Subject: Can I sleep dry on a Wayfarer with a permanent floor like the W Mark III?
----- Original Message -----
From: Ralph Roberts
To: Richard Watterson ; Al Schonborn
Cc: Tom Graefe ;... ; Jim Fraser W8328 ; Richard C Harrington
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2007 3:08 PM
Subject: Sleeping aboard a Wayfarer > Ralph's tent

Richard:

As a follow-up to Jim's reply, my self-bailers are water-tight (or they are when I make sure they are closed properly!), so I don't find it a problem sleeping on the floor of my 'World' model, and would suggest that the easiest solution would be to renew the seals, or whatever necessary to make yours watertight when closed. An alternative sleeping position is to lay some boards over the front and rear seats (and thwart), in order to extend their width, using the solid watertight containers for carrying gear to assist supporting the boards (assuming the containers happen to be the right height - which mine were when I had my Mk2 Wayfarer). This does give the advantage of not having to worry about water coming in and allows gear to be stored on the floor beneath the sleeping boards, but does mean carrying the extra gear of the boards when cruising. I have no knowledge of using a hammock system for sleeping in a Wayfarer.
 
The easiest and most effective way of sealing the mast hole of the tent is to have a fairly long strap of material on the collar of the tent where it fits around the mast, and wrap this tightly around the mast. By having the soft part of the Velcro stitched to the outside of the strap before the end, and the nylon hooks part of the Velcro stitched to the inside of the strap at the very end, after a couple ot turns around the mast, the Velcro should be aligned to meet up and hey presto, a simple and very effective way of (virtually) sealing the tent around the mast. I will try to e-mailing you a picture (photos below) of my tent, which provides good space within, without carrying about the normal framework for the extra space provided by a frame tent. The wording on the photo taken inside the boat tent refers to the self-drainers fitted on the transom of the boat, which is not applicable to the Abbott Mk 3 design. 
 
Please get back to me if any follow up is needed, or there are any further queries concerning Wayfarer cruising. Best wishes,

Ralph


Caption: There are three basic tent designs - this type gives nearly as much space as a frame version without using the normal type of frame. Four long battens pass over the boom. These fit into slots in the wooden fend-off. The protruding ends then fit into pockets in the tent. This 'locks' the tent over the boat with only a few other ties fore and aft.


Caption: Sufficient space for 2 to sleep comfortably is an important aspect of the Wayfarer for serious cruising. The World version is superior for sleeping, to all other versions with the rear tank. However, sealing the self-bailers when sleeping afloat has been a problem for other owners of the World. I requested two inspection hatches in the transom of my new boat, and these have made a perfectly good seal.
...