Sidney, BC, Canada, March, 2007. Having heard there were places in the world where biting insects invaded boats, I decided to make some bug screens for the Fox's two deck hatches and companionway while we were in insect-free BC, Canada.
Details: the deck hatches' bases are 22-1/2" wide x 25-1/4" long, with a rolled aluminum rim 1/4" deep - perfectly suited to grab and hold a 1/4" elastic band. My limited skills allowed me to make only the most basic of bug screens: shower cap-style covers. Difficulty: the generous size of the Fox's hatches was wider than the width of the bolt on which the bug screen fabric was sold; and the two aft hinges were exterior to the rolled aluminum rim and thus created 2 other gaps. Solution: open the hatches only 3/4 of maximum to allow the elastic to contract well and avoid all gaps in the bug screen. No significant reduction in ventilation, as the fine mesh of the bug screen cut off most air flow anyway. Heh.
I sewed a 68" x 56-3/4" rectangle of fabric to a 62-1/2" circle of 1/4" shock cord using a 1/2" hem. Did it again with another rectangle and produced two bug screens for the deck hatches. The finished hatch screens store flat in a Zip-Loc bag. Bonus: they are so big, instead of deploying them on the hatches one can wear them over one's head and upper torso when one goes to bed, when the bugs are really biting. Used 'em that way for a mosquito hatch in Canada, and for the black flies feeding off the pelican guano on the breakwater in Half Moon Bay, California. It's almost comfy.
m
do you have a u.s. resource for the no see um screen mesh? i sewed our companionway screening sold at Lowes as no see um mesh and need to go finer...
thanks!
Posted by: emilie Krueger | December 23, 2008 at 08:37 PM
No particular US resource - you could try something like no-see-um fabric at places like Seattle Fabrics (Google 'em; they're where we went for fabric), or whatever tent mesh you can find at camping stores that are local to you -- or even, wedding veil or petticoat mesh. Whatever works - keeping in mind that the finer mesh you go, the less breeze that will come through. Look around & actually touch the fabric, so you have an idea how fine you can go based on yer own preference. And let me know your results!
Marianne
Posted by: sailnmuffin | December 23, 2008 at 08:53 PM