Cockpit Tent 1.0

One of the many wonderful design features of a Chebacco is the generous cockpit.  Some 20 foot sailboats sacrifice cockpit for cabin space but it has been my experience (with my style of sailing) that vastly more time is spent in the cockpit than below.  That said there are times when a little more covered living space would be nice. 

I did a little research on cockpit covers and found these can range from a basic blue tarp draped over the boom to complex Sunbrella and tube frame structures.

Before spending money on expensive materials I decided to make an inexpensive mock up using white polytarp and white duct tape.  Using the boom as a ridge pole I made measurements every foot in length from the boom to outside the coaming. The resulting shape is sort of a tapered rectangle.  I transposed the shape to the white tarp and cut it out after adding a bit for the edge seams.  All edges  were finished with white duct tape and some left over brass grommets were hammered in.

After a couple of trials would say the cover works as well as could be expected.  Not a lot of head room but a life saver for sitting out a hot and sunny day at anchor.  A definite improvement over a basic tarp which is too square to fit properly over the tapered rectangle shape required.  Total cost was under $20.