RT23 Enclosure

D

dmecimore

Well-known member
Joined
May 26, 2020
Messages
66
Fluid Motion Model
C-242 C
Vessel Name
Burners @ Sea
Hi all.

Added a cockpit enclosure to our RT23.

Just sharings pics in my album.

Cheers.
 
Congrats! That looks very nice. Few questions...
Did you tie into the factory bimini top or is the entire thing custom?
Are the plastic windows tinted or do you have screens in each of them?
Is the solar wired into the house batteries or are you using it for something else?
 
Looks nice. I'm planning such an enclosure. Might you be so kind as to post some pics of the inside frame work. I'm in planning with my canvas guy here in NJ, and he would like some frame suggestions.
Thank you,
 
PNWTX":734i2m84 said:
Congrats! That looks very nice. Few questions...
Did you tie into the factory bimini top or is the entire thing custom?
Are the plastic windows tinted or do you have screens in each of them?
Is the solar wired into the house batteries or are you using it for something else?
Click to expand...

They removed the old metal frame and built new - they were able to go a little wider that way.

Every plastic window rolls up and has a screen but windows aren't tinted. We went with black screens.

Solar panels will be wired into the house batteries. We don't have a built in generator and didn't get factory solar. Panels total 200W so hoping to keep fridge, etc going when on the hook.
 
SgtAlf":1o5m2ypr said:
Looks nice. I'm planning such an enclosure. Might you be so kind as to post some pics of the inside frame work. I'm in planning with my canvas guy here in NJ, and he would like some frame suggestions.
Thank you,
Click to expand...

Hi Tony.

We don't have the boat back yet - pics are from the canvas guy. Once the boat comes back will be happy to send some inside pics and also let you know how it "feels" inside (roomy or not, etc).

Cheers.
 
Daveruegger":1qyp3oet said:
Who did you have make the enclosures?
Click to expand...

We used a company in Wilmington, NC called High Tide Canvas. They did a great job with communication, coming on site to take measurements, etc. Then we took the boat to them for the work. (They are about 45 minutes from us).

Total cost was right at $6K.

Cheers.
 
Hi Tony.

We don't have the boat back yet - pics are from the canvas guy. Once the boat comes back will be happy to send some inside pics and also let you know how it "feels" inside (roomy or not, etc).
Click to expand...

Thank you!
 
Got our boat back and in the water and cockpit enclosure in place. Just added a few more pics of the enclosure in my album for anyone's information.

We haven't traveled with this yet, but I'll say the cockpit feels quite spacious with the enclosure installed. Very much feels like another room.

The canvas itself was a PAIN to get on, because everything fits so tight (this is good I guess). But fingers are a bit raw from squeezing all the zippers together to zip. Just to say, not something we will be taking off and putting back on very often. Morely likely will put it in place or not based on the season.

The overhead itself is quite large and by itself will provide lots of shade.

Just sharing for others who might be considering an enclosure.

Cheers.
 
Very nicely done! I like the design, lines and the solar panel.
 
Greetings,
That is very nice, I like that its like an extra room that can be used during the season. Thanks for the pics. How long did it take to order and put in place ?

JJF
 
dmecimore":2uleh6dw said:
The canvas itself was a PAIN to get on, because everything fits so tight (this is good I guess). But fingers are a bit raw from squeezing all the zippers together to zip. Just to say, not something we will be taking off and putting back on very often. Morely likely will put it in place or not based on the season.

Cheers.
Click to expand...
I had the same issue with the enclosure on my 27OB, a pain to initially install. After 2 years it has stretched and fitted in place and is much easier to put on, take off.
 
HudsonRanger15":3o3zxwep said:
Greetings,
That is very nice, I like that its like an extra room that can be used during the season. Thanks for the pics. How long did it take to order and put in place ?

JJF
Click to expand...

In our area (near Southport NC) the canvas makers stay pretty busy. So we waited a couple of months before they could start. Solar panels also took several weeks to arrive, got caught up in customs due to some Covid stuff.

Then once we delivered the boat to them, it took maybe two weeks to get it all done.
 
Thanks for the pictures! looks great! Can I ask a favor? Pictures of the frame above the cabin door?
Thank you!
 
SgtAlf":t1vt8013 said:
Pictures of the frame above the cabin door?
Click to expand...

There is actually no metal frame above the cabin door. What they did was, they installed a plastic "track" onto the top of the cabin (this is screwed into the top of the cabin). Then they sewed a rope (more like a a cord) onto the edge of the canvas on that end. The cord slides into the track to attach the enslosure top to the cabin top. So far this has been really waterproof.

The aft middle section has this same type of track at the bottom, then zips at the top to the enclosure roof.

The only metal is the two cross bars. These fold back when the enclosure is off (don't have a pic) and they made a canvas cover for the two metal cross bars together when not in use (won't be often for us I don't think). The two cross bars fold back at like a 45 or so degree angle when not in use.

Added some pics of all this to my album.

Hope this helps.
 
Excellent! I like the stern track/rope idea. I guess the rest is held by the old snaps. So your frame works much like a Bimini. Did you have the small awning over the door that the 23's came with? If there's no frame above the door that had to have been removed.
Thank you,
 
SgtAlf":d282ib4a said:
Did you have the small awning over the door that the 23's came with? If there's no frame above the door that had to have been removed.
Thank you,
Click to expand...

We had the standard awning. Most of that metal was removed.

Our canvas guy wasn't comfortable taking off the connectors to the cabin so they left those (pic in my album).

We plan to add some black plastic caps to those stubs to finish them off a bit better.

Cheers!
 
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