Mounting position for boat cover battens? - CY

Hi all - Happy New Year!

Purchased a boat cover for my Chester Yawl through CLC. Nice cover, held in place with bow, stern, and four side tie-downs, as well as bungee under the rails.

Since there is play in the central part of the cover, I have purchased three batten holders (bow sockets - https://www.clcboats.com/shop/products/boat-gear/custom-boat-covers/sea-dog-bow-socket.html) to mount on the rails and hold arched battens under the cover.

Although three battens are recommended for the Chester Yawl, no indication is given regarding the best mounting position for these nor length of batten. Yes, I can do trial and error, but if someone else has mounted these batten holders/bow sockets before and has insights/recommendations that I can learn from, I am open to learning from you!

All the best,

DaveJ

 


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RE: Mounting position for boat cover battens? - CY

 Figured that it was time for a repost.

I am seeking input on the location of "bow sockets" - brackets to hold bartend that make an arch across the boat (Chester Yawl), supporting the boat cover. 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

DaveJ

 

RE: Mounting position for boat cover battens? - CY

   I used the recomended 2 for the Passagemaker. I didn't want to fasten the chrome ones when everything else on mine is bronze except the bow eye, so I made brackets to hold the sockets that slip into the oar locks. Because of this, I used the oar lock spacing.

If yours calls for 3 sets, I would space them one in center, with one set between that and the bow, one set between that and the stern

 

RE: Mounting position for boat cover battens? - CY

Seek and ye shall find....  Just spoted a banner on the home page today proclaiming new bronze and brass items.  Lo and behold:

https://www.clcboats.com/shop/products/boat-building-supplies-epoxy-fiberglass-plywood/bronze-brass-hardware/bow-socket-pair.html

...bronze bow sockets!

.....Michael

RE: Mounting position for boat cover battens? - CY

   Like upspirate, having installed 3 sets of oarlocks on my NE Dory from the get-go, I used PEX tubing to form hoops for my cover.  Drilled elongated holes in one side of the PEX tube at appropriate locations (separated wider than the width of the hull at each set of locks so the PEX forms an arch) , put in some pieces of aluminum tube (about 6" long each) that exactly fit the lock size, and ran some small bolts through the PEX/aluminum pins so that they can dangle and pivot a bit.  I allowed the PEX to extend about 4" on either side of the gunwale, then put tennis balls on the end.  I just put the pins in the oarlocks and put my boat cover over these hoops.  I tied a line stem to stern across the apex of each hoop (sort of like a ridgepole) so the hoops can't deflect fore and aft, and cover with a tarp.  If the hoops were inserted in some sort of cover sleeve the fore-aft line would not be required. 

                          

RE: Mounting position for boat cover battens? - CY

   Many thanks for your input.

Yes, my default plan is to start with the center batten (bow) mount, then sp!it the difference going to the stem and stern.

When I just had a blue tarp over the boat, I took advice from the forum and created "hoops" out of PVC-C pipe with a dowel jammed in the ends. The dowels were shaved down to fit in the two sets of oarlocks with a line running stem to stern. This worked well, but is too high an arch for the fitted cover. 

Since I have already purchased the three "bow sockets" in stainless  for less than $20, it would be a hard swallow to drop $150 to get the same hardware in bronze just for aesthetics. But thanks for researching.

The next step appears to be a trial-and-error process for determining the appropriate length for the battens. Frankly, I would have thought that this was something that the sailmaker used by CLC would have recommendations on this, because the cover will function (and look) a lot better with a bit of an upward bow than a downwards sag - but apparently not.

DaveJ

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