Demountable cover for a boat hatchway or the like

Abstract

An easily deployable dodger providing a protective cover for the hatchway on a boat comprises a generally trapezoidal shaped sheet of flexible material, a portion of which is transparent. The sheet is tied by its corners and the midpoint of its base edge to form an aft-opening pyramidal shape with enclosing forward, port and starboard triangular faces. The midpoint of the base forms the apex of the pyramidal shape and the four corners of the trapezoidal sheet define the ends of the lower edges of the three triangular faces. The centrally disposed triangular forward face is formed by tying the corners of the edge opposite the base edge to the boat just forward of the companionway such that the lower edge extends across the cabin. The midpoint of the base edge is tied overhead to form the apex and to define the triangular forward face, and the remaining corners of the sheet at the intersection of the base edge and the side edges are tied aft and to each side of the boat to form the port and starboard triangular faces. The sheet is preferably made of transparent vinyl and the edges reinforced with thin strips of canvas or the like. In addition to being easily deployable and providing a significant level of protection from the elements, the dodger may be rolled up and conveniently stowed when not in use.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.