I'm working on the cockpit of my Vacationer. On my Weekender, the cockpit has a coaming on both sides, but no tacross the back, over the lazarette. We've never taken water over the stern. The Vacationer calls for a coaming across the back, effectively "boxing in" the cockpit. How important is it to include this? My inclination is to leave it off, having a coaming on the sides only, and if we get wet...oh well! Comments?
Combings down the sides are fine. Boxing the cockpit isn't necessary and usually is just a styling exercise. There is some protection with an aft combing, but if a wave is big enough to crash over the stern, a combing isn't going to be a big help. Simply put, if it take s a 36" wave to clear the aft deck and get you wet, will a 4" additional really be that helpful?
That's pretty much what I figured, Paul.
Dave
Also if you want to sit up on the deck instead of down on the bench, the coaming is a pain in the ass.
I don't really know for the Vacationer, but in my Weekender I've been forced to increse coamings, because in every summer storm, all rain waters and hailstoned captured by the deck were driven in the cocpit.
Many times the cocpit was so full to compromize balance on the dolly or in the water.
I think it is better to have coamings unnecessary than to have them not when they are necessary.
Nobody forbid to make them larger and rounded for a confortable sit.
Gianluigi
A wise addition to any combing is a cap. A cap is as the word suggests and a topping piece. It's rounded over and shaped to be butt compatible and it's glued and screwed to the top of the combing. Often it's varnished, but it doesn't have to be. It should have a reveal on the deck side of the combing, so water trying to climb up the combing hits it's underside and gets knocked back to the deck.
One feature of all my designs is, a substantial deck crown. On a side deck, I like to see at least 4 degrees of outboard slope, so water can shed off easily. On traditional designs the slope is more, often twice as much, so when heeled over, it'll still shed water. Lastly, a few well placed "strippers" can channel water off the deck. These are just little lengths of wood, mounted on the side deck at an angle so water moving aft along the side deck is deflected overboard, instead of toward the cockpit.