Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Kruger Seawind tent - first trial
One of the projects that I worked on over the winter was constructing a custom tent for the Kruger Seawind. The tent allows me to sleep in the cockpit. This was it's first field test and it worked very well. I remove the seat, put down a thermorest prolite full length pad, and then my sleeping bag. I have Northwater cockpit side bags attached inside to lines along the cockpit sides. When using the boat as a tent these store my personal items like headlamp, watch, etc.
The bug netting is supported by two pieces of starboard plastic wood I had left over from a sailboat project. It is attached to the starboard by velcro tabs. At the bow there is a neoprene punch through that allows the use fo the bug net when the sailing ama setup is in place. The headroom is enough to sit up inside the boat.
The rain fly attaches at the front of the boat to the deck lines with plastic clips. The bottom section of my sailing mast (about 1 1/2 feet) acts as a post in the front. The sides are held out at the starboard arch with pvc pipe struts that swivel on the arch pieces, allowing me to have ventilation, or to seal up the boat tighter if needed.
I enter the tent by undoing the bungee connection at the rear of the cockpit and redoing it once I am inside. In nice weather, I can attach the bow portion of the rain fly, and leave it rolled up over the top of the arch to allow star gazing and better ventilation. On this first night of use I had no condensation inside the hull or inside the rainfly.