Looking for advice, did any of you install blinds in your salon? I did request blackout blinds for the cabins. Thank you, Tracy from Gilly Girl, for the suggestion.
Second question: Did anyone fabricate a screen for the door leading out to the cockpit? Can you post pictures?
Hi Sue, we don’t have blinds in the salon - I would talk with OceanAir (now part of Dometic)
For our main doorway this is what we came up with just before we headed into the rivers of the Amazon. Its magnetic closing fly screen. Plenty of choice on Amazon around $50…
We liked it so much that it has been in situ now ever since and keeps both mosquitos and flies out of the cabin. Combined with the fly screens on the opening hatches the boat is almost bug free.
You can get them made to measure - but we did not have time. The important dimension for the purchase is width - we folded and adjusted the length. It takes a couple of trials to get the perfect length - we left it pinned for quite a while. The trick is to get it to just brush the floor in the middle and be a bit longer on the outer edges. The top edge is also not quite straight (per instructions) to aid the closing action. We went higher than the door opening to aid with the opening of the gap.
The burgundy patch in the middle is just sunbrella bonded on - as a opening plate - ours started to get a bit worn there (Tip… Don’t walk through the screen with sharp cutlery point first! 
)
Its over two years old at the moment and going well - but I guess will need replacing next year.
We also fitted a second similar screen inside in the owners cabin on the bulkhead doorway - only used if we are in a dengue/malaria area..
Great
But I think nysna should come up with a bug screen, factory installed from the beginning
Carol
Great, and thank you for the photo. This is what I was thinking would work. I will look on Amazon when we get there. I love the Sunbrella patch
Hi Sue,
Thinking about it you are getting a 550 which I believe has a different layout around the sliding doors/window. Looks to me like it will be a bit more of a logistical challenge for a permanent screen.
Yes it might be but I at least know what works on the 500’s and can go from there. Isn’t boating always new challenges🤣
Hi Ann!!! I LOVE this. How do you attach the screen to the boat? Planning to order this for my next trip home.
We use the domed studs with snaps to attach ours to the bulkhead.
Note the three attachments on the tip left, pin the left permanently, pin the right side, or pin the center when you want everything out of the way.
Can buy magnets on Amazon. Carolyn sewed them into the screen.
That was what I was thinking too and they last and don’t fall off easily?
We just used the adhesive Velcro that the screen came with onto the gel-coat. Wiped down with a solvent first to remove any oils etc from the surface and it’s been good for two years. I would do the same again as nothing too permanent.
Wouldn’t it be great for Knysna to develop a screen that is installed in the factory? I always wondered why we have screens on all our hatches but nothing on the huge cockpit door! I also wondered how the Windelo and H2 models that have opening windows without screens deal with my reality of bugs . I know it is not that bad at anchor depending on position, but I wondered if people with those models were somehow blessed to be bug free.
Carol
TY for the photos. We had a meeting with NorthSails today, who is handling our outside canvas, and discussed options. I appreciate the pictures for ideas. We also discussed a sun awning for the deck, which will be so nice to have.
Get ahold of Sue on Wiz. She did some herself that just look extremely nice and professional. I would not commit to a design till you see hers. The ones we got from Knysna are nice but get baggy after a while and the snads are toe stubbers.
Sue, we ordered custom black out blinds for cabins but we do not have in Salon. However we have exterior window shades that snap on to exterior of salon windows. From the outside, you cannot see, but from the inside, you can see out. It helps with keeping cool. Kynsna provided this, it works great
Tracy, do you have pictures?
TY Tracy, and based on your advice, I ordered blackout blinds for all the cabins.
I am going to look into this company when our boat gets back to the US. Our friends have it for their condo and it looks like it could work well.
I’m need to sleep in a cave. Lol. The best sleep I get is in the boat ….. totally black out. 
I am not sure if you have a screen on your door or not, but look at this company:
We bought one at Home Depot in the USA … an off the shelf product that we were going to modify and hang about the sliding door with Velcro so we could fit it when necessary … It just needed the drop length shortened. It had a magnet system that keep the entrance of the net closed and was easy to enter and exit through. Well that said … this was over two years ago and another season sailing from Annapolis to Charleston … and then full season in the Bahamas with stops in Bermuda, Azores and Spain … we have not yet fitted it as we have had no real problems with mosquitos since!!
