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Thursday, September 12, 2013

Boom Tent



September in the North Country. One day it's cold enough to light the woodstove. The next day it's pushing 90 with high humidity.

The maples are just starting to change. It's going to get pretty really soon. I'm glad we'll get a chance to see the fantastic fall colors before we head south.



We did take advantage of the unseasonably warm temperatures to work on the boat. I need a new dock, but in the mean time, anchoring off the bow and tying the stern to shore has worked great. When not in use, this is where we keep the boat. Nice to have the boat ready to sail at all times.



This is the configuration we've settled on for the boom tent. It's a canvas tarp supported on each end by fiberglass poles. The poles were salvaged from an old tent. It will be nice to have a bit more shady space on a hot day, or dry space on a drizzly day.


Thunderstorms were moving it and it stood up to some strong gusts of wind. That's encouraging. Nice to know it won't turn into a big white kite at the first provocation.

We wrapped it all up before the rain hit. One more thing ready for our trip.

-Sixbears

17 comments:

  1. That should keep a lot of sun out of your eyes!

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  3. I confess to being a wee bit jealous of your relaxed lifestyle. I hope to sail someday but I am too busy trying to work to get my retirement set.

    You prior response about me stopping by, I always read your blog but occasionally comment. Been reading you for a long time. Keep up the good work.

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    1. Thanks Nightshift.

      You'd be surprised on how little money we actually do this with.

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  4. The leaves are starting to change here, too. Last 3 days have been horrible with heat and humidity, but it should break with some thunderstorms tonight. Like your boom tent - great idea!

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    1. We had only one really hot day, Got an amazing thunderstorm. I saw boom tents on other small boats and figured that was just the thing for ours.

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  5. The tent will definitely come in handy in the south.

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    1. Shade is nice. Beats feeling like a frying egg on the sidewalk. The beauty of being on anchor is that air will always blow through it as the boat points into the wind.

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  6. Sounds awesome. I've read that sailers use a weighted end (filled water jug?) to allow the cover to expand in breeze, then come back down when gust ends. My apologies for lack of better description.

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    1. Makes sense that something like that could work. I'm relying on the flexibility of the fiberglass poles.

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  7. I found one red leave today. Does that mean Fall is coming or is it just because of the drought? We usually get our Fall in early December.

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    1. Where you are in TX, I'd bet on drought.

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    2. Leaves are turning up in Bill Nye's neck of the (literal) woods, which is definitely unusual. Down my way trees are just dieing. My Dad has cut down several at his place nearby, including mesquites. When mesquites are dieing you know it is bad. They are the cactus of the tree world. But we've had a lot of rain this week from a slow moving tropical wave and things have greened up quickly.

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    3. It's been a wet summer here. Rivers are high again. This used to be our dry season.

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  8. Anchored off in a cove off St. Somewhere... Yeah, that works! Shade definitely ranks on top in the tropics. Combined with the Trades, it makes things downright pleasant!

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    1. This winter will be our practice trip. After a few months of steady boat living, we should know what works and what doesn't.

      I hear that you can either anchor out and enjoy the free breeze, or tie up in a stuffy marina and run AC.

      . . . of course, not having AC . . .

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