Dabber Camping Ideas by Richard Dykes
In brief, my arrangement:
- does not alter the boat in any way - no extra waterproof lockers, which would indeed be useful, but too dramatic a transformation for me. Masts stay up.
- has 6 iroko 'thwarts' across the cockpit well, with gaps like bed slats, from level with the front of the centreboard case back to near the aft locker hatch. Of these the 3rd back makes an excellent permanent thwart for single-handed sailing and rowing from the aft pair of rowlocks. Stewart manufactured and fitted these. Luggage for ready access fits neatly under the iroko boards on the cockpit floor either side
- uses a standard budget price 2 man dome backpackers tent & flysheet: A Gelert "Rocky 2" £38 incl p&p from www.WildDay.com was the only suitable tent I could find, and this fits perfectly. The tent is self supporting as a dome with 3 fibreglass bendy poles fitted within its own structure. The flysheet then has shock cord loops to 8 tiny deck hooks at the outer edge of the side benches (against the vertical sides of the boat), as you could also use for a cockpit cover. The central loop at the aft end of the tent loops over the central aft mooring horn cleat. I then use 4 bungies to tension the four corners, instead of guys, to the shroud deck eyes and aft quarter gunwhale fairleads. Finally I use lengthened shock cord loops to tension the porch sides to the belay pins by the mast. This means I can sit in the tent entrance on the forward iroko plank facing forwards with my feet on the normal cockpit floor completely covered by the porch with the entrance zipped closed....very neat.
- sleep on a single air mattress in the centre of the tent...might manage a very cosy couple perhaps!! Better for one.
- by day the 5 planks not in use stack vertically alongside the centreplate case, retained by a bungy to the case and the floorboards....not light, but much lighter than a crew and at the low centrepoint of the boat - so a perfect ballast position for carrying sail longer into rising breezes!
More photos below...hope this helps.
