Camper Back

B

Bill3558

New member
The new CD22 I am considering buying has the camper back option.

I am in coastal Georgia and wonder how many folks use it and how it does in warm weather.
I am told the glassine windows zip out leaving a screen opening.

I hope its a small mesh. South Georgia sand gnats can ruin your day.

Thanks for any input....
 
Bill,
I have a full camper back on my 22'. We're in So Cal, so we know about the heat. I don't have the eisen glass-- just the screens and a cover.

Enjoy your boat.
 
Hi Bill,

We live in south Texas, and are in the Florida Keys right now. We leave our camperback on almost all the time. Always had a bimini on our sailboats, and just getting out of the sun makes a big difference. The only time it is less than great under the camperback in the heat is if there is no breeze (a condition we don't often see). If your camperback is supplied by the factory (as ours was - King Marine), the screens under the eisenglass are not particularly fine. The eisenglass does not zip out of ours, but rather zips on three sides and rolls up. We have been very pleased with it and find that it adds a lot of livable space on the boat... helps keep dew off the stuff in the cockpit at anchor and spray when you're running. I feel it's one of those "pricey, but worth it" additions to the boat.

HTH

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
bill,
we have a camper back on Gypsy and it is priceless!! in tennessee we cruise year round and in summer the bimini stays up and the camper sides come down in rainy times. we travel with the sides rolled up with clamps holding them up. there are no screens till after this month. in the winter we keep the sides and back down which adds to an open feeling in the boat and the heater lives in the cockpit as well. the isenglass is aging (she is a 1990) so she will get a trip to a local canvas shop this month for some new side curtains, back panel and isenglass roll-ups with screens. having spent a few paid vacations at Ft. Stewart Ga., i understand your state bird, the gnat, can be a little aggrivating :P hope this gives you a better feel for the 22. :D hurry and get the boat and join us in september (8th thru 15th) on the tennessee river to the ohio :lol: :D
c u later
mike
 
Hi Jim B,
Jeff Brigner, C-Pearl. We are just getting around to having or factory camper package installed. Thanks for posting pictures where the hardware mounted! One question. When you trailer your boat do you Just fold it up and leave it or do you take it all the way off the boat?
Thanks
JB
 
We kept the top up all of the time when on the boat--except perhaps when fishing under some conditions. The sides only in cold weather.

In Florida, I am having "no see em" net pannels made which replace both front side pannels and the entire rear pannel for hot weather use. The top front pannel zips out and the Bimini is free standing with SS supports.
The front zipping out gives more air flow under the top.

In the winter, we leave the full camper canvas up all of the time.

Trailering, we put the boot on the bimini top, and lower it until it is almost flat on the top of the transom. The geometry of our unit allows this. The side pannels are put below. Be sure and trailer with a boot in place.
 
Bill3558:

Great to see another SE C-Dory owner on here. I agree with others on the camper backs being spendy...but well worth the money. On the CD18 Angler I am restoring, the camper back MADE the boat about twice as large. A lot of money for a very custom top, but worth it.

Make sure for your "souther use" top not to attach the forward edge to the roof of the boat. Be sure to have a section (and I feel 100% sure there is some fancy natical term for this piece) that can be removed between the camper top (water proof sunbrella plus) and the hardtop on the boat. This will allow for air to flow under the top when on the hook or on the water rather than being deflected over the camper top, starving the rear cockpit area of air flow.

See pic below of C-Byrd tied to the Nashville City Docks... sorry...but as you can see...money went into the camper instead of me buying matching black fenders and ropes at this time... :mrgreen:

Also, I have heard we can spray off or similar products on the larger screens and it "may" stop or reduce the gnats....or zoo-zoo flies as our old First Sergeant use to call them down in wonderful Ft. Stewart.... Wow... how we looked forward to Tybee Island!!!

Byrdman

Fall06_197.jpg
 
hi jeff!
great time at the sbs! say howdy to cathy.
when we trailer Gypsy we do just like Thataway... stow the side and back panels, put the boot on the bimini and we fold ours foward (just because of our bow structure) and secure it to the top rails. but we don't have steeekers :lol:
c u later,
mike
 
Jeff Brigner":3ht80tkf said:
Hi Jim B,
Jeff Brigner, C-Pearl. We are just getting around to having or factory camper package installed. Thanks for posting pictures where the hardware mounted! One question. When you trailer your boat do you Just fold it up and leave it or do you take it all the way off the boat?
Thanks
JB
Click to expand...

Hi Jeff,

We remove the side panels, fold the bimini top around itself, put the cover on the bimini, and fold it forward against the cabin. BE SURE to attach it to the handrails (we use a couple bungees) so it won't flop back. I also put velcro around the open ends of the cover (and one in the middle) so air can't get in there and make it flap while trailering. If any of that sounds like more work than necessary, it takes less time to do it than to write this. Of course, I can type 60 words per minute... 90% mis-spelled and unintelligible; if I slow down to 20 wpm, my success rate goes up by almost 2.4%. :roll:

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Great discussion guys.... I now recall one of the things the dude at the Canvas shop in Old Hickory TN told me to do... go use the boat, see if we need to tweek anything....bring it back....and we will build you a boot for travel then... Hummmm...

That CRS is slipping in there big time on me....and I am not ready for Spring travels with C-Byrd.

Jeff.....hope you found you some stiiiiiiiiickers. Yall would have just had to have been there for this one.

Byrdman
 
We had our camperbacks up for the entire Alaska adventure, really great, the additional living space was indispensible. Of course, sweltering heat is not something we know a whole lot about...

fea_alaska1_600x400.jpg
 
Bill,
I don't know what you decided but, I'm looking forward to getting the camper top installed. We have used our boat for just a few months and can see how much of a difference it will make! I am getting a camper package like on Wild Blue.

Jim B.. Thanks for the advice on how to trailer with the top on the boat. I will for sure follow your every detail on securing it.

Mike and brother Byrdman....Get in the truck :lol: Still no stickers
 
Hey Bill,
Come on over to lake Martin and hook up with Foggy Dew (the Alaskan transplants Rick & Donna) and us. They are staying on the lake tonight :xseek suppose to get in the 20's here. Looking forward to hooking up with you guys
 
Pat,
the guy (bill3558) just wanted to know about the bimini and the side curtains. here you go with those superfragulisticexpialodosious pictures of you two lucky heros in alaska (we don't have an "emotions" :D to describe the feeling i get when i see those pics) sporting the camper tops that serve us so well. bill, the camper top in the south is a "don't leave home without it" as a thunderbumper is almost a daily occuernce cruising the river systems. like i said before, we roll the sides up and clamp them so as to be able to drop them quickly when, not if, the "occasional" thunderstorm occures :lol: good luck with the state bird, bill :lol:
c u later
mike
 
Oh... you mean Pat Anderson... not brother Pat... I thought...Hummm I thought we were in TN at the Nashville City Docks.... but... we did have a good time... Simply not enough fuel used for us to get to Alaska...

But... Pat Anderson... keep teasing me with those shots of you and David... and you might just end up with another trip on your boat with you "southern indigent son".... :beer
 
You know you are welcome any time son.

Byrdman":ctlqgrv0 said:
But... Pat Anderson... keep teasing me with those shots of you and David... and you might just end up with another trip on your boat with you "southern indigent son".... :beer
Click to expand...
 
After sailing for most of our lives, we purchased a C-Dory 19 last year. After using the boat for awhile, we had the factory camper back installed. We absolutely love it and think it was well worth the money. However, since our boat is rack stored, we modified the top supports to allow the folded top to rest below the cabin roof so we can still use the slant back cover. We simply replaced the side mounts with mounts on two foot tracks that allow the top to be repositioned for storage. The top is secured to the side hand holds with bungees and secured with a strap in the center. Works great!
 
THanks for all the great information you guys. I hope to go get the boat later this week. ( Hell yes I'm nervous) Its is great to have this resource. I know I will be asking a lot of questions.
I hope to meet some of you in the future. If any C-Brats find themselves near marker 98 on the ICW south of Savannah let me know. There is a small marina here with a restaurant and bar next to Fort McAllister state park. I will buy you a beer or 3.

Bill
 
:beer or :beer :beer :beer
allrighty then. Lets go guys... you heard him. sounds like a good party.
Lets put the wheels on and check out Savannah :lol:
 
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