Why

Cockpit awning for the 90+ degree heat here in North Carolina!

The Job

I found some Sunbrella "seconds" on ebay that was enough for the entire cover, but not enough for all of the extra sleeves and patches.

There was some other fabric similar to Sunbrella also on ebay at the same time (reported, of course, to be BETTER than Sunbrella) that was a similar in color, so I bought it, too, for the extra pieces.

Lisa's sewing skills never cease to amaze me. This came out really well. Some judicious measurements were needed in the beginning, but only a few "corrections" were required along the way with this one.

We used three telescoping awning poles ($$$-ouch!) that go into sleeves on the awning. The spacing of the center pole was such that it could be attached to the end of the boom from the top.

The photos below show the different attachment points of the awning.

I was having trouble figuring out how to attach the aft-most awning pole to get it up off of the rail/deck. The boom was fine for the center and forward poles, but how to raise the aft end?

What I came up with was a pair of aluminum tubes (one for each side) that had the same diameter as the inside of a fishing pole holder. I only had a holder on one side of the transom, so this "forced" me to put another fishing rod holder on the other side as well.

Hmmm,so now I guess I need to buy an additional fishing rig for that side, too, :-)

Here is a picture of how those"fishing" poles look. Each pole has several holes (a little hard to see) drilled in it so that the pole can be attached (with quick-release clevis pins) at different levels depending on the angle of the sun. The fishing pole holders can also be angled forward and back as needed. The "slack" is then taken up at the forward attachment point. I put some line on the clevis pins so that I wouldn't lose them over the side.

 

On the left is a picture looking from above. You can see the center-attachment loop connected to the end of the boom. The forward end of the awning is drawn up towards the gooseneck of the boom/mast. Everything is adjustable - especially as the boom-end can be raised and lowered as well.

 

Here is a top view of the forward-most center ring which pulls towards the gooseneck. I now make one loop over the boom before going forward with the line. This keeps the pole up as well as forward.

 

Here are a few more pictures of various parts. To the left is the underside of the forward-center attachment point shown above (the one that pulls toward the gooseneck). Note the reinforcing patch. The tabbed on D-ring surrounds the forward-most awning pole so as to pull against it.

 

On the right is the center athwartships awning pole where it exits the center sleeve. You can't see it well in the picture, but the tie-down line attaches to a grommet on the awning (in the semi-circular reinforcement patch) on top of the pole, then travels through the eye of the awning pole-end to be tied off. This method both pulls the awning taught and pulls down on the pole ends. I use this on the 4 forward-most (of the 6) attachment points.

 

Here are a couple more pictures - just because I had them. On the left is another view from underneath. On the right is a side view underneath.

 

The whole "package" rolls up around the three telescoping awning poles into about 5.5 feet by 10 or 12 inches!