posted 03-31-2010 09:01 PM ET (US)        

The new enclosure is very well made, and will no doubt be very functional, extending my boating season by a couple of weeks in both the spring and fall, and increasing my comfort greatly during cold-weather boating. It will also allow me to take part in some of the wilderness boating trips planned by Mr. Buckalew, as well as allow me to spend the night on my boat during some of the other multi-day rendezvous planned by the members of this forum.

Utility and quality aside, there’s no getting past the fact that my new canvas enclosure is a hideous monstrosity. It is huge, and bright red, and I’m pretty sure that the astronauts passing overhead in the International Space Station will easily be able to spot it with the naked eye. Judge for yourselves.

Bimini Top & Forward Shelter: http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t329/kalbus/Canvas%20Enclosure/ 20100330_0454_edited-1.jpg

Bimini Top, Forward Shelter, Forward and Side Curtains: http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t329/kalbus/Canvas%20Enclosure/ 20100330_0452_edited-1.jpg

Full Enclosure: http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t329/kalbus/Canvas%20Enclosure/ 20100330_0443_edited-1.jpg

Full Enclosure 2: http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t329/kalbus/Canvas%20Enclosure/ 20100330_0445_edited-1.jpg

Forward Shelter – Inside: http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t329/kalbus/Canvas%20Enclosure/ 20100330_0446_edited-1.jpg

Aft View – Inside: http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t329/kalbus/Canvas%20Enclosure/ 20100330_0447_edited-1.jpg

As you can see from the following two pictures, the shelter has plenty of headroom inside. When sitting on forward sunpad, I have a minimum of six inches of headroom. When standing at the helm, I have approximately a foot of headroom.

Forward Shelter – Headroom: http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t329/kalbus/Canvas%20Enclosure/ 20100330_0451_edited-1.jpg

Helm – Headroom: http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t329/kalbus/Canvas%20Enclosure/ 20100330_0449_edited-1.jpg

This last picture is not a great picture because I took it through the center console windshield which hasn’t been cleaned since last summer. The purpose of this picture is to show the fold-up rear seat in the up position. I can comfortably sit in the seat without the canvas hitting my head.

posted 04-01-2010 12:23 AM ET (US)         

Clearly this canvas guy has no clue about design.

posted 04-01-2010 09:51 AM ET (US)            

That said, I think your honest assessment (as well as Larry's) is overly critical. You've added a generously scaled canvas enclosure to a generously scaled, even Rubenesque, boat. If you had trimmed all that headroom at the fore and at the helm, the proportions may be a bit more elegant, but probably not worth the ongoing discomfort of always brushing the overhead.

posted 04-01-2010 10:59 AM ET (US)            

:)

What did the neighbors say?!

Actually, I think this will be quite functional. You'll want the side curtains down when trying to dock in a crosswind - but even the Mills Canvas is difficult to manage in a strong crosswind.

posted 04-01-2010 11:37 AM ET (US)            

The neighbors didn't have much to say, but their kids sure thought it looked funny.

As far as stowing the shelter, the bimini portion has a boot and can be stowed either in the standing position like this: http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t329/kalbus/Mesabi%20Miner/1024.jpg , or the whole frame can be laid down across the back of the boat, just behind the fold-up seat.

The forward shelter folds down inside the bow rail, but does not have a boot. The canvas can very easily be removed from the forward shelter bows by sliding two zippers, and the bows can be left in place, laying on the gunnel inside the bow rail, or they can be removed completely by pulling two spring-loaded pins. I'll try to add a couple of pictures later today.

posted 04-01-2010 11:40 AM ET (US)            

Now that I own the Conquest, I just have more surface area to hose off with the wash-down unit, once I get my lure spread out!

posted 04-01-2010 06:33 PM ET (US)            

Forward shelter folded down, with front window still in place, and front snaps connected - http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t329/kalbus/Canvas%20Enclosure/ 20100401_0462_edited-1.jpg . In this picture I've attached a couple of clamps that would need to be used to prevent the canvas from flapping around.

Forward shelter folded down, front window removed, all snaps undone - http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t329/kalbus/Canvas%20Enclosure/ 20100401_0463_edited-1.jpg . Here I've used a couple of small bungee cords to bundle up the canvas on the port side. I'll need to get a few more bungee cords for the starboard side if I'm going to travel with the forward shelter in this position.

Forward shelter frame - http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t329/kalbus/Canvas%20Enclosure/ 20100401_0464_edited-1.jpg . When the canvas is removed, the frame folds nicely down inside the bow rail. The frame can also be easily removed by pulling the two hinge pins.

posted 04-01-2010 06:48 PM ET (US)            

But the design & look of the forward shelter, windshield, flytop, etc, to me is Pure Whaler....

I think it looks great and you are going to love the functionality of it for weather, camping, etc. I've been totally satisfied with the camper back that the Kanvas King made for my Revenge 22 WT....

The only thing I think would be an improvement is a window in the rear drop curtain if you run with it up, if not no problem.... and I agree, docking with your canvas set is a whole new experience...

Pat

posted 04-01-2010 06:49 PM ET (US)            

Also, your garage gets an A-, very nice.

posted 04-01-2010 06:58 PM ET (US)            

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v368/HomeAside/North%20Channel%202004/ ?action=view¤t=30190021.jpg

posted 04-01-2010 07:23 PM ET (US)            

Then with all that eisenglass, if your like me you'll be anal trying to store it without scratching it. I keep old beach towels that I lay the sidecurtains, windshield, etc on & then roll them up. When I get the extra cash I'm going to have Kanvas King make me some tube style bags to store them in.

I think having the screen put in the forward shelter's front window is something you'll really like too

With the sun pad option tou'll have plenty of room to stretch out in comfort on some of these rendezvous...

Does your boat have a name? Red Rover? Big Red? Red See?
Seeing Red?

posted 04-02-2010 07:48 AM ET (US)            

I do like that you can remove the canvas altogether - but where would you store it? For most trips where you need the canvas, you'll probably leave it up most of the time anyway, but a boot is nice to have if you have a really warm day and want to run with the "top down".

I think this will be very functional, and will provide you with the warmth and comfort that you seek when running in lousy late and early season weather.

I especially like the increased headroom in the shelter. While I agree - I think Mills Canvas LOOKS better, the functionality is more limited in that you have less headroom, etc.

Also, it's important to note the design differences in the hulls also necessitate some of these differences in canvas setups. For instance, you have no coaming "lip" in the bow area that you can attach the canvas to.

This season will be a good test season for this canvas...the King will probably want to make a couple of mods for additional funcationality when underway - I'm not sure the snaps will hold up as well in a flapping breeze as the cinched down rope and loop system employed by the Mills designs for the aft portion of the shelter...

...but tinkering is half the fun.

Looking forward to seeing you and all that red on the water this summer.

posted 04-02-2010 09:35 PM ET (US)            

Now to the boat and its new canvas. My theory about boats and their appearance makes perspective the most important consideration. Kevin is going to be looking at this canvas from inside the boat. He won't see it very often from outside. If the appearance of the canvas is appealing to him from the insider view, that it the most important consideration.

It would be wonderful if we could combine superb functionality and wonderful aesthetics in every design, but in some cases the proportions may not fit into the golden ratio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio

posted 04-02-2010 10:46 PM ET (US)            

It does seem to be a lot of canvas to store, but I think the way I would handle it is to pack the rear canvas in my vehicle before I left the dock to keep the storage open.

posted 04-04-2010 11:31 AM ET (US)            

My brother in laws Outrage 25 had a locally made set installed when he bought it. It was a monstrosity that covered from the very front of the bow to the motor well.

The connecting windscreen sloped at somewhat less than a 45 dgree angle. There was enough room to walk under the windscreen, in front ot the super console with the top mounted electronics box. You only had to slightly stoop while walking under it.

The arrangement, compared to the Mills set that was installed on my Sakonnet, was very difficult to see through, safely. The Mills windscreen section on my Sakonnet was nearly vertical, and the base of the windscreen was just in front of the console.

The access to the bow area on my Sakonnet almost required a gymnastic, or at least a yoga move to complete, but at least I always felt like I could see well enough to operate the boat.

I believe the two design elements I mention above are deliberately incorporated into the Mills design, which happen to make the boat easier to operate safely. They also happen to have a somewhat asethetically pleasing look as well. Maybe safety and asethetic concerns were a higher priority than function. Also known as "form over function"?

That being said, I rarely had the canvas set up on the old Sakonnet. Your new canvas set fits the bill and you will use it a lot, so its a perfect design.

I apologize for the rambling.

posted 04-05-2010 08:24 PM ET (US)            

My biggest concern before taking the ride was visibility. I had a feeling I wasn't going to be able to see anything out in front of the boat. As it ended up, I had no problem seeing at idle speed, and even at planing speed, as long as I kept the motor trimmed all the way in. Once I started trimming the motor out while on plane, however, I started having a little trouble seeing. I'm only 5'6", and I'm sure that anybody about 5'10' or taller would not have any problem. With just the dodger up I could see fine just about all of the time. The next piece up (between the bimini and the dodger), however, has a couple inches of canvas at the bottom, just under the window, which caused the problem. I think I'll just build a small platform to stand on when I'm driving while using the canvas package.

The only other problem I had was the station wagon effect. With all of the canvas up except for the back curtain, I was getting a lot of fumes inside. You might not notice exhaust coming from a new technology DFI 2 stroke, but trust me, it's there. It looks like if I want to run with the side curtains up, but the back curtain down, I'll have to keep the front window at least partially open.

posted 04-05-2010 08:33 PM ET (US)            

With all of the canvas up, it was like a greenhouse - nice and warm, even at speed. With only the forward shelter, front curtain, and bimini top up, it was also very comfortable cruising in just a long-sleeve t-shirt and shorts. With all of the canvas down, it was very chilly running at speed.

Again, I think this is going to work out very well for cold weather boating.

posted 04-06-2010 09:41 AM ET (US)            

Congrats on a successful first run.

posted 04-09-2010 09:27 AM ET (US)            

there's a saying about cars that could apply....

when you're inside driving it you can't tell how ugly it is on the outside

posted 04-11-2010 06:44 PM ET (US)            

Then again, your area may not have the traffic mine does. My head is always on a swivel for ferries, water taxis, draggers, coasties et al.

posted 04-12-2010 04:43 PM ET (US)            

[UNRECOGNIZED ACRONYM]

posted 04-12-2010 08:21 PM ET (US)            

From the UNIX manual page for KILL

NAME
kill -- terminate or signal a process

SYNOPSIS
kill [-s signal_name] pid ...
kill -l [exit_status]
kill -signal_name pid ...
kill -signal_number pid ...

DESCRIPTION
The kill utility sends a signal to the processes specified by the pid op-
erand(s).

Only the super-user may send signals to other users' processes.

The options are as follows:

-signal_name
A symbolic signal name specifying the signal to be sent instead
of the default TERM.

-signal_number
A non-negative decimal integer, specifying the signal to be sent
instead of the default TERM.

The following pids have special meanings:
-1 If superuser, broadcast the signal to all processes; otherwise
broadcast to all processes belonging to the user.

posted 04-12-2010 08:28 PM ET (US)            

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fow7iUaKrq4

posted 04-12-2010 11:12 PM ET (US)            

quote:

---

KILL -9 is the most powerful.

---

posted 05-16-2010 10:42 AM ET (US)            

I ran my boat 98 miles yesterday with the forward shelter up, the bimini top up, and the windshield piece connecting the forward shelter and bimini top in place. I burned 23 gallons of gas for an average of 4.26 miles per gallon. This is very similar to the performance I reported last year for what was essentially the same trip without the canvas in place. See: http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001117.html .

I also ran the boat at full throttle for periods of time on both the upriver and downriver legs of my trip yesterday, and my speeds on those runs were about 38.5 mph upriver and 42.5 downriver. This is essentially the same as the average top speed I reported prior to installing the canvas. See: http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/006379.html .

posted 05-21-2010 03:41 PM ET (US)            

When I had my canvas enclosure made, I had a choice between two grades of clear plastic for the windows. After viewing the samples, I thought the cheaper plastic would be fine. I also chose the cheaper plastic because it is less susceptible to creasing and scratching. After last weekend's 100 mile trip, however, I was unhappy with the cheaper plastic in the forward windshield location because it was too wavy and distorted my view.

I took my boat back to the Kanvas King this week, and Bruce replaced the windshield with a piece of the more expensive clear plastic, which is Strataglass. He also added a rear window for me (using the cheaper plastic), and added an extra snap on each side of the enclosure where I was having minor flapping issues. Everything should now be good to go.

It's getting warmer here, so it may be a while before I report back on the efficacy of the adjustments which have been made.

posted 05-21-2010 04:22 PM ET (US)            

http://www.seashocks.com/product/sea-shocks%E2%84%A2-blue