Homemade Boom Tent?

[vyv_cox]

If I was going to live aboard I would be considerably less than happy to be using a boom tent all the time. Even when well made they are restrictive, preventing handy entrance and exit, and they usually cut down headroom in the cockpit such that people cannot sit down in comfort.

A proper cockpit tent, attached to the spray hood, will cost a lot more than a simple sheet thrown over the boom. But it will genuinely increase your living area, providing a welcome space for sitting, dining and maybe sleeping above deck.

Here's ours, heavily used in northern Europe throughout the winter and almost as much in typical summers. The critical point is that instead of being a 'tent' shape it is supported by a hoop that more or less matches the ones on the hood.

A late summer day in Corsica

Mid-summer in Brittany

 

[Chris_Robb]

Vyv - Er in doors is about to startmaking an awning like yours. What fabric have you used, and where do you source the fibre glas battens?

 

[vyv_cox]

Chris, the material came from a local supplier of all sorts of materials, it's a bit of an Aladdin's cave called Abakhan. We wanted material that was reasonably heavy, buff coloured and cheap, as it was not intended to be the final stuff. We finished up with 100% cotton canvas, intended for use by artists for oil paintings. Its downside is that it shrinks in the rain but that is rarely a problem in Greece. Sometime we may change it now that we have settled on the final design but there seems little point as it is so good. The difference it makes to the temperature in the cockpit and below is remarkable.

The support poles are 3 metre lengths of PVC conduit bought in a French DIY superstore. It's a bit too soft really but has only bent a little in about four years of use. 3 metres is rather long to stow but they will just strap to the handrails in the saloon.