"tenting" a hull

[bloggs68]

Hi all,

I am building in quite a large shed and want to set up a clear plastic tent around the hull once built that I can control the temperature ( and dust) in. does anyone have any pics or suggestions on the best way to do this? I was thinking of PVC pipe and thick builders plastic ( clear) but would welcome any suggestions. BTW the boat is 43' long.

regards,

AD

[Graham Knight]

I'm doing something similar, although outdoors and on a rather smaller scale. I have a 16' x 8' x 8' high wooden frame with a corrugated plastic roof that I build under, the problem is that dew can form under the roof some evenings which freezes at night, then in the morning it thaws and it "rains" onto my boat!
The solution was a polythene tent suspended from the roof, I used builders polythene sheet as you suggest, and it's simply draped over ropes running lengthways just under the roof. The bottom edge of the polythene is pegged down to stop it flapping about, this probably wouldn't be neccessary if you're inside a shed though.
I can either leave the ends open to allow air to circulate or peg them closed to keep dust out and heat in. I don't actually heat the interior but it's always a few degrees warmer than outside when it's closed up, and when the weak winter sun gets on it the temperature soars. It was 16°C in there today after 30 minutes of sun, outside temperature was 9°C.

[Charlie Santi]

check this out the method works very well:
http://www.by-the-sea.com/stimsonmarine/bowroof.html

[R.I.Singer30]

Charlie's picture is a good idea. I would have suggessted using furring strips like they did over pvc.I don't have much faith in it and the price of furring strips is less than all the pipes and joints.I'd say that they used shrink wrap plastic. The tightness is its support. I've been told that 6mil contractor grade plastic shrinks just like shrink wrap and gets more durable afterwards.it' just 1 mil thinner.but don't tell any one ;) .

Dan

[ssor]

When I tented Bietzpadlin I bought two 3x3 oak poles about 16 feet long and set one at each end of the boat with the bottoms closer together than the tops. I streched a piece of 3/4 inch rope between them and draped a very large poly tarp over the rope and sand bagged the sides. That kepted it tight but not rigid.

[ 01-15-2006, 02:53 PM: Message edited by: ssor ]

[Farmer Diddley]

Check out this link (http://www.woodenboat-ubb.com/cgi-bin/UBB/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=6&t=005004&p=) for a description of a rebar and PVC pipe combination. This guy used a blue tarp, but I'm sure clear plastic would be even better.