway hatch or forward part of the cockpit, yet has well over 10 inches of wasted space (plus safety factor) to the lowest possible "vanging of the boom" - it also lack a boom gallows which seems like a reasonably important structural member (if you believe in such things)

I'm left with some design choices that may have structural effects on the tartan if I want to fix these well.

for the dodger, I can make a hard top of (random synthetic sheet stock that is popular this year), or epoxy soaked plywood, fiberglass over it, and then move the mounting brackets from the coaming to the cabin sides,(raising the works about 7 inches) add a couple front and rear braces, and done done. I can form the edges and glass in a boom gallows on the top as well. (and then make some canvas side and panel covers)

IF it's strong enough. (strong enough for what?) - the advantage being I have most of the frame already, can reinforce it for cheap, and it's non permanent as a design element. I can take it off.

The alternative is to go get some plywood and foam and start glassing in a full framed hard dodger, which to me seems more like a soft sided pilot house. --- which is a thought, given how far forward the wheel is anyway. I already have rear winches. I could bump the pedestal forward 16 inches and accept the windage penalty and make it a (semi-open) pilot house. Or be sane and just do a hard framed dodger with lots and lots of airflow.


The bimini is more difficult, because what is there is sized and rigged for fair weather daysailing. It is slightly narrower than the forward cockpit at the top and avoids any pretense of dealing with tbe backstay. So it doesn't do anything in the rain. It is, at least, tall enough to stand at the helm (but not on the cockpit seats, which might be too tall- otoh the cockpit is NARROW and FULL with the wheel in the front third)

As much as I've wanted to try and maintain a vaguely "shippy" look on what is, more or less, a fairly classic looking boat- again, I have the steel and can probably find a third matching bow and start glassing up a plywood roof with some overhang so it doesn't actually rain in the cockpit at zero wind.

However- I've been considering using aluminum rectangle and putting up 3 uprights on each side, with an aluminum beam running for and after on each side, and cutting out some thick plywood carlins and then building a solid top. It's definitely several square feet more windage and- again- the steel pipe is removable.
But, I could rig davits (for dinghy possibly but for sundries and crab pots at least) and redo the entire sternpit at the same time.


I've considered storms and sideloads and I know there are ways to deal with that using both methods (and I'd rather lose a hard dodger or bimini is a storm than lose the boat, so that's really an argument in favor of the steel pipe)

I *MUST* consider cost, and that's a good place to start- beyond the workboat thing, I'm also not in a high income bracket and I'm going to have to budget materials (hence all this talk of aluminum rectangle and plywood), so "order from tower in a box" isn't happening.


Basically, as is, it's very difficult to move around and use the cockpit, cabin, lockers. it's great for manning the helm as long as you don't want to move from your standing position.

Oh, and here's a sort of ongoing shared album, not everything looks the same now, of course.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/q13Ejfwgd3vuMkkR6

 

Pics bombed for me

 

I can't even get Google to work. what an internet.

here's the Google drive "Dropbox"

boatdesignnet - Google Drive https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rO_7jaerT_3hfss1Awe-we3ZlSyWqpRr?usp=sharing

 

After the two sailors died in the Atlantic near NS recently, I can’t get onboard with the idea of a hardtop unless a Naval Architect is consulted. That is my advice.

 

Well, this is the intertnet- and one would be advised in most online communities to not get off the couch without professional advice, assistance, and consultation. And thank you, for suggesting that I should find the Authority before considering making plans. .. I have, indeed, taken into account that I am risking everything by considering Doing Stuff without Proper Authority.

But, in this case, if you are referring to Theros- what do you think was notable about the couple failing to consult a Naval Architect about their hard bimini top that led directly to their abandoning ship?

 

they abandoned ship with no provisions it seems

the real question is how much mass do you intend to add up high and what are the sail effects on a heeled vessel

a couple solar panels is one thing; an e powered boat is something else

and unless I am mistaken, we have no real idea about the size of the hardtop planned

 

I realize this is the internet, and everyone has a hobby horse to ride. This one appears to be something about seeking permission from authority before engaging in activity lest you starve to death on a life raft because someone suspects something bad about the evils of electric engines or electric powered boats (which has nothing to do with how many solar panels you have. if you doubt me I invite you to visit a diesel/electric tug) or ... SOMETHING and that-

somehow

leads to the actual question of size of a hard top..

good question!

approx 64-66 x 70 inches. This may vary considerably in the long dimension depending on how the dodger turns out, the longer the dodger, the shorter the hard bimini.
the next two questions, once we go through another round of shipwreck stories and authority recommendations, would be:

HOW HIGH?

and "what's the difference between canvas and glassed plywood on windage on a heeled tartan 34" (don't forget the board up or down part of it, these do tend to be slightly complicated questions)


figure about 30 to 34 square feet horizontal. If you are wanting to do the math on that- we are a mid period, inward stays, short boom model of the tartan 34c running standard sail, with both 150 and 135 roller gennys available.

 

Well, big difference between two solar panels and 12, eh?

 

The best way to build is over some type of frame.

Welded aluminum tube is probably the ideal. It can easily be bent a bit to shed water.

I built a hardtop about 53” wide by maybe 72” long. I was at the end of materials on a full build and so I laminated 3 pieces of 6mm corecell M80 over the ally frame. I weighed it down to make it tight to the frame. After it cured, I added side pieces to direct the rain forward and 20 pound hd inserts for fixed mounts. Then I founded the edges and filleted the gutters and glassed it all.

various pictures for you