Fixing Avocet | Building a Sailboat Dodger
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- Опубліковано 21 лип 2024
- The canvas dodger we had inherited aboard Avocet had seen better days; the frame was not stout, the dark blue canvas had been sun bleached and abused over the years, and perhaps the worst trait of all was that the strataglass was as transparent as milk making any sort of attempt to see through it impossible. Although it served us well as a windbreak and had gotten us this far in our journey we knew it was time to upgrade. Originally we had the idea to create a completely rigid hard dodger and forgo the hassle of sewing canvas, but then at the advice of notable sailors we decided to create a hardtop that could support solar panels with canvas sides that can be removed for easy cleaning and air flow on the particularly stuffy days at anchor. This video shows how we built our dodger, but if you would like to know more please visit our website www.svavocet.com
Chapters:
0:00 - 1:33 Why Build a New One?
1:33 - 9:20 Building the Hard Top
9:20 - 10:41 Building the Metal Frame
10:41 - 12:50 Disaster and Painting
12:50 - 14:28 Fitting
14:28 - 17:00 Sewing the Canvas Sides
17:00 - 18:00 Finishing Touches
18:00 - 19:42 Thank You!
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#CheoyLee #Sailing
I think Chris is cheating on you with that sanding block. And maybe the fiberglass supplier 😂
You know now that you mention it…. 🫣
This is the best DIY hard dodger I have seen. Congrats to the both of you.
Hey thank you!
Good work Chris 👍🏼 I really liked your idea of using tubing and pins for the solar panels. I added strips of penetrating epoxied Luan in my divinicell stringers for the light and speaker mounts as well as the handholds to give the screws something to bite into other than glass which strips easier. I also used poly pipe as the conduit runs for the cabling.
I have a background in Army Communications and work experience as an offshore Marine Electrician/ET so while I’m great with the power & stuff that beeps I had never worked with glass. The technological advancement in panel manufacturing has really aided DIYers pull off projects with little to no experience, combined with youtube videos it’s a win-win.
This is about the best example of a DIY Dodger or hard top. Brilliant!
Thank you for watching! The dodger has served us very well.
Very good video. I learnt how to fix my Doger cover.
Awesome! Glad it helped
"Glorious, Glorious Sanding"....nice nod to Mads at Sail Life.
We love Mads!
Beautiful job!
Thank you! Cheers!
Killer job! Looks Beautiful!
thank you Shane!
look forward to the next video. thanks for your video
More to come!
Great job folks! The boat looks fantastic with those modifications and restructuring of your dodger.
Cheers!
Awesome job, nothing makes you feel better then the end result knowing that you did that, great job you guys!
definitely. thank you for watching!
Excellent job
cheers!
So good, I watched it twice! Great job! And you guys make it look so easy!
Thanks Mermandy! Miss you, stoked on your photos lately
Impressive workmanship!
Thanks Hezi!
This was a really well done video.
Thank you! We hope you enjoy some of the others as well
I’ve been watching your videos and I’m really enjoying the way everyone offers their professionalism. Fair Winds And Following Seas ⚓️🇺🇸
thank you Howard!
One of the best boat project videos on the net. Most stretch this into 6 weeks of content. I mistakenly skipped 15 seconds and missed like 3 different things
Hey Damien! Thanks for watching. We aren’t really fans of the whole “stretch a project out into separate videos” type thing so try to keep all our project videos concise with all the necessary info. If you are interested in more, check out our website :) fair winds!
Excellent looking, congratulations, you have given me great ideas for my winter project.
Cheers! Be sure to check out the full blog post for details
Great project encompassing a lot of different skills. Good to have a few friends with the specialized skills and tools too.
it sure is!
Wow from the hip engineering on the fly like a rockstar. Nice work and the shape turned out great. Very nice
Thanks Mike! Years of trial and error got us this far. We appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment
I bought epoxy from an outfit in Tonawanda, NY (that specialized in kayaks and canoes)---and it contained an additive that allowed a chemical bond, up to a week later. Saved me tons of sanding.
I tested the bonding, and it worked, but I recommend not waiting the full week. Next day, very fine.
Cool!
Nicely done!!
Thank you!!
I've been waiting for this ever since you guys teased it last episode. It did not disappoint, it looks fantastic. Chris has to mess up sometimes otherwise his mad skills would just be too intimidating.
Thank you for your patience! We know it's been a while... did you get the chance to read the full blog recap? That has a lot of photos and details that didn't make the cut here!
Very. Well. Done. Excellent job.
Thank you!
Chris and Marissa, after accidentally discovering you lovely folks I just binged. Please give us more of what you are doing. You are the best!
Welcome aboard! Glad to have you. We don't post to UA-cam more than once a month due to work, projects and sailing but we do write and publish a bit! You can find our blogs on www.svavocet.com OR check out our recent publications on our media page (on our website) :) Thanks for watching!
Hi guys!! We really loved this episode 😀 great story telling and video work as well as a bloody awesome dodger!!
The canvas sides look really cool...nice job with the sewing machine! It was really cool to see the fiber glassing process so different to our steel sailboat build ⚓⛵ Luke & Mel xx
Thank you so much Luke and Mel! We appreciate it
Great video.
Thanks Chris!
Heys guys, Fantastic job.
Cheers!
Proper ! Nice job 👍
thanks buddy!
Just found your channel, but this is exactly what we are looking to learn more about. Thanks for sharing 👍 😊
Welcome aboard! Glad you found us. If you are keen on learning more, I recommend checking out our website that has all of the projects and nitty gritty details www.svavocet.com :) Let us know if you have any questions!
You don't do as many videos as other channels, but the ones you do you do well. Nice job on the dodger and the video.
Thanks Brian! We may be too busy to do videos all the time, but we share what matters ;) you can always follow along on our website www.svavocet.com
Nice. Dodger is one of my requirements for stepping aboard. If I’m ever president I’ll make a law that sailboats come with hard dodgers. Yours is pretty nice; so I will probably allow a sturdy removable hardtop too!
Great Video guys, I'd say this is the BEST Tutorial on making a Hard/Soft dodger combo on all of UA-cam
Now i'm waiting on spring weather to Mimmic what you've done. Thank You.
Thanks Chris! If you are looking for more details this was published in the latest Good Old Boat magazine, as well as on our website www.svavocet.com
Great video guys!
thanks brotha
Nice work👍
cheers
WOW! W O W!!! What a fantastic video! Awesome job! Subscribed!!!
Thanks Steve! This dodger has served us well in our journey so far.
That looks amazing! Great job. :)
Thank you so much!
Looks fantastic guys, big fan of the canvas sides opposed to my hard sides, I'll be regretting not doing what you have done when i reach warmer climates!🌞🥵
Thank yoU!!!
Your dodger looks fabulous
Thanks so much :)
Glorious sanding
you know what's up!
Nice work it looks great 👍 👌
thank you so much!
Nice job...
Cheers
Aloha from sailing vessel Moonrunner at Port Allen Harbor on Kauai. The Cheoy Lee Pedrick 36 that you messaged from Capt. Q. I have been thinking of building a dodger also. Your dodger project looks great!
Aloha!
Love you guys
Thanks Marc!
✨🏆✨ Absolutely Top Shelf ... all aspects! 💯🖖
Thank you so much!
I made a dodger for our westerly oceanlord it was fantastic for sailing in cold wet weather
Awesome!
My hardtop fell at a bad time in the process too, glad yours was easy to recover ;)
Easy may not be the best word, but we sure did get creative! Luckily our boat neighbors were kind enough to lend whatever extra paddles and poles they had haha!
@@sailingavocet It definitely shows! Excellent end result!
W O W . . . Another major in depth complicated task you two took on here 🫣😱
Pretty brave of you I would say, but as Always… It came out FANTASTIC..!!! 😎👍👌👏🥳
Thanks Anna! We have missed hearing from you. Hopefully we will have new content out sooner this time!
@@sailingavocet … Yes, and we really miss seeing Your videos when you’re off.
But hey, when you have a Good job that you Really like, you kinda like to stay with it and see where “IT” takes you, so we certainly understand you all being missing…!! 😎👍
@@annafraley5388 thanks Anna!
Was just searching something on the web re second hand boats and ended up on a Reddit page... read to the end and there at the bottom under the heading "More posts from the sailing community" was a picture of a certain lady holding up a "Merchant Mariner Credential"!! Congrats!!
Thank you!!! I appreciate it.
that looks great, much better than I was expecting. ps I initnally started watching yall on tiktok.
Welcome to where the REAL content lives! Thanks for coming by!
You sure dodged a bullet with that dodgy dodger, thanks to Chris’ mad skills
Ah yes glorious glorious sanding
haha you know what's up!
Sick drone shots! ;)
The dodger came out amazing. You’re going to get way too many people asking you to build more (myself included).
Hell yah buddy! We are so stoked on them. Thank you!
I love this dodger design; you hit it out of the park! I'd like to incorporate some of the design elements when I get to building one for my boat. What hardware did you use to mount to the aluminum backing plates? Looks like stainless oval-head Phillips machine screws and finish washers, maybe nylock nuts on the back...plus some butyl to seal? Did you sleeve those holes with epoxy first?
Hey Kevin! Thanks for taking interest in the project. Almost a year later and we love it! Have you read the project post on our website? It has more details. www.svavocet.com
Is the logic for the sides purely a ventilation one? I'm always curious of this design vs a hard dodger in bluewater, but I do love the fact you can pull the canvas to reduce your windage should you have a concern for that at anytime.
Hey Cameron! Great question. It is a lot less work to do canvas sides, plus at the advice of many blue water cruisers we decided to go this route for (exactly what you said) ventilation and less windage.
had to come back forgot to hit the like button
Thanks!
This is on my list... Hopefully sooner than later. I need new glass and a taller dodger. Apparently the previous owners were much shorter than me.
:) I know a guy who can help
@@sailingavocet yeah, but I hear he's sailing away in a few months.
grate video i work on sail boats i like it good job .Oh no painting sanding or scrapping in the Mariana LOL
Thanks for watching Cam
Great video, what is the channel or track used which is mounted to the boat and has canvas slid along its length?
Hey there! I believe we have it linked here: www.svavocet.com/2022/07/02/building-a-dodger-for-our-sailboat/
hope this helps :)
Im a Sailing Avocet virgin, and I enjoyed our first time together! lol
I worked as a shipwright in several yards Hence my name (the Yard), and I have never seen compound being applied over wet glass. Sounds like a great idea! So you dont have to worry about gassing off because they are both gassing off together, Right? is this how it works? Im going to have to try this technique.
Im considering making my own hard dodger too. Thanks for all the ideas! Cheers, and happy sailing!
Well shoot! We enjoyed our time together too 😉 as long as you get the fairing compound on before the fiberglass and resin cure, the amine blush will form only on the surface layer. BUT it depends on the temperature and the epoxy brands. we have some more details on www.svavocet.com if you care to browse :)
I'm curious what your solution to the MDF sagging while laying up the first layer would be if you did it again. Thicker MDF or a layer of glass on top of it first to add strength? Maybe some plywood supports underneath cut to the shape?
I would do something similar to what I did even though it was quick thinking. Perhaps plywood supports would be helpful, but I don't like to waste material glassing if I can help it.
👍👍👍
cheers!
The new dodger looks downright professional! Any concern that the boom shadow will cause performance issues for your solar?
When at anchor it is usually set off the beam
@@sailingavocet is that for the flopper stopper?
@@braxtonyoung Yep! We removed our rigid boom vang and replaced it with a traditional for that reason. We used to rig our flop stopper off the spinnaker pole, but it was a safety issue just adding one more thing to de-rig if we needed to get out of an anchorage quickly.
Great craftsmanship, obviously a fun job knowing the payoff is when you are sailing below it! What's next? :¬) Webhead USA
aww, thank you! As far as projects go we are just crossing off some small items and miiiiiight install a new water maker. we shall see!
Great video you two. As always your film making and story telling is top notch.
I give you so much credit for having the courage to make these tech videos as they open you up to so much criticism.
I like the dodger and it has inspired me to create something similar for Make My Day.
Keep up the good work.
Love the Zeppelin t-shirt Chris.
Be well. Greetings from SY Make My Day currently on anchor in Fornells, Menorca.
Thank you for all the support Michael! Safe sailing!
👍👍👍!!!
Thanks for watching!
I know this is an older video but I'm curious how you treated the edges. Did you do any kind of round over and did you use fiberglass over the edges? If so what type of glass worked well on the edges. I have a Valiant 42 that has almost the exact same hardtop. It is fiberglass over plywood and is delaminating so I would like to do a foam core. Trying to decide on the type of core. Nydacore seems good but the edges are where I'm not sure. Thanks
Hey Ed, you can read the details over on our website: www.svavocet.com/2022/07/02/building-a-dodger-for-our-sailboat/ if it doesn’t load just refresh the page
We used epoxy, glass and fairing compound to round over the edges.
Nice Job! Curious if it's strong enough to stand on?
Sure is! Check out our blog post that has a photo of Chris strength testing it
@@sailingavocet I missed how you treated the edges. Can they just be filled with fairing compound and shaped? I've been thinking about this very project to replace the hardtop on my 1994 Valiant 42. Our existing top is fiberglass over a plywood core and it is starting to delaminate. Thanks for the great DIY videos.
@@sailingcontigo7953 yes, our blog has more step by step details! :) best of luck!
How did you maintain the shape? Glass over the zip ties?
The tiptoes were just part of the MDF mold
Hey @sailingavocet, can I ask where you guys got this foam? I'm also in SoCal and cannot find it anywhere. Any tips?
Hey Curtis! you can find the details here: www.svavocet.com/2022/07/02/building-a-dodger-for-our-sailboat/
@@sailingavocet wow, I can't thank you enough, I had gone pages deep on Google and not run across this supplier!
@@curtislong4305 happy to help! :)
You did a killer job on that top. It looks like something West Marine would sell for $5500. You could start a business __making hard tops, as you know
Thanks Mike! Funny you mention it, we were toying with the idea of building hard tops this summer
I think if you add all the work hours and material you'll be close to 4000$ as well...
how did you do the edges ?
Hey there! All the details are on our website www.svavcoet.com
Is that the Neely family Mason 43 right next door?
It sure is!
Most of the finished shots were blocked by the links at end, maybe see how it becomes integral to the overall design later
Please check out all the photos on our website www.svavocet.com
You should start with PVC foam board and then skip the foam core, less steps and material more strength and no rot down the line
Nydaplast can't rot... it's plastic not foam. It has a honeycomb material that's sectioned out so if there is ever water intrusion it is encapsulated, isolating the problem for a quick fix. PVC foam board is like what you would use for a school science fair project. Considering that Nydaplast is quite literally made for marine applications it's strength/weight is almost unmatched in comparison to other options on the market (davinicell, cusaboard, etc - all materials we have experience with). At the end of the day, do your research and find what works best for you.
♥️♥️🥰🥰
Thanks for watching
Could you drop by and help us do the same on our boat? We're in Manly Harbour Queensland. Excellent job!
Be right over! :)
Do you need an assistant..?
Nope! Thanks for asking though :)
Really good build wish I had those skills 👍🇬🇧
Thanks Mark! It’s not as difficult as you might think :) we have a detailed write up on our website if you care to learn a bit more www.svavocet.com
@@sailingavocet thank you, that is really kind. I’m working on my Westerley 33’ that’s very cool!👍
@@marklchapman2785 Great boat, let us know if you have any questions we would be happy to help trouble shoot!
@@sailingavocet Wow, that would be awesome. I do have a lot of questions but maybe I should use your email