Rib cover and line covers

[mariadz]

Hi,

I have written an update for a while on the progress we are making on Mariadz. So expect a few in quick succession, with my apologies, because the lack of posts doesn’t reflect a lack of work ?

For those that may be interested, some canvas work to protect the rib and neaten up the lines brought back to the cockpit.

https://mariadz.com/2018/02/22/rib-cover-and-line-covers/

 

[ip485]

Its great and this will seem critical, but isnt intended to be, it is purely to add to a wider debate.

I had the same concerns and after trying a cover, ended up making some chaps.

My reasoning was as follows. Covers are awkward to fit with davits. You either do it with the dingy in the water, scrambling around underneath and pulling it all into place and then attach the davit wires or struggle even more with the dinghy raised. Then the cover is more inclined to blow off, or fill up with gallons of water. In summary, they are more work, but I like the chaps so far.

 

[mariadz]

No criticism taken in any way.

We thought about chaps as well but couldn’t justify the extra expense. The concern was also in a following sea if a wave comes over the stern we thought the cover more likely to repel the water rather than letting it into the rib and draining slowly. The main concern around this was the weight of the water and the davits. We have sized the rib to be about 50% of the Davit rating recognising that this is likely to be for the motors rather than the static weight. We were just not keen to have the potential of a huge weight of water on the stern and our options for carrying the rib on deck for long passages are limited.

 

[ip485]

Yes, the weight of a wave is a concern. I have an industrial velcro strip sewn on the top of the chaps each side so I can place a very small cover across the two tubes to at least disipate a wave. In reality I suspect if you really catch a big wave that lands on top of most covers, the cover will collapse into the rib anyway, together with a lot of water. Of course, leaving the bung out will get rid of the water quite quickly, but there is the intial load. Is it that much of a concern - the perceived wisdom would seem it is not, until of course you are caught in something really nasty!

Fanciful thinking but I suppose with a rigid aluminium bottom, which I have, you could have a removable plate, so the water would poor straight out the bottom. I have actually fitted a little bilge pump which ejects the water at an impressive rate, but never the less I guess the davits might struggle with the immediate shock load!

I probably have a spare 100Kg of capacity on the davits - which is only about 30 gallons of water. I wonder what the tender holds?