Installed a Cockpit Door Screen on my 260DA

Dave S

Well-Known Member
TECHNICAL Contributor
Oct 3, 2006
6,014
Upstate South Carolina
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Boatless
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Boatless
I had a canvas guy make me a screen that I can snap in place over my cockpit door. Once installed, the screen itself can be unzipped on both sides to remove it. The whole idea is to have screening for the evening hours if we are on the hook or if we overnight since I don't have a generator and leave the cabin door open. It is made with heavy duty zippers and screening material and the canvas is Sunbrella to match my other canvas. The screened portion can be unzipped or zipped from either inside the cabin or in the cockpit.

The first thing I had them do was install snaps on the inside of the cabin door opening. Here is what that looks like:

DSC03007.jpg


The screen panel itself is a three piece affair. The two sides with zippers attach to either side of the door and can stay in place even when the screen panel is removed:


DSC03019.jpg


This is what it looks like with the screen zipped in place and snapped top and bottom:

DSC03013.jpg



And here is what it looks like from the cockpit:

DSC03017.jpg


I think this will work out pretty well for us. Total cost was $150.
 
Very nice!!! Great looking install! :thumbsup: Just don't forget it's there in the middle of the night when you want to do a little star gazing! :smt101 :wink:
 
Dave - Well Done! Thanks for posting the pics on the screen design and install. :thumbsup:
 
Bridog said:
Looks great..... but 25 snaps is...well .... alot of snaps. :smt101

I know............but that's what keeps everthing nicely in place and taut. :grin: And you really don't have to worry about constantly having to do the snaps anyway as the sides just stay in place.

I really think Sea Ray ought to design their boats with screen doors that slide which would be a much better choice in my opinion because obvoiusly this set up is not the best if you want to go in and out of your cabin constantly. But hey.......it should work for us. :thumbsup:
 
very nice !.....and clever.
 
Looks good Dave. :thumbsup:
 
Nice job.
Question? if you want to get out rather quickly, are there sippers and snaps on the top and bottom as well?
So, because of the bend in the middle, do you have to unzip 3 sides to open it?
 
There are only 2 zippers........one on each side. I usually leave the bottom snaps unfastened on the center section.
So all you have to do is partially unzip one side to go in and out. It's very simple and works very well.
 
Oh...... I sea.
The top and bottom snaps are part of the removable screen.

Thanks.
 
Very nice, Dave. You must have liked the '09 270 screen! :grin:
 
I really like that Idea Dave. Looks really good. Great idea!
 
I couldn't imagine, from the title, what a screen on a cockpit door would do. The write-up is clear that it is the cabin door. Very nice, and appears to be a successful solution.
On my old model even the parts don't fit tightly. But when I redid the canvas I had a similar "wall" made to create a screened rear wall to my canvas just aft the 2 captains chairs. Same purpose, keep the bugs out at night.

If I were to copy yours, or if someone else wants to, I would consider using white fabric instead of blue there. I'd also look into using velcro to fasten the screen in. Maybe the frame part could be made smaller and less visual. You'd probably want 2 pieces of fabric with the velcro inside so it is protected from all the stuff that will get stuck on it otherwise. Overall, I'm quite impressed with how well it fits and how functional it is.
 
Captain Pat

First off, I think I would choose a tan Sunbrella fabric that more closely matches the interior rather than my blue canvas if I were doing it all over again but that's about the only thing I would do differently. I don't think I'd opt for the Velcro. The zippers work much easier than velcro would. The zippers are heavy duty and I think are beefier than the ones used on the factory cockpit enclosure. Like wise the screening material is very heavy duty as well. I'll try and get some close-up pictures of the screening because without something as heavy as that I don't think the door would last that long. I will add those pictures to this post along with what the screen looks like when we want to enter and exit and don't want to take it all the way out.

Right now during the daytime hours when we are out on the lake, bees and flys are a problem so we use the screen all the time and I can honestly say it has really worked out well and is holding up well to boot.
 
Very nice - great idea.
 

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