This photo takes us back to Trinidad, January 2005. Besides trying to grow my hair, I also just started the final paint coat on the 15 dorade vents Jedi has. That was a lot of work but they looked very good again. The dorades we have are made by Vetus, a Dutch company, and they are called the "Yogi" model. A couple years before this, we replaced a number of dorades that were cracked beyond repair, and we found that these plastic thingies are expensive. So, when they all started looking bad, even more so after being blasted with debris during hurricane Ivan, we decided to put some effort into them and clean, sand and paint them. It took us a week or so, but we were very happy with the results and the cost (spray paint in cans) was very reasonable. But, as the years passed, we realized that the whole exercise was futile. The paint was no match for the relentless UV radiation in the tropics. We were at the point of getting depressed when we thought back about how much work it was to restore them.... plus that the new ones we put on in 2003 were not much better than the old ones... we can't even tell them apart!
After years of thinking and debate we admitted our defeat and accepted the only solution for this problem is to go for metal dorades. This is the "before and after" comparison:
Click the photos to open the complete album on our SmugMug site.
The new ones are the same Vetus Yogi dorades but made out of stainless steel (316 grade). They are cast, highly polished and the inside painted red. They are beautiful but they are also three times the price of the plastic ones... ouch! They are so expensive that the rings that screw them onto their base are theft-proof, requiring a special tool. All that would be bearable except for the fact that we need 15 of them! We just couldn't bring ourselves to order 15 so we started off with just four, and installed them nearest the cockpit. Next time we order boat-stuff we will probably order two more, slowly replacing them and getting rid of the worst looking old ones.
We considered different brands which offer 316 stainless dorades for less money, but they are made by shaping and welding sheet material and look ugly, not ship-like at all.
Of course the bases are different too, made of stainless steel instead of aluminium. We were glad because the old bases were getting bad but we were shocked to find that they changed the hole pattern for the new ones! It's amazing how much time it takes to bolt a couple of replacement dorades onto your boat.
The Yogi-316 dorades come with the base, rings and the tool to fasten/loosen them, but the mosquito screens and storm-shutters are not included. We cut our old screens a bit smaller so they fit the new dorades but we didn't test the old storm shutters yet. I guess these items can be ordered separately and we highly recommend them.... you need them.
If you are considering the ventilation system of your boat, replacing regular (mushroom) vents with the dorade type, you must know that these do not have a water separator built in. Jedi has coamings that start along the cockpit and go all the way forward to the fore deck, with water separators built into them for the dorades. You can make separators yourself or buy "ready to install" ones (that don't look good). But the dorades provide much more ventilation than mushroom vents and make all the difference in the tropics.
Ciao! from Panama,
Nick & Josie.
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