Dodger Grabrails

This is not the original Scanmar dodger; the original one used very thin (3/4”) painted steel tubing. The previous owner had a new dodger custom made; that is the one thing that dopey schmuck did right on this boat. It uses 1” stainless steel tubing. One inconvenient thing about having a dodger on the Scanmar 35 is that the high coaming around the cockpit and narrow side decks make it a precarious to climb around the dodger and into the cockpit in a seaway. I had our local canvas shop modify the dodger to provide grabrails on either side of the dodger.
	The shop fabricated two stainless steel grabrails and welded them onto the sides of the second “bow”. Another possibility, if you don’t have an attached bimini as I do, is to fabricate a long grabrail to attach to the after end of the dodger’s second bow. Since the sun can be quite hot even on Long Island Sound, we really appreciate the bimini’s shade in the hot summer months. My bimini attaches via a full-length zipper and turnbuttons, visible in this photot and the next.
The canvas was cut to allow the handle to pass through, and lined with Velcro so it can be closed behind the grabrail. It’s a nice tight fit, and under normal conditions no rainwater leaks in.
	A stainless strut was added to each side to give additional support to the bow and grabrail. This is necessary because you don’t want the dodger frame to flex when are hanging on the grabrail, especially in rough weather. This is a very rigid arrangement, and everyone who uses the grabrails comments on how handy they are especially when returning to the cockpit from the forward deck.