How do you guys cover your boat for winter?
 

I store my SF 20 in New England so I need somehing that can handle the snow. I'd also like something that can be reused season to season. Thanks.

Sorry (not really).....can't help you on this one!!! I have no idea what that's all about. ;) :)

i put straping down the middle then ropes arching over it about every 2-3 feet and then throw a tarp over it and tie it down

Most guys make a PVC or wood frame that can be dissembled every year and stored away. If its PVC I have seen guys glue all but a few fittings so you dont loose pieces. Wood 2X3's or strapping is easy disassembled with stainless screws. After the frame is built, protect the corners of the wood with rags or sponges and then have a shrink wrap guy come by and put a door in so you can work in it in the winter with a space heater! The big trick is to make the sides as steep as you can get them so the wet snow rolls off.


My 'club house' last winter. I left the back open to get materials in there.

http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/t...b/PC131540.jpg

http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/t...b/PC191546.jpg

Patrick,

That looks pretty sweet. I could get a lot of work done in there. Just curious, but why wouldn't you do the shrink wrap yourself? Is it a cost thing? I was considering buying a shrink wrap kit so I can do it myself every year. The other option would be a tarp over the frame with tie downs or weights to keep it taught. Like the steep frame idea.

Marc

This is what I do, similar on my 20SF.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/whitewater/6.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/whitewater/1.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/whitewater/2.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/whitewater/3.jpg

I have a buddy who charges me cost and I give him a hand. Most of that club house was made out of scraps and left over from the boat yard.
Bryan A that frame is NUTS! definitely the most overbuilt one I have ever seen. Can you take it down by yourself?

I used to do the A frame like wildman and Bryan did with theirs.Worked good and was inexpensive.
Now that I keep the boat 6 hours from home,I have it Shrink wrapped.It's a lot more expensive,but I pay no storage so it's a wash.

Wow Bryan! I'm calling you when I need some carpentry done on my house,that's one incredible A frame.

Here's what i did when I did the resto 14' x 30' tarped over scaffold.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/easy2/IMG_0908.jpg

Now I have this done.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/easy2/IMG_1884.jpg

Yep, up and down in about 20 min or so now that its made.

you could do like my friend did. Along with marine canvas and upholstery when I over in NH I also did sgrinkwrapping. 2003 inwraped hid 27 Bayliner spring 2004 I moved ea h year he carefully removed the plastic and put it back on each year with the help of some Shrinkwrap tape when needed this fall I finnaly retired it. What he did was he found a guy with a simmilar boat and asked him for his old Shrinkwrap and put it on his boat this year. At this rate he hit rid of the boat before he ever pays to have it done again. Lol

I prefer the Man Cave wrap! :D

In & out in 20 seconds..

Attachment 148

I use a tarp, but lay planks from the center console out to the gunwales of the master angler to shed and/or support snow. Not as maintenance free as the ridgepole designs once you get snowmelt, as it can collect. I worry about the point loading of some designs on the cap/gunwale.

I am considering skinning some pink styrofoam panels with glass to make sandwich cores as a light hard shell, over which I put a tarp. But haven't tried that yet.

marcOO,

I've gone through a variety of wood frames and have used a PVC pipe one for the last few years. Sets up and breaks apart easily, materials are cheap and durable and the tarp slides on and off the frame without a hitch. Attached .jpegs are from 2 different versions and one of them is attached to just show the base plates I use for the verticals in the boat. The forward one is duct taped to the trailer and the aft one is set into a small hole that I dig. What isn't shown is a cob web type arrangement of small diameter rope that I set up on each side of the frame to help support the slopping side panels of the tarp.

Nice setup. Can I swing by and check it out sometime? :D

TooFly,

Sure.

Sweet! ;)

Ask Trayder :eek:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../chictarp4.jpg

boat cover
 

I had a custom canvas cover made a few years back by a local guy here in NJ. It fits right over my t-top and I cross-tie at the bottom across the hull. I do not use any wooden supports or anything and it has survived major snow storms here, including the epic 34 inch blizzard last December. The t-top is my support system so no need for wood beams or the such. Canvas vendor is Nautical Canvas in Pt. Pleasant NJ- he's great, comes to measure your boat and comes back with customized cover.

Yeah at least I was smart enough to put it on a trailer and head south...

Nothing beats being able to use your boat year around!!

shrinkwrap. A door is a must so you can go in there with a beer and turn on the radio until April comes. :-)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...c/pic034-2.jpg

Aye ya aye ya ayeeee.......:eek:
No Thanks!!!!
I'm to claustrophobic for that nonsense.. and you call us Florida
crackers twisted up.....:rolleyes:
That just ain't right, John...:)

You would be better with the green Gucci....:eek::eek::eek:

This may not be very pretty, but it works. This will be the seventh winter on this $100.00 tarp. I put one 2x4 from the t-top to the bow and tie everything down tight. I can get inside from the back to work on things.