Dodger Frame Completed - Mar 21-22, 2009

This past weekend I enjoyed the company and hard work of Bill & Sarah Paviol, Jim Clark, and Keith Otto.

All these folks joined me for some big projects on Kelly IV. Jim & Keith re-installed the traveler with its new sheaves from Garhauer. This was a huge job as it entailed working in the tiny space aft of the galley and below the cockpit. They had to remove the panels covering the space, reaching through the tiny space below while coordinating with their co-worker above. Now the traveler works smoothly, like new!

Until Jim & Keith completed the traveler installation, Bill, Sarah and I worked on building the frame for Kelly IV's new dodger. We cut 13.5" out of the center of the two stainless steel bows, then spliced them back together. The shorter bows then fit the smaller beam of Kelly IV. We drilled holes into the cabin top to install the bows. To make the dodger a more solid framework and to provide handgrips for crew as we move about the deck and cockpit. There are 2 forward rails/handgrips that run from the deck to the forward top of the dodger. Two short handgrips are on the most outboard sides of the dodger frame and a 5th handrail is across the top, easy to reach from the cockpit, just aft of the companionway. When the weather turns warmer, we'll need to drill out the cabin top holes so that we can fill them with epoxy, re-drill the holes and re-install the dodger frame. I'll also be building the canvas for the dodger over the next few weeks.