Cockpit Enclosure

[chris505]

We are sailing for six months leaving the boat hopefully in France and returning to the UK to work for the next six months, before starting all over again. How many of you have cockpit enclosure's? are they useful or a waste of money?

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[Talbot]

In poor weather (i.e. rain) they make living onboard acceptable in boats that dont have a wheelhouse.

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[Robin]

We fitted one on our old boat and found it really good to be able to use the cockpit in all weathers when in harbour. This one was primarily for bad weather but converted to an in-harbour bimini as well, default position in our berth was with it up. Our latest boat came with a bimini, useable at sea under sail and when we upgraded all the canvas work this season we recovered and modified this to make a complete cover as well, with zip in sides and back. The sprahood has 3 windows with the centre one unzippable, so with the full bimini zipped to the sprayhood and the window open, we have good sunshading and airflow for cooling, known on board as the airconditioning. We also have alternative 'airtex' type sunscreen sides that zip in and give shade (but you can see through them) from low sun. Default on our new cover is with it down, ie folded back in it's frame/cover to lean against our rear gantry. If you want to PM with an e-mail address I have some pics I could send, I'm not clever enough to put them on here.



<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1>Sermons from my pulpit are with tongue firmly in cheek and come with no warranty!</font size=1>

 

[snowleopard]

wouldn't want a boat without. both sun and rain protection are essential for a comfortable life.

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[piscosour]

After a one month cruise in the med last year, mainly spent finding the bit of the cockpit in the shade and hiding under the mizzen I fitted one. The mizzen boom was moved up 8 inches for headroom, the sail was recut and a bimini fitted. It is a toss-up whether the bimini or the fridge is my favorite hot weather accessory. IMHO I wouldn't have a boat in the sun without one.

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[pragmatist]

What material did you use for the 'airtex' bit - and where did you get it ? Sounds v interesting.

On a general note, although our all-over cockpit cover (which also has zip-out sides and becomes a bimini) is one of the best things we've bought when I come to re-do it I will add more perspex and add velcro-ed covers rather than the metal catches - more light would be good but also good to cover the windows easily if you leave the boat.

<hr width=100% size=1>a pragmatist is an optimist with a boat in the UK - but serious about not being in the UK !

 

[Robin]

I don't know what it was called, our covers were made by Quay Sails in Poole and they told me about it. Apparently it is what all the best Caribbean boats wear, wasn't too expensive, comes in white and is stiffish rather than soft. In our case they are made to cover about half way down the side only, I think we paid about £70 for the pair as part of an overall job costing £2100 which replaced all the canvas on board except the wheel cover.

<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1>Sermons from my pulpit are with tongue firmly in cheek and come with no warranty!</font size=1>

 

[moodycruiser]

We have one on our live-aboard Moody 41, and it's like having an extra area - especially useful for taking off wet coats, etc. and drying the dog off in this weather /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

<hr width=100% size=1>Tony

 

[mocruising]

Have to say that we use ours all the time. Get out of the rain, get out of the sun and when we had too many people on board than we had bunks we had the kids sleep in the cockpit under the cover. A great bit of kit especially if it doubles as a sun shade as our does.

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[Abigail]

We have one which is not usable at sea but a great enclosure in harbour. Sides roll up or zip down. Very quick and easy to put up. Brilliantly useful as an extra space, drying area etc etc.

We do hope to upgrade to a bimini that can stay up at sea eventually (before heading south) ...

<hr width=100% size=1>Sarah & Pip

www.greatlittleboats.com
UK & Ireland distributors of Swifgig

 

[chris505]

Thanks everybody for the replys, it looks as though the consensus is, yes they are worth having. I think we will incorporate the idea of the airtex type sunscreen window.

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[mike_bryon]

We are in the process of fitted one and found that a quote for a cockpit enclosure was three times more than a quote for a cockpit tent! Both specified stainless tubes across the cockpit and the same number of windows.




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