Boat Covers?

[Jim]

Hi All, Are we ready for this winter to be over yet here in the Northeast or what? OK...6 weeks to go!!  Having said that, am currently investigating boat cover options for next year for our O'Day 30. Have a note into Fairclough Sailmakers of Connecticut for a quote from them on what, on their face, look like pretty nice covers out there on other boats we've seen.  Just wondering about any leads anyone might be able to provide on competitive boat covers that might be available out there...custom or otherwise. We used a shrink wrapper for this, our first year, and it was pretty steep in price. Any alternative suggestions, pros and cons welcome. Plan to be storing out of the water with mast in... Thanks, Jim"Sojourn"

 

[Justin - O'day Owners' Web]

An option

... is to shrink wrap yourself. You can often rent the equipment, or if necessary buy it but only once, and materials are not too bad. West Marine sells a good appropriate heat gun and a year's worth of materials for about $300. Subsequent year's worth of materials are less the $100. If you go that route, its not that hard to do. Justin - O'day Owners' Web

 

[Jim]

Custom Quote

Justin,  Thanks for your response. Do-it-yourself shrink wrapping may wind up being the way to go. Just got a quote back from a sailmaker, Fairclough of Connecticut, and they get about $2250 for a custom cover. I've seen these around on other boats and they are certainly very nice covers. But, $2250 seems a bit dear for a cover, custom or otherwise...Seems it would take a 1/2 day or so to get the custom cover on and off the boat anyhow, and do-it-yourself shrink wrapping can't be all that much more time or energy consuming... Thanks again, Jim

 

[Neil Scoltock]

Boat Cover

I spent money and time fussing with blue, green and grey tarps, only to realize that they barely made it thru a season and I never had a lot of confidence in them when storms moved in. So I finally broke down and bought a Fairclough cover @ a boatshow special price,still not cheap but they stay put and do not flap around,which causes a lot of abraision on the hull. The tarp does take time to put up correctly and very little time to take down.It also is a 2 man operation to install ,1 to dismantle.

 

[hp]

Thanks For Your Responses

Thanks for your responses Justin and Neil. We're about to see how an interior cushion cover project came out by a local guy who works out of his home here in lower Westchester. We just found out that he also makes custom boat covers. He's very reasonable, so if his work looks good on the cushion covers, we'll see what we can do for an exterior cover. I found a place out in Hicksville, Long Island...Bella Fabrics...that was willing to sell to me wholesale, at about 60% off the retail price, so that angle might also help with the cover project. Thanks again for your helpful inputs...Jim

 

[Bob]

Do the math...

I can have my boat shrink wrapped every year for the next ten years for the cost of a custom cover. Now...am I going to keep this boat for ten years? Probably not. If this was my final boat, I would most likely buy a custom cover. I also have a friend who had a custom cover made and he didn't nearly recover his cost when he sold his boat. I spoke with a surveyor as well and he said that while a custom cover is nice, buyers usually don't give an inch to them in their offers but then after the purchase they talk like it's the second coming of Christ...you know...HEY! It even came with a CUSTOM COVER!!! Sort of like when you are selling your house...if it has a built-in pool the buyer insists that it's a liability, but as soon as they buy it he brags that he has a pool.Just my two-cents (US)Cheers,Bob