Option for sleeping aboard

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Option for sleeping aboard

Postby TIM WEBB » Sat Feb 02, 2013 11:37 pm

Hi all,

Posted a couple pix in my gallery of how I intend to sleep aboard on my next adventure, the West Coast Trailer Sailer Squadron's Indian River Lagoon Cruise, Feb 15-17. After pitching a tent ashore on the FL 120, I'm over that!

14771478

It's a Kamp-Rite Compact Collapsible Tent Cot that *barely* fits in the cockpit. See pic descriptions for more details ...

No boom tent required! I figure it can be used while anchored out or to shore, or even used onshore if need be. I'll use a halyard and the topping lift to raise the boom up outta the way. It's really quite comfy! Already set it up once at anchor out on the lake.

Tonight I made a couple modifications to it, such as adding a lanyard to the crown inside to hold a light, as well as a port to pass through the power cable for my GPS. I have a 12V outlet mounted to the inside cuddy roof at the first stringer location. The adapter for the GPS (battery won't last all night) is just the right length to reach into the tent/cot. The GPS (Bushnell Onyx 400) has a function that allows you to set a "map area" around your current location, and it beeps if you go outside that area. I'll use this feature as a "dragging anchor alarm". It'll be about one foot from my head while sleeping, so I think it will wake me up if I'm "wandering"! :o
Tim Webb
1979 DS2 10099 The Red Witch
(I used to be Her "staff", in the way dogs have owners and cats have staff, but alas no longer ... <pout>)
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Re: Option for sleeping aboard

Postby GreenLake » Sun Feb 03, 2013 12:44 am

Fixed the image links for you. Looks interesting.
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Re: Option for sleeping aboard

Postby Salty Dog » Sun Feb 03, 2013 3:22 pm

Looks good!
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Re: Option for sleeping aboard

Postby TIM WEBB » Sun Feb 03, 2013 11:46 pm

Thx GL. The reason I referred folks to my gallery, rather than including the links in the message body, is that with this new format, when you click on the pic, it doesn't take you to the gallery like it used to before. It just asks if you'd like to save the image? At least that's what happens on my end (Windows 7) ...
Tim Webb
1979 DS2 10099 The Red Witch
(I used to be Her "staff", in the way dogs have owners and cats have staff, but alas no longer ... <pout>)
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Re: Option for sleeping aboard

Postby GreenLake » Mon Feb 04, 2013 3:24 am

TIM WEBB wrote:Thx GL. The reason I referred folks to my gallery, rather than including the links in the message body, is that with this new format, when you click on the pic, it doesn't take you to the gallery like it used to before. It just asks if you'd like to save the image? At least that's what happens on my end (Windows 7) ...

The behavior is probably browser-specific. On Firefox, clicking the thumbnail gets you the image (the whole thing works ilke FF's "view image" command) - you are correct, it does not get you the gallery window with the comments (as was the case before). To give access to those, you need to copy/paste the URL into a URL tag in your editor.

http://daysailer.org/forum/gallery/image_page.php?album_id=1&image_id=1477&display=popup
http://daysailer.org/forum/gallery/image_page.php?album_id=1&image_id=1478&display=popup
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Re: Option for sleeping aboard

Postby TIM WEBB » Mon Feb 04, 2013 10:39 am

Ah, OK, I see. That was with Internet Explorer on Windows 7 on my home laptop. On my work computer (IE on XP), it just brings up the larger version in it's own window, without the comments.

I'll keep that in mind in the future, about cutting and pasting the link(s). Am trying it here now to make sure I'm doing it correctly:

http://www.daysailer.org/forum/gallery/image_page.php?album_id=100&image_id=1477
http://www.daysailer.org/forum/gallery/image_page.php?album_id=100&image_id=1478
Tim Webb
1979 DS2 10099 The Red Witch
(I used to be Her "staff", in the way dogs have owners and cats have staff, but alas no longer ... <pout>)
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Re: Option for sleeping aboard

Postby UCanoe_2 » Fri Feb 08, 2013 11:43 pm

Very clever! Let us know how it works. It looks like rain would run off the tent into the cockpit instead of over the side. That may not be as much of an issue with a DS 2, but it sure would be with a DS 1.
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Re: Option for sleeping aboard

Postby jdoorly » Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:04 am

I've had a plan for a couple years now to perform a cockpitectomy on my DS2. I got the idea from a magazine article about a guy who took a saw to the seats and replaced the gaping hole below the coamings with plywood and epoxy. Can't remember his name, maybe Geoff something, but the benefits would be plenty of elbowroom to move around the cockpit plus a fairly wide area for sleeping on the cockpit floor under a boom tent. Personally, I would add a seat of long wood strips that would hinge on the coaming providing a seat of comfortable height and depth when horizontal or be out of the way when vertical.
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Re: Option for sleeping aboard

Postby GreenLake » Sat Feb 09, 2013 5:15 am

Just be sure that you end up with comparable amounts of positive flotation....
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Re: Option for sleeping aboard

Postby jdoorly » Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:02 pm

Good point GL, it would be highly unlikely in removing the seat volume from the cockpit that I would end up with equivalent flotation. There would continue to be the flotation of the volume under the coaming which helps but is probably not enough, by itself, to keep a knocked down boat from taking on water over the coaming. Perhaps if I forego a hinged seat and make it a solid shelf to keep water out. This would give greater effective volume than currently exists, and be a wall against taking on water until the boat turtles, then the boat might be harder to right than a DS1. If I added some tube railings on the outside of the cockpit (for handholds) with closed cell foam wrapped around them (for backrests); that might be exactly what's needed, since it's in just the right place to help float the cockpit above the water in a knock down. Well, maybe I can go cruising soon...
DS2 #6408 "Desperado"
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Re: Option for sleeping aboard

Postby TIM WEBB » Sat Feb 09, 2013 10:30 pm

UC2: yes, I am aware that rain would end up in the cockpit, but it would with all but the most secure boom tents as well. Dunno 'bout the DS1, but the -2 has a mooring drain in the transom, just above the waterline, which I would leave open anyway, whether I was beached or anchored, sleeping on the boat or onshore. The beauty of the cot/tent is that it gives me 3 different options: sleeping aboard anchored away from shore, sleeping aboard anchored to shore, or sleeping onshore.

Also not sure how this tent/cot thingy would work on a DS1 - the wood floorboards are probably lower than the DS2 cockpit sole (?), and therefore the cot's legs might not clear the CB trunk ... ?

I'll give the class a full report after next weekend ... :P
Tim Webb
1979 DS2 10099 The Red Witch
(I used to be Her "staff", in the way dogs have owners and cats have staff, but alas no longer ... <pout>)
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Re: Option for sleeping aboard

Postby GreenLake » Sun Feb 10, 2013 2:32 am

I want to hear how this cot tent works out in practice.

Generally, the idea of just adapting camping equipment rather than constructing a "marine" solution is probably the best approach - especially given the mass-market pricing for the former.

Instead of a "proper" boom tent, using the upper, or outer, shell of some regular tent would seem to make most sense, especially if you can get one that has its own "springy rods", so it's self supporting. I think there's been at least one post here of such a setup. (You may have to use the topping lift to pull the boom up along the mast and out of the way.)

Even if you manage to cover the entire cockpit, a DS1 will likely collect some water in a heavy rain storm. A keel-step mast will have some water run down along it (and we usually don't use watertight sleeves at the partners). Also, any water collecting on the foredeck will run along the deck to the back of the boat. If the coamings were stripped down to the deck level or if they were not sealed where they touch the hull, water will find a way in - certainly in a deluge.

Even if there isn't any rain in the forecast, having an enclosure like your cot will help with wind/mosquitoes/dew...

PS, as to whether a cot like this would fit on a DS1, that depends a bit on the clearance you get. The floorboards are about 1.25" off the floor, more in some places - it's hard to be exact as they rest on little "feet" that are all different dimensions. I suspect it would take at most a few plywood cutoffs to make foot pads for the cot.
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Re: Option for sleeping aboard

Postby TIM WEBB » Sun Feb 10, 2013 10:15 pm

You will GL, cuz it's s'posed to rain all next weekend ... :cry:

Yes, I am planning on using the topping lift/halyard to hold the boom up out of the way.

And yes, the main goal of the tent/cot is to keep Mother Nature out of where I'm actually sleeping, be that at anchor, anchored to shore, or ashore ... 8)

I've done drawings of the DS1 floorboards for some folks, but having never seen a DS1 in person (except Holstein's Precision), I have no idea what the clearances are ...
Tim Webb
1979 DS2 10099 The Red Witch
(I used to be Her "staff", in the way dogs have owners and cats have staff, but alas no longer ... <pout>)
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Re: Option for sleeping aboard

Postby GreenLake » Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:59 am

TIM WEBB wrote:I've done drawings of the DS1 floorboards for some folks, but having never seen a DS1 in person (except Holstein's Precision), I have no idea what the clearances are ...

I did go back to your photos and see that the clearance on your DSII is very tight in front. As I have no idea about how far the two hulls on a DSII are apart from each other, I could imagine that it might be a tad more than the thickness of the floor-board planks together with the height of the cross bar that lifts them off the floor of the boat. Or it could be a rather similar distance.

However, your CB trunk (or perhaps it's a molded in cover?) is nicely squared off at the top which is not the case for older CB. It could be that the height you need to clear in your DSII is just a bit more. If you were interested to enable DS1 users to follow your design, they would simply need to know how many inches of clearance you have for those front legs of your cot. It would then be an easy thing to measure the actual floor boards on a DS1 to find out whether one would need some sort of foot pads to raise the cot a bit.

Now, about your weather forecast. I wish you the same "unreliability" with yours as happened with today's weather forecast here. We were not promised any wind at all (well 2 knots), and 50% cloud cover. What we got was a sunny early afternoon with a cold front coming in that brought a nice breeze ahead of it, with the wind shifted to a direction that we could (almost) sail the entire length of the lake in a single tack in both directions. If weather forecasts have to be unreliable, I don't mind if they are "off" in that particular way. 8) 8)
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Re: Option for sleeping aboard

Postby jeadstx » Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:56 pm

jdoorly,
The article your looking for was in Small Craft Advisor a couple years ago. I remember reading it. He took a DS2 and cut the seats out and made the cockpit all the same height. He plan to sail sitting on the deck. He also made some other major modifications. As I recall he filled the bilge area with flotation. He was modifying the boat for a crossing from Florida to the Bahamas.

As far as general discussion,
Tim's idea looks interesting and it will be interesting to see how it works in practice. Concerning sleeping on a DS1, I saw an article a few years ago (I think in Small Craft Advisor) about a DS1 that did some extensive cruising on the east coast of trips of a week or more. The way sleeping on board was set up was build an extension from the forward end of the cockpit seat to the forward flotation tank. I don't remember if he kept the forward bulkhead in place or not. It created a sleeping surface that was mainly (if not all) inside the cuddy cabin. He also used a cockpit tent to cover the cockpit and help keep out rain. Since the sleeping surface was built like a shelf, it still had storage area underneath. This method, on a DS1 could be used to create two sleeping surfaces.
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