If you are going to be hanging out in one spot for a long period of time, perhaps living aboard while you work ashore, larger awnings come into the equation. These awnings provide shade over the entire boat. They will be a pain to rig, remove, and store, but when they are up and it is warm outside, they will be very pleasant.

The above approach appeals to us. The battens will keep the awning quiet in a moderate squall, and help it to shed water. The awning will be easily rolled up for storage. However, we’d prefer to rig it over the boom, which would be quicker than tying it into place under the boom as shown here.

In this case the boom is too low to provide headroom, so the awning is held up with a bridle off the main halyard. It looks good, and is functional, and there is probably no other approach to get the job done. But this will take some time to rig and unrig.

More nice looking canvas work. There are no battens in this awning so it has to be set over the boom. There is an additional advantage in that it reduces the amount of sun working its way through the sail cover (yes, UV will go through a single-layer sail cover – which is why we double the top of our sail covers).

A cross between the last two approaches. This time battens are on top of the boom. (PVC pipe is being used for battens. It is readily available and cheap, but not very strong or stiff – so if you use PVC pipe make it oversized.)

And just to prove that you can do this with a bit of PVC tarp, for little money, check out the photo above. The solar panel array over the helm provides shade and an attachment point for this small over-the-boom awning. However, those long, lightweight stainless steel legs supporting the solar panels are not going to take much wind or wave loading.

This is a simple approach to enhancing shade at anchor. The aft end of the boom provides forward support while the back end of this three-batten awning is attached to the back stay.

This “design” of this awning will work in calm conditions. But it will tend to catch water in its folds, and those floppy edges will “luff” loudly in any sort of a breeze. But if you are without a proper awning, and wilting in the sun, this is a lot better than nothing.

Here is another really clean design. You have crouching headroom down the side decks, a nice shape to shed rain, and some stability with heavy (2″/50mm) PVC battens.