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| Some people take little boats to the extreme, but I'm in it for the fun |
- When you can sail? Nothing over a slight breeze else we'll tip!
- Where you can sail. Open seas are a little daunting in a 17 footer, but I can reach lots of places a larger yacht can't.
- How long you can sail for. Cramming lots of provisions and kit on board a little boat alters it's ability and stability, detracting from the joy of the sailing.
As long as you take the above into account and treat the experience as more of a camping exercise and a use it as a way to better know your closest friends, then you'll never be disappointed.
That said, a little more room aboard a small boat, especially if its gained at very little cost, is always a great idea. For most people that takes the form of a boom cover, or tent. The simplest arrangement is the old trap draped over the boom and then usually tension-ed down with some bungees to stays or anything that comes to hand. This is the usually found within the lines of small boats that have been put to bed over the winter, wrapped in their blankets of bright blue tarps that have been lashed to anything that will take a bungee with the belief that it'll hold the ravages of winter off until the calm seduction of the Spring weather lures the owners back to inspect the damage.
I on the other hand wanted a way to extend the small cabin out on the 'patio' of the boat. Allowing for access in bad weather and perhaps even spend the night on the sole of the deck, just like my not too distant cousins the dinghy cruisers.
I was of the afore mentioned crowd, where I simply took my cheap and cheerful tarp and slung it over the boom and lashed it down. But after a number of 'tents' had disappeared off into the night in high winds, or became partly dislodged with failed 'eyes' causing them to wildly lash around the cockpit like a mortally wounded pikes, I decided to look into a better way of using my still cheap tarp but make it a little more robust while keeping it easy to store.
I poked about the internet and read endless accounts of either buying pre made ones, or spending a lot of time and effort (most involving sowing machines too) designing and making your own fancy bespoke models. In the end I decided to take a simple idea from an article on the $tingySailor website and adjusted it for my own ideas.
I'm happy with my traditional $10 blue tarp, I just need to make it a little more secure and make sure it keeps a good shape to stop pooling and just getting plain broken when the wind picks up. This is where I'm stealing the idea of the plastic conduit piping and using this along the length of the tarp, and using loops of Velcro, securing the pipe to every eye along its length. This keeps the edges taught and in great shape.
To secure the 4 corners of the tarp to the pipe I've drilled a small hole so that the bungee ends can be passed through the tarp eyes and then locked into the the end of the pipes to keep it all nice and tight.
These now strengthened side sections of the tent help tension the over all shape and make sure there are only a few spots where water can pool and also stop some of the edge of the tent draining back into the cockpit.
It's not been used in high winds but up to now its served very well.
Here's a list of the kit I needed and used...
I on the other hand wanted a way to extend the small cabin out on the 'patio' of the boat. Allowing for access in bad weather and perhaps even spend the night on the sole of the deck, just like my not too distant cousins the dinghy cruisers.
I was of the afore mentioned crowd, where I simply took my cheap and cheerful tarp and slung it over the boom and lashed it down. But after a number of 'tents' had disappeared off into the night in high winds, or became partly dislodged with failed 'eyes' causing them to wildly lash around the cockpit like a mortally wounded pikes, I decided to look into a better way of using my still cheap tarp but make it a little more robust while keeping it easy to store.
I poked about the internet and read endless accounts of either buying pre made ones, or spending a lot of time and effort (most involving sowing machines too) designing and making your own fancy bespoke models. In the end I decided to take a simple idea from an article on the $tingySailor website and adjusted it for my own ideas.
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| The traditional blue tarp boom tent idea just needed shoring up! |
I'm happy with my traditional $10 blue tarp, I just need to make it a little more secure and make sure it keeps a good shape to stop pooling and just getting plain broken when the wind picks up. This is where I'm stealing the idea of the plastic conduit piping and using this along the length of the tarp, and using loops of Velcro, securing the pipe to every eye along its length. This keeps the edges taught and in great shape.
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| Loops of Velcro to secure |
To secure the 4 corners of the tarp to the pipe I've drilled a small hole so that the bungee ends can be passed through the tarp eyes and then locked into the the end of the pipes to keep it all nice and tight.
These now strengthened side sections of the tent help tension the over all shape and make sure there are only a few spots where water can pool and also stop some of the edge of the tent draining back into the cockpit.
It's not been used in high winds but up to now its served very well.
Here's a list of the kit I needed and used...
- Heavy duty Tarp 12ft x 10ft, get what size fits your needs.
- 2 x 2m 15mm Conduit used for the lower edges
- 6 x 1m Bungees - 3 either side
- Roll of 10mm wide back to back velcro for loops
I also used a cordless drill for drilling the holes on the ends of the conduit for securing the poles and tarps together as detailed above. Takes about 2 hours to get it all sorted.
When not in use I bungee the conduit poles together with the tarps and store below decks in the rear 1/4 berth.
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