Deck tent!

FairweatherDave said:
Found this link you might be interested in Mark
http://www.yachtpaint.com/sgp/diy/ask-the-experts/whether-to-paint-depends-on-the-weather.aspx
and even this
http://www.thermometersdirect.co.uk/zeal-whirling-hygrometer-sling-psychrometer-p2528.html
Not sure the article is that useful unless you can actually measure RH but it did say for 2k painting best RH is less than 70. Maybe the greatest advantage of a boat tent is keeping the surface temperature up. At least I have a device that can measure surface temperature ( a point and shoot gun type device with a digital read out).
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Cracking, great link on yacht paint. I purchased one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01J39SLTU to measure the conditions - I have nothing to measure surface temperature though, humm. I'll try and warm the tent up a bit before I begin. So praps arrive at 7am, wack on the heaters and a dehumidifier, fiddle about and get ready to paint, start painting at 10am, be finished by lunchtime - then figure out how to get out of the corner I have likely painted myself in to (anyone got a parachute...?).

I'll get some new filters for my respirator (mine are pretty old now). If I can, and the temperature is up, I'll likely try and have as much of the tent open as I can.
 
Glad you like the link
The digital thermometer for surface temperature is an infra red one similar to this
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/infrared-thermometer-with-laser-targeting-n92fx
but I recall being about £12 from e bay.

As for painting yourself into a corner. Last time I used interdeck ( one pack) I did that because one bit I thought had had ages (overnight) to dry was not ........
Also don't buy cheap masking tape..... despite being blue and only on for 24 hours I could not remove it for love nor money or different solvents.... some stayed on the whole summer as sailing not maintenance is the reason for having a boat (I think :) )
 
FairweatherDave said:
...... some stayed on the whole summer as sailing not maintenance is the reason for having a boat (I think :) )
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Thanks, ordered one! So now I can check the humidity, surface temperature, ambient temperature and dew point... and still screw it up no doubt :).

And the above is why I want this job done now, summer is for sailing, not tinkering. Ideally, WINTER is for sailing too... I wonder if anyone has ever reached the end of their boat maintenance list...? Forth bridge springs to mind...
 
Gosh, so 25 meters only just covered it for the design of the deck enclosure:

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It should give plenty of space under it though... I hope. I'm going to use fenders hanging down the sides of the deck to hold the tarp away from the toerail so I can paint that.

Now to get it all chopped up...

edit: Complicated with the mast up - the tarp will be cut in two halves I think to make for easier handling.

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edit 2: Yup, 2D, the above won't work until I know the height properly - best place to cut it is on the boat inself!
 
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Thanks for that, raced to B and Q last night before they closed and picked up a couple of bundles. What I'll do is make one major ridge pole from the tube, and then two minor ridge poles, one down either side, from the bamboo. I cut and drilled the frame last night... so fitting of the deck tent happens tonight.... hopefully...
 
So, after work, in the dead of night, like all good husbands on valentines day, I set off to my boat. The frame went up a dream, with a main ridge poll using the tube, and two other ridge polls, one either side, using bamboo. Cracking, frame up, deck cleared, by about 9:30pm. Perfect warm, windless conditions for putting the tarp up... why stop there I thought...

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I didn't heed the warnings of getting two separate tarps as I couldn't find the dimensions I needed (more fool me), and I went for a heavier grade tarp as it was only slightly more expensive (more fool me again). Unrolling the 8M x 10M was a learning experience... I tried on the boat first, no luck. I dumped it over the side, and retired to the yard down below and wrestled the bleeding thing until it was a semblance of flat. I then had to hoist it up onto deck and threaded it through the rigging. I hadn't pre cut it (another mistake!), so had to make jagged cuts to feed the rigging and mast through. Eventually, by 12:30 it was all water tight, all the cuts had been taped up with tarpauling tape, and the tent is 'up'. An imperfect and fraught solution. Getting the frame up was a joy, the tarp was a different matter. Ho hum, we live and learn. Somewhere in the wrestling I got my measurements very wrong too, meaning on the port side the tarp reaches the ground, on the starboard side it only goes half way down her topsides - so its wonky! I think, at midnight, I settled for something as below :rolleyes:.

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The deck is covered and it is, mostly, water tight, so I suppose I should move on... (I need another little tarp over the transom as there is a gap there.). I need to control my urge to 'make it perfect' and take it all off and start again - I am not crossing the Atlantic in the tarpaulin and its doing its job well enough (it can never be perfect with the mast up). I'll take a look in the light at the weekend. Lesson to self, give up whilst ahead!
 
I went down on Saturday morning and within two hours the tarp was straight, re cut, taped up and water tight. Thank you alahol2 and Quandary for passing on this cracking method, I could then, finally, get on with the job.

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As for hot, its lovely and toasty in there! Its basically a big greenhouse - I had timed out my coats that the temperature would be an average of 5 degrees... best redo those timings...

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Thanks again, what a cracking community here. A whole deck tent for less than £100 all in.
 
Some cheap blue poly rope thrown over the top every couple of metres (like a parcel) will reduce the flapping and resist the lifting forces, cheap and easy to do as long as you have something to tie these binders to, don't be tempted to overtighten them.
 
Quandary said:
Some cheap blue poly rope thrown over the top every couple of metres (like a parcel) will reduce the flapping and resist the lifting forces, cheap and easy to do as long as you have something to tie these binders to, don't be tempted to overtighten them.
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Thanks Quandary, I think I'll do that when I go down - I need to do something. I was a bit worried about bending/breaking my secondary ridgepoles (the bamboo ones), hence I didn't put any rope over the top of it, I need something though. I'll likely tie the string right around the boat (as we are out of the water), as you say, like a giant parcel! I'll take one of the ships dogs balls to tie the string to to chuck it over :D
 
Daft idea incoming...
would it be possible to build a deck tent for a boat that was afloat? Thinking about something that might last for a few days in the summer. Trying to string together rain free days for painting is a pretty futile exercise up here.
 
you could try the same design. personally id remove the guard wires and fit the pipe over stations for extra security. id not use pipe for ridge poles. try 50x50 batterns. This should make the structure more rigid. more hoops the better.

I wonder if you measured the length of each hoop and recorded these on a drawing if you could then get a tarp cut specifically to size with good strong eyelets. this would then hopefully fit perfectly.

Hey don't fall overboard though.

Steveeasy
 
Kelpie said:
Daft idea incoming...
would it be possible to build a deck tent for a boat that was afloat? Thinking about something that might last for a few days in the summer. Trying to string together rain free days for painting is a pretty futile exercise up here.
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There is a boat down our finger at Chatham that has done exactly that Kelpie, so not daft at all :). Yup, it would certainly work. In summer, beware of the temperature though. It got north of 20 degrees in my little tent and when the sun came out you could feel the temperature spike, on a hot summers day with the sun beating down, you could soon create yourself a nice little oven :).

As for the tube as a ridge pole, I did have my doubts about it, but it works exceedingly well as its light and rigid in the plane it needs to be rigid in and has no sharp corners to rip the tarp. Whatever you do, get everything planned, measured and cut at home before you get down to the boat - doing it on board is a road to madness (....especially in my case at midnight on valentines day :)). Also, pulling the tarp over is a two man job, very frustrating on your own (as I found). With rig up, as well, two tarps is far easier to handle than my one MONSTER tarp!

Google Sketchup is a great bit of software to plan it all to scale on, its free too in its hobbyist version. There is always the back of a napkin that will work perfectly well too...
 
Hells bells! I get my tent up, and now bleeding Dorris arrives. 60 MPH winds are forecast and all my deck fittings are off!

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If I take the tent down (which involves cutting the tarp remember, as its all patched up around the rigging), my deck will be exposed and all the many bolt holes. The winds are about 35mph down there now and one rib has already been picked up and has been moved by the wind.

The marina are happy that the tarp isn't going anywhere, they are, however, worried that the whole 3.5 tonnes of boat will be picked up and the cradle will move. Does anyone think thats likely? Do I need to hot foot it over there and take that tarp down and find some other way to keep the water off the decks? Gaffa tape up all the holes in the deck???? :)
 
Is there a way of collapsing the frame only? And then sling every bit of rope you can find over the ensuing mess?
 
Not as tidy a job as I had hoped Mark but then I know you did it in the dark, boats up here have survived with covers in 60kts+ but they tend to be closer packed those, giving shelter to each other, I suspect the mast will apply as much turning moment as the cover but you have a substantial cradle there which should not move far. I think the guy with the bimini up will probably go long before you do, it is moving through quickly anyway.
Seriously, the bigger boats deeper keeled on the same cradles will present as much windage as you cover, you should be fine.
 
Quandary said:
Not as tidy a job as I had hoped Mark but then I know you did it in the dark, boats up here have survived with covers in 60kts+ but they tend to be closer packed those, giving shelter to each other, I suspect the mast will apply as much turning moment as the cover but you have a substantial cradle there which should not move far. I think the guy with the bimini up will probably go long before you do, it is moving through quickly anyway.
Seriously, the bigger boats deeper keeled on the same cradles will present as much windage as you cover, you should be fine.
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Harsh Quandary, harsh but fair :) - it is nice and cosy inside, however as you rightly say, a bit untidy from the outside! The yard have put EIGHT storm legs around her as she does feel a little wobbly when a big gust comes through. That bimini is now down (it flicked up and nearly murdered a brave member of MDLs staff who wrestled it down for the owner).

Thanks for the response Kelpie, without taking the whole frame apart, there isn't really a way of lowering the frame.

I am going down tonight (more groping about in the dark :rolleyes:) as I'm not allowed to secure my tarp to the cradle for 'elf and safety reasons. I'll also put the locker lids back on and buy some cheap tarps to throw over the deck just in case the tent comes crashing down tomorrow when the wind blows. 52MPH forecast...

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Don't take this the wrong way but I nearly fell off my chair laughing there. It has to get a lot worse than that before people up here start worrying! If we got worked up every time XC showed a bit of red we'd never get anything done :D
 
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