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It all depends on where you store your boat John. I store my boat next to my house with a large Polytarp tied to each end of my mast, and 100 or so feet of 1/4" line spiraled around and under the boat to hold the tarp in place. It took me many years of ripped tarps to figure the best way to cover my boat for the winter. I built mast carriers for my boat years ago for trailering to and from ramps. In the fall when I bring her home, I strip the mast of standing rigging including the spreaders. Then I wrap the mast from end to end with old polytarp and around the mast carriers and the mast is tied in place. I remove the lifelines and stanchions on my boat. After I get the main tarp into position and evened out, I bunch up the back of the tarp around the end of the mast and tie tight clove hitch with some half hitches around the it with 3/8" rope sling. I go to the other end of the mast and stretch the tarp out and do the same on that side. All that's left is to wrap the long line over the top and bottom of the boat in a spiral fashion. A 5' piece of strapping is used to roll the two ends of the tarp toward the bow of the boat, and a carpenter's spring clamp and rope to secure it. I close in the stern portion of the boat with rope leaving it open a little for air circulation, but this is how I've been doing it for a number of years now and my tarp never rips. If I leave the boat on the trailer, I jack up the trailer so that the wheels are off the ground. This year, I took the boat off the trailer and put it on boat stands. I also jacked up the trailer and put it on blocks. A lot of work? Yeah, but next year I'll be able to paint the bottom easier with the boat on stands.
Joe
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I also tarped my boat like Joe, I did take down my mast because I have inside storage for that. Ocean State Job Lot had a 30 x 50 tarp i believe it was for $70. Probably the same tarp that Joe bought.
I built my tarp so that I could work on the boat in the winter by cutting some strapping and building a frame for it, strapping running stern to bow, with a bench in the middle on the deck so it raised the frame up about 2ft off the deck. I used some old towels to cover the stanchion tops to keep the tarp from ripping and tied some old line from stanchions to the middle strapping. I tarped the boat in Sept. 2008, and haven't touched it - tarp held up great for a year and will be kept that way this winter also.
I built my tarp so that I could work on the boat in the winter by cutting some strapping and building a frame for it, strapping running stern to bow, with a bench in the middle on the deck so it raised the frame up about 2ft off the deck. I used some old towels to cover the stanchion tops to keep the tarp from ripping and tied some old line from stanchions to the middle strapping. I tarped the boat in Sept. 2008, and haven't touched it - tarp held up great for a year and will be kept that way this winter also.
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I bought my 20'X30' Polytarp at Ocean State Job lot for about $53.00. I think that it depends on where you store your boat. Some marinas and boatyards won't let you use polytarps, so I'm told. A friend of mine keeps his boat at a marina in the Somerset Ma. area, and they won't allow him to store his boat with his mast down. So he uses two tarps to cover his boat. I really don't know how that works out for him. I'm happy that I can store my boat at home and be able to attend to it if need be.
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