Boat tents, again.

[Tony]

Boat tents
Anyone out there with tent making experience?
After 10 years of 'making do' with a tarp, a bit of string and a golf ball* I've decided it's time to make a proper canvas extension to the spray hood for "Four Sisters". This will shield innocent pontoon wanderers from the sight of my morning gymnastics (such as pulling on overtrousers) and, more importantly,  to shield me from the elements when performing them. It'll be worth the effort to provide a sheltered area for wet boots and oilies instead of having them in the cuddy cabin making everything else wet, too! I want to increase the usable dry space at the aft end of the cockpit with a semicircular hoop but have yet to find a satisfactory way of fixing it. Those familiar with the beautifully curved cockpit backrests  of Storm 15, 17, and 19s, not to mention my CBL, will appreciate the difficulty. The canvas work is not a problem but the design of a sturdy frame eludes me.
I quite liked the 'reverse pram-hood' idea but it gets in the way of my oar stowage. Has anyone already solved the problem?

(  * The golf ball, fixed in the middle of the tarp with a cable tie, makes a rip-proof purchase for the uphall. )

[Matthew P]

Hi Tony

I'm sure your skills are far superior to mine but I have had some fun making tents for Gladys and a similar one for another boat. 

I started with carbon fibre tent poles simply bent into hoops and inserted into the rowlock sockets.  This works OK but is a bit floppy.  I then progressed to bending 19mm OD stainless steel tube which was quite an adventure.  To bend it I made templates out of copper pipe to confirm the shape I wanted and then chipboard formers to bend them around.  Cold bending was more than my strength or nerves could stand so I filled the tube with fine sand and heated it on my full collection of camping stoves. This worked well although Bob my father-in-law nearly got whacked with an insecurely clamped red hot tube that sprung loose at a critical moment. I also subsequently discovered I should have dried out the sand in an oven to prevent steam creating an explosion.  I hope 'elf-n-safety nazis are not reading this .

Making the tent itself was fun too.  I bought some cheap clear plastic sheet, easy to mark-out and cut to make templates, supported on the frame with string and tape. The templates were then used to cut out tent material pieces and "dry-assembled" them with double sided sticky-tape. After almost causing a local upholsterer to get divorced (he was previously a yacht canvass worker and his wife disapproved of him being distracted from his chair covering business) I found Kath, a wonderful lady who makes curtains, who sewed the tents together for me.   

My first results were worth the effort and so I have repeated the exercise on my second boat.

The most helpful suppliers for advice, material and bits I found were:

http://www.kayospruce.com and http://profabrics.co.uk

Matthew
Gladys BR20

[Tony]

Cheers, Matthew. Thanks for the links.
If we're talking skills, you're way ahead of me with your pipe bending jig. I'm using blue plastic waterpipe!
It's ugly as sin but cost me nothing, is rigid enough but can be bent to lash down in the cuddy when not in use. The biggest problem with it is locating it on the side decks. I've made it some feet and am using sticky backed velcro as temporary fixings to see where it fits best at the moment but want to get it sorted before my next live-aboard trip. Time enough to go to stainless steel when I've sorted the design a little more thoroughly.