Bug Out

Another little project that I had on the books was to come up with a practical bug barrier for the companion way.  I thought about a velcro and netting but this would require unsightly PSA velro strips and these are also costly.  In the end I settled on a design utilizing some nice scrap plywood and netting left over from some screens I made up for the cottage.

Using the current drop boards I marked out the outline of on the plywood and the opening for the screens.  I decided to go with two plywood/screen drop boards (versus the four solid fir ones) to maximize the opening size and keep things simple.

While I was at it I outline a second lower drop board that would be kept solid (no screen) to allow for partial closing on cool nights.

The plywood drop board edges (and bottom of lower one) were rabbeted slightly to fit the groove in the companionway and then each piece was sanded and given a couple of good coats of marine varnish

Netting was simply attached to the inner surface of the boards using stainless steel staples.

The inner opening of the cowl vent I installed last year is is bug proofed with a bit of scrap screen and an elastic band.

When installed I now have a well ventilated and bug free cuddy cabin.  Looking forward to some good sleeps!