Preparing the boat for some summer cruising, I wanted protection for the companionway. Previous larger boats always had a dodger but the cost and physical limits of a 17 footer ruled one out for DillyDilly. I decided on a boom tent instead.

Using a 6' x 8' tarp from Harbor Freight as a prototype, I tried several schemes to set the tent but the position of the mast and the height and stacking of the sail above the boom resulted in a tent that was too high to provide much shelter and set at an odd angle. I solved this problem with the whisker pole mounted below the boom between the gooseneck and the mainsheet bail which is no longer used for the mainsheet. This provided a perfect center support.

The tent is sewn from 3 yards of 60” wide Sunbrella, hemmed all around with grommets at the corners and one on each side. Any water repellant fabric could be used. At the centerline on the fore and aft edge is a 1” wide webbing with snap that wraps around the whisker pole keeping the tent centered and tensioned with ties to the whisker pole ends. Tie-down is to points along the toe rail. The sides of the tent stop just short of the winches so water is shed onto the coaming top and side deck rather than into the cockpit (at least that's the plan).