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Good In tent ions....

saxonaxe

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I've been playing with the idea of camping in my boat. Locally there are miles and miles of sheltered woodland clad river banks and shallow tidal creeks which dry out. If camping ashore is not feasible, then a night aboard, whether at anchor or dried out is possible if I prepare the boat properly.
I've already got the gear, cooking pots, stoves, kip mats and sleeping bags etc: and there is a good 11 x 5 feet of clear deck space to flake out on.

Before I had to go up North I made up a rough copy of a Boom Tent to provide a sleeping shelter. I used a cheap Poly Tarp to make a pattern and experiment.
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I had to leave the project for a week or so while I went North, but the last time I was home I made up another tent in a heavier Tarp. I could only get the size I needed in Cammo, so Cammo it is. I didn't want to use screws in the Dinghy sides to fix attachment points for tent lashings, so I've rigged a removable Lanyard around the boat under the Gunnel and hauled it tight to take the tent lashings which are Bungee cord with hooks on the end. It's still a temporary rig but I'm happy to say that I rigged it over a week ago and it has survived some serious wind and rain in my absence.

A similar tent in proper canvas/ tent material is upwards of £600, so my effort at £18 for the tarp will have to do for now. Still a few minor adjustments but at least it keeps the weather out.
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Watch this space...:lol:
 
Looks like that will work a treat .........

Could you buy an army surplus canvas sheet or something of the like or would that be too heavy ??


 
Yes Rob, I did look at surplus and even new commercial tarps. One minor problem to work round is the weight of any cover I use. Bearing in mind that if I am at anchor, standing in a wobbly boat trying to rig and later fold a big heavy tarp into a stowable size might be exciting.
I did see one that might do the trick... Olive Camo Waterproof Tarpaulin

I think I might do a couple of trial outings with the cheap poly tarp rig and see if any drastic alterations need making and then go for a proper tarp as you suggest. I'll see if I can make a better finish to where the cover fits around the standing rigging at the gunnels. I've just cut and taped it to prevent any further tearing at the moment.
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looks pretty cool, gotta love the mobility options.
can i ask a he-don't-know-shit question?
i see part of the deck isn't under the tarp. in the wet wouldn't rain hitting that exposed deck run under the tarp onto your dry and comfy sleep area?
i'm sure there's a reason that wouldn't happen but colour me clueless when it comes to boats.
 
Teef... You land lubber! :rofl: This photo helps a bit. If you look at the flare of her hull, from the keel up to about the top edge of the third strake (plank) amidships. That area inside the boat is commonly called the 'Bilge' area, it's like a wide V shape up to about the top of the strake and then the hull flares to give a flatter inside. So any water lays below deck level as it were.

With that small area of tent open to the rain, with her deep bilge it would take hours of Tropical downpour to fill her bilge to the point where I got wet laying on the deck boards. She would need to take on maybe 25 litres plus before I got wet. I have a bilge pump (yet to be fitted) so I can pump her clear even if she was filled with water. :thumbsup:
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I've got an ordinary cover for her Mark. But using an ordinary cover would not give me the headroom to camp aboard, plus I would have to cut it anyway to fit round the mast.
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Just to give an idea, the boat is 6 foot beam (wide) but the tarp I used was 4 metres wide, so over twice the width to go up and over the boom and allow me to have sitting headroom underneath.

Ideally the boom tent needs to be of a lighter fabric than the usual heavy cover material. The people that make the covers will make a boom tent of a lighter more manageable fabric, but the lowest guestimate ( without them measuring the boat) was £600...I'm trying to avoid lashing out money for what is really not much more than a simple 'A' frame type tarp set up.
 
Ah , I see what you mean sax , it was a late night idea without much thought 😂😂
 
thank you Sax, i knew there would be a good reason why there wouldn't be a problem.

my father used to run dozer boats up on the northern lakes of British Columbia for log salvage. he almost died a couple of times while out on the job and i've more or less avoided anything that floats on large bodies of water ever since. not very logical i know but it's a hard one to shake.
 
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Understood Teef. Not the Northern Lakes, but I made a couple of voyages up through the Great Lakes and loaded wood products and Newsprint which had started life in the Canadian forests. I was with Canadian Pacific Steamship Co. out of Liverpool and we loaded in Duluth, on Lake Superior, USA.
 
I've got an ordinary cover for her Mark. But using an ordinary cover would not give me the headroom to camp aboard, plus I would have to cut it anyway to fit round the mast.
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Just to give an idea, the boat is 6 foot beam (wide) but the tarp I used was 4 metres wide, so over twice the width to go up and over the boom and allow me to have sitting headroom underneath.

Ideally the boom tent needs to be of a lighter fabric than the usual heavy cover material. The people that make the covers will make a boom tent of a lighter more manageable fabric, but the lowest guestimate ( without them measuring the boat) was £600...I'm trying to avoid lashing out money for what is really not much more than a simple 'A' frame type tarp set up.
A lighter material some boat cover maker use is "Weathermax" . Very storng and durable and light....but again, not cheap..........It's what the sprayhood and tent/bimini are made from (below) when refitting after purchase many years ago.........
 

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Thanks for that, Lol. I didn't know of Weathermax. I'll try to get one made of tent fabric if I can. Here's one in lighter fabric for a Wayfarer.... £625....in a proofed lightweight Nylon. Looking at that makes me think I should just buy a decent secondhand ridge tent and doctor it to fit the boat. :D
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That Wayfarer's tent does look good..................
 
Thanks for that, Lol. I didn't know of Weathermax. I'll try to get one made of tent fabric if I can. Here's one in lighter fabric for a Wayfarer.... £625....in a proofed lightweight Nylon. Looking at that makes me think I should just buy a decent secondhand ridge tent and doctor it to fit the boat. :D
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I was just thinking exactly that ......
 
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