Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
I sometimes have blowing rain coming in around the hatch boards. I have some extra sunbrella and I am contemplating sewing a cover for the companionway. Just debating how much area to cover. I really want to cover just the companionway area but not sure how far to extend forward and to the sides. Anyone have a cover like that?
There are a couple of boats at our club that have covers that cover just the companionway area. I have one that covers the cockpit and forward just past the forward hatch. I wanted to cover all the wood and plastic areas on my boat.
I recommend making it large enough to cover all of the wood and the windows as well as the companionway. One fairly inexpensive way to do it is to find a good quality powerboat cover on Ebay for a 14-16' boat at a bargain price, one with straps that go under the powerboat, take it to a canvas shop and have them cut a hole for the mast (4"x6") and install a zipper to one side. Preferably find one with rope in the hem, not elastic. Fold the cover lengthwise, lay it out on your deck, and line up the strap loops with your lifeline stanchions, then mark where you want the mast cut-out. Mark where you want grommets added for bungees to the bow pulpit and for lines to your cockpit cleats/winches to secure the cover fore and aft. Use the straps to secure the sides to the stanchion bases. I found that 2 straps on each side worked well.
I have always used a boomtent to cover from the mast back to below the companionway and side to side to cover all the wood and the windows. The earlier C25s like your 80 had terrible tolerances so you leak all over the place not just at your hatch boards, the front of the main hatch will allow blow under as an example. Using a boomtent I have NEVER had any insects in my boat when I open her up.
Sparky has a cover that hooks over cabin top winches and covers just the eyebrows and the hatch and wood trim to below. The sliding hatch cover is closed as the cover fits over the handle there. It snaps on around the perimeter. Cover is used when sailing in rain mostly, thereby keeping below decks dry. It could be used when off the boat to protect wood, but I prefer to leave the vents clear on hatch boards.
I have a small Sunbrella tarp that I can use as a boom tent or to cover the cabintop. The good thing about it is it's not specific to one portion of the boat, but can be used anywhere I need shade or rain protection. When at anchor, I will use it over the companionway if rain is threatening. I use it with the bimini late in the day or late season if the sun is hot and coming under the bimini cover. I ordered it with six tie-down eyelets, one in each corner and two along the sides to keep it in place if it's windy. My preference is to have a more versatile cover. I believe it measures 14' long x 10' wide. I fold it in 1/2 for smaller areas so its 7' x 10'. Ordered it from Defender in CT, they have a canvas dept.
My C25 had a pop top enclosure, so I made a sunbrella cover that just covered the hatchboards. I installed snaps, so that I could snap it to the same snaps that were used for the pop top cover. I left extra fabric at the top, and, after I attached the cover, I let the extra fabric hang over the top of the hatchboards. When the hatch was closed, the extra fabric at the top kept the water from blowing between the hatchboards and the sliding hatch.
The PO of my boat had a hatchboard cover in brown sunbrella that matched the brown mainsail cover and the tiller cover, but in its original package was a new companionway cover from Catalina Direct in royal blue that matched the new mainsail and tiller covers that were also unusued on the boat that I bought!
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.