| Subject: the Tom Graefe boom tent
revisited ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jon Riding" To: <Tom Graefe> Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2006 4:32 PM Subject: Boom Tent Dear Tom, I hope you don't mind me contacting you directly. I read with interest about your boom tent for your Wayfarer. Are your patterns available or is it possible to contact the tent-maker who made it for you? BTW, I thought your frame pole idea was brilliant. It clearly provides much more space inside than a traditional 'A' shape and such a simple, elegant solution. All good wishes, Jon Riding. TM Graefe wrote: Hello Jon, No problem at all contacting me directly. That's what the Wayfarer network is for! I wish I could refer you to the tent-maker, but unfortunately my boom tent was among the last of his projects before he closed up shop and put his sewing machine into mothballs. So went the patterns probably. The good news, sort of, is that the design really is a pretty simple extension of the standard A-frame. However, it does require some darts to accommodate the hoop and stay taut. What I will do is see if he even answers his phone and if he happens to have not tossed the pattern, I'll let you know. Thanks for the compliment--I spent a long time wrestling with many options before deciding on just the one simple change. After some nights underneath, I think it is just enough additional room with minimal added complexity in setup. If there is any more detail I can fill in or pictures you might want, should you pursue the design, let me know. Regards, Tom Graefe W9668 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jon Riding" To: "TM Graefe" Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 5:52 AM Tom, Much time has passed since we corresponded. W588 is now in the midst of winter maintenance and we have returned to the idea of a boat tent for next summer. I visited Rob Wagstaffe yesterday at the Canvass Windmill http://www.canvaswindmill.co.uk/ who has agreed to make us a tent provided we can agree a suitable design. You were kind enough to offer more detail and pictures of your tent and I wondered if we could ask you to send them to us? I have created a forum on my website where I hope to log progress with the design and construction. Feel free to post any information you have there or, if you prefer, e-mail is fine and I will post the content myself. All good wishes for the New Year, Jon Riding, W588. ----- Original Message ----- From:
"TM Graefe"
To:
"Jon Riding"
Cc:
"Al Schonborn" <uncle-al3854@cogeco.ca>
Sent:
Tuesday, January 09, 2007 8:18 AM
Hi Jon, Good to hear from you again, and that you are forging ahead with the project. I'll put together some resources and also some comments and suggestions based on more use of my own tent over the past season. While you add them to your forum perhaps Uncle Al will add them to the WIT posting as well. Tom ----- Original Message ----- From:
"TM Graefe"
To:
"Jon Riding"
Cc:
"Al Schonborn" <uncle-al3854@cogeco.ca>
Sent:
Thursday, January 11, 2007 11:03 PM
Hi Jon, Here is some more information. First, you might find it interesting to look at another, larger, boom tent that was modeled after mine for a Rhodes O'Day Mariner. I was reading a cruise story in a forum sponsored by the co-author of the Taft's Guide to Maine (Curtis Rindlaub) by the Rhodes' owner who sailed to Frenchboro in Maine, and when I looked at his pictures, I noted his boom tent looked very familiar (and also that I too, had sailed to Frenchboro) So I posted a reply to his posting commenting on the tent and my own experience sailing to Frenchboro, only to find out he designed his after reading the material on the Whiffle! See: http://michael.homedns.org/sailmaine2006/ On to some details: Poles: What I did was shorten a pole I had from an old winter mountaineering tent (North Face VE24) to the required circumference. I then had to fashion attachments for each to end to build the diameter out to fit into the oarlock, and b) to have a stop, so it sat in the oarlock and did not slide further in.  This I did by inserting the end into a about 3.0 inches of reinforced automotive tubing, over which I then slid another piece of appropriate diameter that is thus larger than the oarlock. So the tube + first hose fits snugly into the oarlock and the second piece provides the stop on top of the oarlock hole. See pictures also attached. I'm sure there are other clever ways to solve this problem, but this was easy and cost about 3 or 4 dollars.  My poles are 10 feet total length in sections as shown. Outer diameter of tubing is about 8.5mm or not quite 11/32' (probably a standard .340 or .344 diameter, as you will note on the websites below. They are semi-flexible and gain their strength under tension as part of the tent, as opposed to being a fixed/rigid structure. I've not been out in an extremely strong blow, so cannot attest to how it would stand up to storms like some of those captured in tales from Dye's books (or not as the case may be!) There are companies in the US - and there may well be in the UK, as it too, has a lot of mountaineering enthusiasts - that will fabricate a pole when given the circumference/diameter required They may even shape the poles and use slightly more rigid pole material. I spoke with them on the phone when doing the design but ended up being able to use my own. If you end up needing poles, probably a posting to the UK Wayfarer forum might scare up someone with an old tent whose nylon or urethane coating is shot and who might have a long enough set. Another option is just buying a replacement pole and cutting it down. Check out any of the tent companies in the latter case. http://www.polesforyou.com/index.htm http://www.eastonpoles.com/mountain/default.htm Improvements: In a very heavy rainstorm this past summer (4-5 hours steady rain) I began to get water running down the mast into the bilge (or floor as the case is for my Mark III). I solved the problem by wrapping sailing tape (Self-bonding tape) around mast and boom tent cuff. But for a simpler solution, I think I will use a wrap of thin latex sheet about 4" wide and about 2 feet long and just wrap it around the mast and cuff. I've not tried it but I think it will work fine where the canvas-only wrap did not. Seam Sealing: I had to seam seal the stitching in the Sunbrella. This did the trick for stopping all pin hole leakage. One hoop or more? I am quite happy with the single hoop. As you have no doubt seen, there are examples like Ken J's tent that are more elaborate (among others). I have found the additional head room afforded by the one hoop over the thwart to be pretty convenient. I've cruised with Dick Harrington who uses the traditional A-frame (both before and after he elevated the head room a tad with his boom tent gooseneck - just as mine is) and we did just fine with that, too. So this is a convenience that eases the space a bit. Poles in Oarlocks: This works fine and places the poles at the right place and requires no additional support or drilling. NOTE: the poles tie to the underside of the boom tent with some simple bits of 3/16' line at four evenly distributed points around the circumference. Detailed pictures: I'll stop here. But as you work through the project, please email any additional questions. As my boat is under wraps right now, I can't set the tent up for more pictures erected, but I can capture specific smaller structural bits with it laid out on the floor. Take a look at the Whiffle pictures, and let me know any specific areas you might like pictures of. The most complicated construction is the opening in the bow, as it wraps around the mast and zips diagonally down the side. But I suspect this is very familiar to the windmill folks. In another email I've attached a couple of large format pics of the tent so you have them for your own reproduction when you talk with the Canvas Windmill people. Regards, Tom W9668 |