winter boat cover?

[ukester]

has any one here use a boat cover for winter storage? Tarps shrink wrap-have my 39ft sedan at a new marina this year and they will not let anyone do there shrink wrap except the marina-cost 1100.00-its hard for me to shell out that much knowing I can get it done for half that price so looking for other options.
cannot even begin to think what size tarp or tarps I would need-winters in Wisconsin can get nasty-I am not opposed to having a canvas made for this but time is not on my side to get that done.

Thanks for the reply
Mark

[barkleydave]

Tarping a large boat is a real pain ! Having a custom cover including support structure will be very expensive! Sounds like your new marina is a closed shop so that leaves you with few options. If you are a young dude with friends to help then go for it. If you are older like me it is out of the question!

If this is your first large vessel then welcome to the reality of boating. For what some of the M's are selling for you could almost afford to sell and replace the boat each spring! LOL Just kidding but not far from the truth!

Safe harbors,

dave

[jralbert]

I found the winter weather didn't impact most surfaces enough to make a difference so I concentrated on protecting the flybridge. A wood frame (with smooth edges so the tarp doesn't get penetrated) and cheap blue poly, maybe double layered, should keep the dash and instruments safe. I also tried to make sure the tarp was anchored securely at lots of places so it was less subject to wind lifting. Where I couldn't find a suitable tie point, I secured three-quarter full gal water bottles to the tarp - a bunch of them. Each one weighs about 6 lbs. Full bottles will expand and break.

Sorry to hear your marina monopolizes the shrinkwrap business - I guess they need that kind of profit center to bolster their bottom line. If they'd let you do it yourself and you have the skills, it's not an awful project (I'm told). And easier if you're just doing the bridge. I'd also try to make sure there's a slight back-tilt when the boat is set on the blocks so there's water easily drains out of the cockpit.

Have a quiet winter

[Rockit]

Hello Mark:

You can DIY shrink wrap if they let you. If you're careful taking it off, you might get more than one season from the shrink wrap.

The first winter I used tarps and it was a pain. Four years ago I had a custom cover made and am happy I did. For my 28 it was $900 so the payback over shrink wrap was three years. If and when you have a cover make consider having it in two or three pieces so it's easier to handle.

When my dad had his 30' Gibson and my uncle had his 32 , they went in together on a giant roll of clear reinforced plastic wrap that they cut covers from. Those covers were inexpensive and worked well for several years. I have not seen a similar product since.

I don't see a location for you--is inside storage viable? And there's always moving the boat to a warmer climate for the winter. . .

Good luck,

Joe

[ukester]

inside storage cold-4800.00
Wisconsin
cost of a full cover $10,000.00
with the marinas charge with the slip and storage fees and such it is making a touch time to keep this with out going broke.
I have been working on this for 2 years and have seen the water but the boat has not been in it-asked the local canvas shop and they said they are full with work until spring of next year...Really in Wisconsin???
I guess I will have this shrink wrapped and like they say pull out another thousand-what a waste

[bcassedy]

I covered my 32' sedan bridge with a tarp from Harbor Freight. It was 50' long and 25' (?) wide. And a total bear to manuver. I tried to use plastic electrical conduit and fittings to support. Not a good idea! Weight of tarp is too much for the conduit. Use 1" x 3" wood with the edges covered with old carpet (and stapled on the non-contact edges)to prevent gouging/scraping. Use a non/minimal stretch rope/??? to support between the wood supports. There was a note somewhere of using water filled gallon jugs to anchor the tarp. Use 3 per grommet!!! The wind will get under the tarp and it can lift a lot!!!. I'd run lines under the boat and pull the tarp together from underneath and use good quality bungees to keep those ropes under tension. Don't use Harbor Freight bungees. They're made of an inferior material that lose elasticity and break rather than stretching. Good spacing of the horizontal supports is a must (again, you're using 1"x3" wood) and they need to be adequately bowed. If you're thinking this may be more of an effort than you want to handle, it probably is. The tarp material will loose its crispness and stretch, creating potential pockets for snow melt/rain to gather. Then you have bathtub sized depressions that freeze solid.

... not that I know first hand about this.... :-]

I've since gone to just covering the upper station with a good quality canvas cover and suspending a 12' x 9' tarp over the rear cockpit area. I did use some HF ratcheting strap tiedowns (4) as the support from the upper station railing mount to over the cockpit railing and anchored on the swim platform. They don't stretch and the angle ensures that any snow / rain is quickly and totally shed off the aft end of the cockpit.

... And this keeps most of the water out off the cockpit floor and out of the bilge. I take out the rear drain plug from the hull to ensure there's no water in the bilge during the winter and put the plug up on the lower station as a reminder to not put the boat back in the water till it's re-inserted! .

Bill

[jralbert]

As an update: Protecting exposed vinyl seating is also important. They will get water logged (and will freeze as a block of heavy ice) left to the weather.

[collins69s]

I looked into buying an old army tent about six years ago for mine. It was a huge tent too, like a mess tent. I think it had a place for a chimney in it and it would've worked great except I didn't think that it was quite long enough on the sides because mine had a flybridge. It was gonna cost $1000. The cool thing was that when I wasn't using it for a boat cover I could have a huge tent. I found the tent on Craigslist.

[bill]

Bill wrote:
I covered my 32' sedan bridge with a tarp from Harbor Freight.

I also made the mistake of using a cheap HF cover and it lasted till the first snow with a moderate breeze. For the rest of the winter it just conrinued beating up my Marinette. Those gromets beating against the hull realy did a job on the paint.
Would have been better off with no cover.
Seeing that I was unwilling to pay to have it shrunk and to darn old to do it myself. I decidded to leave it uncovered.
So far its been 10 years and no problems. I just give it a good wash and wax in the spring before launch.
If you do go with the shrink make sure they install pleanty of vents and leave everything indide the boat open. drawers cuboards engine hatches even the comode seat up because of the condensation and mold issues. A couple of bags of charcoal opened inside the cabin would also help.

bill

[Rockit]

This may be a solution: http://www.koverklampframes.com/instructions.html#