I dropped the boat off today for it's new top. After talking with him, I'm
considering doing a "camping" top where you can sit (out of the rain) in the aft
seats.

Are they're any any downsides, other than windage & cost, that I'm overlooking?

Thanks
-josh


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On Feb 27, 5:15�pm, Josh Assing wrote:
I dropped the boat off today for it's new top. *After talking with him, I'm
considering doing a "camping" top where you can sit (out of the rain) in the aft
seats.

Are they're any any downsides, other than windage & cost, that I'm overlooking?

Thanks
-josh

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If you live in a climate where the boating season could be extended
considerably if you could enjoy the full enclosure of a camper canvas,
it would seem to be well worth the cost.

One downside, particularly with gas engines; make sure you maintain
positive airflow through the enclosure when underway. Leaving a small
opening aft and another opening up near the windshield may be enough
in many cases. You can collect carbon monoxide in that "tent" if you
don't take some simple precautions to combat the station wagon effect
of CO coming in over the transom. I'd rig a CO detector in the cockpit
if it were mine.

If you live in a climate where the boating season could be extended
considerably if you could enjoy the full enclosure of a camper canvas,
it would seem to be well worth the cost.

We plan on using it near-year-round for commuting....

of CO coming in over the transom. I'd rig a CO detector in the cockpit
if it were mine.

WAY ahead of you -- fume detector with auto-blower relay & CO detector are
already installed....

Thanks for your thoughts

-josh


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Consider the stowage of the additional panels.
JR

Josh Assing wrote:

I dropped the boat off today for it's new top. After talking with him, I'm
considering doing a "camping" top where you can sit (out of the rain) in the aft
seats.

Are they're any any downsides, other than windage & cost, that I'm overlooking?

Thanks
-josh


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Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth

Consider the stowage of the additional panels.

Almost a moot issue, there's plenty of room to store it while "under way" and
then if we camp over night; we can put them back up.

Good tho; thanks
-josh

JR

Josh Assing wrote:

I dropped the boat off today for it's new top. After talking with him, I'm
considering doing a "camping" top where you can sit (out of the rain) in the aft
seats.

Are they're any any downsides, other than windage & cost, that I'm overlooking?

Thanks
-josh


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Almost a moot issue, there's plenty of room to store it while "under way"
and
then if we camp over night; we can put them back up.

Hit up a local fabric store for a couple of the tubes they use for bolts of
cloth. Folding the clear vinyl isn't a good idea... And then hunt down a
duffle bag (or two) that'll hold the panels. Makes it a lot easier to move
them around without wrecking them. Or have the canvas shop make you a
suitable storage bag.

There's certainly the upside of retained heat and shelter from the rain.
Overnight condensation can lead to a bit of clouding of the vinyl. But that
usually clears up once the sun hits it.

Carbon Monoxide build up is a concern. Keep in mind that CO detectors don't
necessarily hold up in an open air installation. They do sell portable
units designed to be worn on your person. You do want to make absolutely
sure that you have at least TWO built-in detectors if you're planning on
sleeping aboard if the boat has a generator, or if you're rafted up with
others that do. Even underway there's the 'station wagon effect' of fumes
being pulled back into the covered space. You really do not want to be
travelling underway without considerable amounts of fresh air circulating
through the space.

When having a camper custom made be sure the installation of the support
poles won't be a problem. It's one thing to pull off some canvas and fold
back some poles. But it's a huge hassle to have to remove poles, so they
usually fold together in a way that lets you stow them in place. Just make
sure that stowing doesn't otherwise make it hard to get around them. You
don't want to be tripping over them trying to dock the boat. And make sure
the cover can be unzipped from the poles. It's a huge pain to have to
unthread them from poles. Especially if a sudden wind kicks up and you need
to get those panels down in a hurry. I'd have lost them during a
thunderstorm last July 4th had they not had zippers holding the top to the
overhead poles. It was a challenge getting them off in +50 knot gusts but
it wouldn've been impossible without the zippers.

Also make sure the installation of the rear panels (or any panels for that
matter) aren't going to chafe against something like a vinyl seat or an edge
of something. You don't want to have the seats get ruined, or the canvas
rubbed-though. Our 'whole cockpit' cover tends to get a bit chafed against
the snaps on the top of the windshield. I've been meaning to make a strip
that I can snap in to cover them when using the cockpit cover.

If you're going to bother with the camper back, make sure it's actually
usable. I've seen some 'fastback' style covers that don't actually let you
use the rear-most seating because of how the cover slopes forward.

All in all we love having the camper back. We usually leave the top of the
bimini installed all the time and just stow the side panels.

-Bill Kearney

All in all we love having the camper back. We usually leave the top of the
bimini installed all the time and just stow the side panels.


Thanks bill -- Great stuff there.

I talked with the guy at length -- he's been making tops for over 20 years & I
know 2 people that have used him for hte last 10-12 years. All very positive
things.

I went ahead and ordered the camper back; making sure I could just use the navy
or 1/2 top type with the "fast bacK" cover ot quickly close it up if we stop
somewhere during a day outting.

Sadly; he was out of gray so I had to go with Maroon (boat strips were gray &
maroon) which is ok; we actually have furniture here that is sunbrella maroon...
;-) so the boat will match the house well...

-j


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I talked with the guy at length -- he's been making tops for over 20 years
& I
know 2 people that have used him for hte last 10-12 years. All very
positive
things.

Go see some of his work if you can. See what they didn't like. There's all
sorts of ways to run zippers, position flaps, place snap mounts, etc. You
want to make sure the setup will be convenient for YOU, not just for the
folks making the covers.

I went ahead and ordered the camper back; making sure I could just use the
navy
or 1/2 top type with the "fast bacK" cover ot quickly close it up if we
stop
somewhere during a day outting.

We've got a radar arch so there's a separate front and a back bimini top.
Most of the time we leave both up, and the front one almost always. It's
nice to have a place to get out of the sun. Removing the aft canvas top
isn't too difficult since the sleeves that hold it to the support frames are
zippered. The rear support poles are set with a ball joint (don't know the
official names of this sort of stuff). Remove their retaining pin, pop 'em
loose and the whole thing folds up to the arch. There's a short 8" bar
(also w/ball joints) that clips into the arch to keep the folded frame
standing off the arch itself. This keeps it from banging against the arch's
gelcoat. I keep a pair of bungees handy to help keep the whole mess from
rattling a bit.

Sadly; he was out of gray so I had to go with Maroon (boat strips were
gray &
maroon) which is ok; we actually have furniture here that is sunbrella
maroon...
;-) so the boat will match the house well...

I've seen maroon and I've seen gray canvas. I think the maroon looks
better.