Sailing awning

[Bill Robinson]

Hi Ben,
I had my sailing awning up this afternoon, and took the opportunity to take a few photos, as I have had many questions about my dodger/awning set up.

The awning attaches to the hard dodger via a plastic track, and is rolled up on the dodger when not in use. The stern end is supported by a pivoting SS tube, tensioned to the raised mainsheet horse. There are Port and Starboard side flaps laced to the upper lifelines, and zippered to the awning, (also a rear flap). These serve to protect from the late afternoon sun, and cover the sheets etc, which are hung from the lifelines, when not being used.

The system works well, it is easy and quick to deploy or roll away, has little windage at sea, and provides welcome shade in the cockpit.

[Bill Robinson]

Hi Ben, 

Jenain was really spartan on our first few voyages, only kerosene lights, no instruments, photo copied, out of date paper charts, a sextant and a lead line. Just a basic strong boat, and the will to go. Over the years, we have learnt a lot, and developed Jenain into a "cruising machine", and a home.

I have posted a few technical articles, including one on my hard dodger, on various websites, principally Attainable Adventure Sailing, and these have generated a lot of questions. Protection from the sun becomes of paramount importance in the tropics, and was one of the first lessons we learnt. Reading European, or North American, books and articles did not prepare us for this at all. In the tropics one spends a large portion of the day in the cockpit, and unless you are in the shade, you get fried. Conversely, at night, it is great to just lie there and look at the heavens, so being able to easily remove the sailing awning is important.

 

Congratulations on the purchase, I am sure that you will have great adventures  with Free Range. You can always ask my opinion, (which is seriously biased), about anything. I also know a good few Ebbtide owners who are also very experienced sailors. Just do not spend years trying to get the boat perfect, there is no such thing. Get out there and sail, that is the real goal.

Regarding my immediate plans, I have 3 deliveries at the enquiry stage at the moment. A  34 ft Hans Christian to New Zealand, and two 50 ft catamarans to Australia. I will only be able do one of them this year, so it all depends on who commits first. Next year I plan to either sail Jenain via the Philippines and Japan, to Alaska, or back around South Africa, to the Southern part of South America. We will see.

Regards,

Bill.
Aboard yacht JENAIN.

On Aug 18, 2015, at 19:30, Ben Dyer <ben...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi BIll, 

Great little bits of information.  I am assuming you get questions from people that have boats other than ebbtides as well?

You have definitely got Jenain set up well!  I love seeing and hearing about all the little modifications you have done, this one included.  It is great food for thought.  I would love to have a look at her one day.  What a simple and effective little addition to the cockpit area.  All very good points to consider.

We have just put our deposit on Free Range, the ebbtide in Sydney.  We are very excited.  I must say though, she is a little more spartan than Jenain.  We are looking forward to taking 2017 off (at least) and really getting amongst it for a while.

What are your plans for the foreseeable future?  

Ben

Subject: Sailing awning
From: jenai...@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2015 17:45:33 +0800
CC: ebbtid...@googlegroups.com
To: ben...@hotmail.com

Side flap in stowed position.
Inside view, side flap up.
View showing the stern support tube, and raised mainsheet horse.
Track attached to the rear of the hard dodger. Bill. Aboard yacht JENAIN.