Custom full boat cover

[BC Bernie]

It's rare to have full on snow here that lasts for over a week, but luckily, I had the good fortune of getting a boat cover. It was made and installed by our local North Sails loft the day before the dump. I only saw it for the first time on Christmas Day and these are the pics. Made of WeatherMAX, it's lighter and more resilient than traditional canvas. Goes over the life lines, with weights used to help stay in position. I think it's in 3 major pieces, with a transom zip too...I'll know better when the snow clears off as it's dumping again. She looks cozy. View attachment 201484

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

I had a look today with it washed clean of snow from the rain. Looks great even with the hurricane winds that blew through the marina the other night. Can't say the same for a few other boat covers around the marina ........ a few pieces here, a few over there.

 

[RoyS]

I should have bought one of those twenty years ago instead of installing shrink wrap every year.

 

[jssailem]

Pretty snazzy Bernie. Christmas gift for a Christmas snow. Your boat will be so grateful.

I wonder, if you had the loft, sew in a couple of clear plastic windows, if you could not use it in the Spring and Fall to extend your boat time on the water. It would be like adding an extra room to the boat under the tent.

Nice.

 

[BC Bernie]

It’s a slower time for sail lofts now, especially with COVID cases soaring. Many can do a custom cover. I was able to get a great price, so I encourage fellow owners to consider keeping their fav lofts working.

 

[Tally Ho]

I wouldn’t use that here for a full winter storage because it goes over the life lines and it WILL fill with water, and ice and snow, and bend the stanchions eventually. If it intended for “in the water coverage” when it is expected to snow ( and it is not tied down tight), it would work for that.

here is what mine looks like (about 7 years old now)…

Greg

 

[BC Bernie]

I wouldn’t use that here for a full winter storage because it goes over the life lines and it WILL fill with water, and ice and snow, and bend the stanchions eventually. If it intended for “in the water coverage” when it is expected to snow ( and it is not tied down tight), it would work for that.

here is what mine looks like (about 7 years old now)…

View attachment 201512
Yep. Good thing snow doesn't happen too often here.

Greg

 

[BC Bernie]

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Any otters living in there yet ?

 

[BC Bernie]

Any otters living in there yet ?

How do you keep otters away? I know you were using moth balls or similar - does that work?
Some keep a radio playing, others use a bird nail spike set up, while others say only a full barrier?

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

All I can say about mothballs is that they MAY be slightly better than nothing.

Last summer I got inundated with otter crap and urine under the dodger. Was not using mothballs at the time as I had not been visited y otters in years. No reason to keep using them as I had been for previous years. I mean, what could possible go wrong ? It was many trips to the laundromat before all of the smell was eliminated.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I had one or more otters pay me an overnight visit and ONLY took one small dump under the dodger and then apparently left. And that's with several mesh bags of mothballs placed under the dodger. Maybe my boat looked like a poor excuse for a party boat or maybe it was the smell of the mothballs. That time I got off lucky.

No proof as to whether they work but considering the mess otters can make, I'm willing to keep playing with the mothballs.

Regardless of what they do, I won't risk harming the otters in any way as they're so damned cute.