traveller line through dodger?

[kerk fisher]

When installing a dodger where do you run the traveller line? Paul Bousquet, after much thought, passed the lines through the dodger. Any other suggestions?  Or good ways of going through dodger if it's really necessary? Thanks, Kerk  One month to launch and are we excited!!

[Ted Pounds]

Kerk,

It depends on your dodger.  On mine I moved the blocks on the traveler ends inboard so the lines run through zippers where the front windows join.  I've seen others with slots in the front for the traveler lines.  I think others have modified the leads on the ends so than they can pass under the dodger.  Some folks have moved the cam cleats back to the cabin top to make them easier to work from the cockpit.  Try a search on travelers and you might find some more stuff.   Just a few thoughts...

[kerk fisher]

Ted - Thanks for your prompt reply to our question. Here's another one. When you say modify the leads so that it can pass under the dodger, what exactly do you mean modify the leads? And we're wondering if the play back and forth would distress the canvas of the dodger? Thanks, Kerk

[Ted Pounds]

Kerk

Try this:  http://www.c34.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1181&highlight=traveler

One of the posts mentions leading through brass grommets in the dodger.  Another mentions leading through a deck organizer, though I'm not sure how that would work.  You should ask the poster directly for more info.  I got this and some other links by doing a search on 'traveler'.

[Stu Jackson]

Kerk

As Ted and others have noted, there are a number of ways to do this.  Ted's reference article is good to read.

The first picture shows two important things:  one the slit in the dodger front glazing, and two, the cam cleat on the aft end of the coach roof.  This is our OLD dodger (sorry for the poor and dirty condition - it's since been replaced).  The PO originally must have had the cam cleats mounted right on the traveler car sheave arrangement, which is the way most boats are built.  That is WHY he had the slits in the window, to be able to pull up on the control lines and release them.

Then, he got smart and read Mainsheet magazine.  Sometime in the late 1990's our own Jim Moe, who also owns a Catalina 30, published the great idea of:

1.  taking the cam cleats OFF the traveler cars
2.  adding a fairlead bullseye to the coach roof
3.  adding a new cam cleat at the aft edge of the coach roof
4.  making the control lines longer (we had to anyway when we added the new 6:1 traveler control sheaves from Garhauer)

He wrote this up with a picture in the Catalina 30 section of that old Mainsheet magazine.  (That's why I continue to recommend that you read all the stories in the magazine, regardless of what size boat - there are many useful ideas in addition to our C34 section.)  Our PO read it and installed the bullseye fairleads and the cam cleat on the coach roof.  He therefore had no further use for the slits in the dodger glazing, but, obviously, they were still there in his original dodger when we bought the boat.

The second picture shows the newer Garhauer sheaves in front of the old dodger (with it's cover on).  No cam cleats on the car(s).  Note the roller on the aft end of the traveler car which leads the control line aft through the dodger glazing and back to the bullseye on the coachroof.  The old traveler car 4:1 system, which was on the boat when we bought it, also had no cam cleats on the traveler cars, since the PO removed them after he implemented Jim Moe's idea.

The traveler control line in the first picture is the red flecked line laid on the coachroof just aft of the solar vent.  Note the cam cleat with a built in fairlead on the top to keep the line within the cleat body.  The bullseye fairlead is about halfway up the coachroof between the aft edge and the base of the dodger, hidden in the picture behind the winch.  Just follow th line through the dodger slit and you can figure out where it it located.

Neither the bullseye or the cam cleats needed to be mounted with through bolts through the coachroof, they are just screwed into the top of the coachroof.  They've held up fine for 18 years.  Most of the load is horizontal.

When we got our new dodger last year, we eliminated the slits and replaced them with two simple grommets, one in each side of the dodger window glazing.

In my view, turning the control lines down and under the dodger adds too much friction.  These ideas are simpler and easier.

What to do for your new dodger? ::::  I recommend removing the cam cleats from the control cars and adding the bullseye fairlead and cam cleats on the coach roof.  The bullseye fairleads are hidden behind the cabintop winch in the first picture.  It is literally a snap to manage the control lines now.  Or, you can go with the old slit idea if you leave the cam cleats on the cars, but it is a lot harder to release the control lines that way because you still have to lean forward to get leverage to remove them from the cam cleats.  The grommets look neater than the slits.

If you have the old traveler 4:1 system, you may want to consider upgrading to the new 6:1 system while you are doing this dodger design so that the grommet goes in the right place.

Your dodger maker may also have some ideas, but from what we're hearing from you, he's asking you what you want.  Sorry it's not a great time of year to tell you to go walk the docks and get some more ideas, but I think these pictures cover a lot of the things you'll see in terms of options.

[captran]

Hi Stu,

If that is mold/mildew on the canvas ,I really do swear by soaking it in IOSSO.  soak for up to 8 hours and all mold/mildew stains were gone!  buy direct from the manufacturer and it's alot cheaper.  

http://www.iosso.com/

Randy

[Stu Jackson]

Randy

Thanks for the input - I've saved their website on my favorites under "Boat - Cleaners"!

The old dodger was long gone by the time these pictures were taken.  It was well over 14 years old, all the stitching had gone south, and it needed replacement anyway.  The new dodger (and the cleaner looking one!) is on the picture I posted for the backstay adjuster in another recent post.

[kerk fisher]

Thanks for the great input. I"m off to our new boat this week of a few days of work. I'll think we'll sail it for a summer to get a feel and get a better understanding of lines, traveller, etc. before we go for the dodger.  Thanks, Kerk