Our new dodger

Our new dodger by East Coast Trimmers

We're so pleased with the new dodger - made within two days by East Coast Trimmers it is a truly marvellous aquisition! As mentioned in our previous posting, the last dodger shepherded us through at least 80,000 nautical miles. 'She' was knocked down (along with us!) on her very first long trip away from Australia and suffered damage which I repaired. We thought we could never get another GOOD SAILOR as she had proved to be, but we were wrong (alas - we often find ourselves in this position!).

The new dodger is a miracle of measuring, artistry and technology. She has miraculous new windows which are UV resistant as are the threads used in her construction. I had to re-stitch the old one numerous times. Her reinforcing is of grey chafe-resistant suede and the beige Sunbrella (the ONLY fabric that's used in hard-wearing marine environments) zips onto and matches the sunshade we had made 10 years ago.

The only trouble is that I need to varnish some woodwrok under the dodger ... and Larry and I don't want to remove it ... ever!

Our dodger will move when needed (like the last one - which was damaged in the knockdown!) It's less scary to know that the dodger (which is relatively high up in the boat) can move around, It seems better to lose the dodger than to have such a rigid structure that it takes some essential part of the boat with it (like the companionway hatch). A lot of people have more permanent dodgers made and installed on their boats - usually out of fibreglass - but although we fully expect never to be in the position again of having a knockdown, we like our dodgers to be able to move.

Our thanks to Rod Watts (owner of East Coast Trimmers) and to Jason Chancellor for the wonderful and timely work. You surpassed our expectations!

Jason Chancellor & Rodney Watts

Rod Watts