26x winter cover

[dlandersson]

Last winter I had the loacal yard shrink-wrap the boat. Worked ok.

This year I'd like to personally cover my - if possible leaving open access thru the rear for projects/maintenance.

Thoughts?

[Obelix]

Get a Sailwarwhouse full boat cover, it will open in the back and is of really good quality.
http://thesailwarehouse.com/cgi-bin/web ... l&cart_id=
Open the Canvas-Products tab.

Obelix

[Russ]

Yea, the shrink wrap is nice and nice and expensive. Not a fan of expensive.

Use the time machine and look back a year ago at this thread
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... =9&t=19514

I got 4 seasons our of my last cover. Probably could have gotten more but I didn't protect it from pointy things. Just bought another. Should get me another 4 years.

[kmclemore]

I do exactly the same thing as Russ. Works great and it's as cheap as you can go with covering your boat.

[mastreb]

Planning on making my own custom cover out of sunbrella. It's going to fit directly over the deck (not over the stanchions, lifelines, or mast) and have slits for the stanchions. It'll go down the side nearly to the rubrail grommets installed about every foot. Each grommet will have a small bungee tied through (like the clew on a jib) with a single hook attached to fasten each grommet to the lip below the rub-rail. The bow will go down a bit lower and bungee to the bow eye to keep the forward piece firmly in place and not catching wind.

I'm going to make it in four separate pieces: bullnose, chain locker to mast step (bow), mast step to cockpit (amidships), and cockpit. The four pieces will overlap such that the forward piece is on top and be connected with turn fasteners and eyelets (ala a sail cover). The bullnose will be made slightly differently to cover the entire bow lower and down to the bow-eye. It's purpose is to prevent wind from entering below the cover at the front, and also when removed to expose the bow chainplates, anchor roller, and docking cleats.

My goals are easy trailering without catching wind, easy take-off and storage in the boat, ability to take off the cockpit piece while leaving the rest on to use at the marina, ability to use the amidships piece as a boom-tent by connecting the bungees to the lifelines, and ability to leave the bow piece on during the summer to keep the black stripes protected.

And by "making" I mean providing a pattern to a sailmaker and ordering

[dlandersson]

Got a white tarp.

How many and how long are your bungee cords?

How many

Yea, the shrink wrap is nice and nice and expensive. Not a fan of expensive.

Use the time machine and look back a year ago at this thread
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... =9&t=19514

I got 4 seasons our of my last cover. Probably could have gotten more but I didn't protect it from pointy things. Just bought another. Should get me another 4 years.

[Russ]

Planning on making my own custom cover out of sunbrella.

What you describe sound very nice...and very expensive. Love Sunbrella material, but it's pricey. You have to post some pics when you are done. That would be nice to see.

[Russ]

Got a white tarp.

How many and how long are your bungee cords?

I just bought a new 30x20 tarp to replace the 4 year old one that got holes in it from not protecting it from abrasion points, mostly the mast fittings. This time I have some carpet scraps to protect that.

I don't don't use bungee cords at all. I lace the whole mess up with a long line running under the trailer. Every so often I'll tie it so it doesn't slip. The line is thin so I can pull it tight and have some elasticity. Our winters are wicked, we get some nasty winds (50mph) and this hasn't ever come loose.

Click image to enlarge.

[Tomfoolery]

That looks like a nice job, Russ. How long and what size are the PVC tubes? Just 10 footers?

How did you bend them, just brute force or with heat?

[Catigale]

In Bozeman, you stick them up in the air and the wind bends them into a U....

[Russ]

That looks like a nice job, Russ. How long and what size are the PVC tubes? Just 10 footers?

How did you bend them, just brute force or with heat?

This is another great morsel of information I got from this forum years ago. So simple and works great.

They are standard PVC pipes, whatever that size is that Lowes sells. 10' sounds about right.

Bending: Just brute force.
They actually bend very easily into shape. They DO like to spring back so an assistant is helpful. The spring tension helps keep them in place.
Most of them attach to the base of the life line stanchions. Others "pinch" onto the deck under the lifelines. What I've found works well is to use duct tape to hold the ends down. I first used wire ties, but they slipped out. I don't want to be removing sticky duct tape from my stanchions in the spring, so I first wrap them with some paper or rags and then wrap the duct tape around them and the PVC.

I will tell you that in the spring, those PVC pipes stay bent in a U. So I hang them up in the garage and reuse them next year making it easier to install the pre-bent pipes.

The aft is laced up similar to the bow (in the photo above) so I can unlace it and climb onboard to do work and inspect.

--Russ

[kmclemore]

I also used PVC, but to get mine to bend nicely I just used a heat gun with the "C" shaped adapter on the end so it gives even heating all the way around the pipe. Heat that baby up, bend it, and it sticks in that position. Works a treat.

[Steve K]

I also used PVC, but to get mine to bend nicely I just used a heat gun with the "C" shaped adapter on the end so it gives even heating all the way around the pipe. Heat that baby up, bend it, and it sticks in that position. Works a treat.

kmclemore,
Just thought of this the other day.
My heat gun went south on me while bending up some PVC electrical conduit. After some thought and not wanting to stop the project to go get another one, I fired up the barbeque and set a section on two bricks on the grill. The grill heated the PVC very quickly and evenly. The heated area was just the right span to create a very nice smooth bend. (turned the pipe while heating).
So, if you're ever in a pinch, remember this one The wire pulled great too
BTW, I think the gray, electrical PVC reacts to heat bending better than the white stuff. Get it the right temp and it is like a rubber hose, until it cools.

Best Breezes,
Steve K.

[Steve K]

RE; the cover

Just spent the day scrubbing the silver/gray off my boat and trailer, after it being covered with a silver tarp all summer.

The boat didn't get as dirty inside with the cover and the gel coat was in better shape, but the gray stuff was a b##%%h to get off. (desert wind, dust, sun and lack of humidity is hard on boats).

BB,
SK

[Russ]

RE; the cover

Just spent the day scrubbing the silver/gray off my boat and trailer, after it being covered with a silver tarp all summer.

The boat didn't get as dirty inside with the cover and the gel coat was in better shape, but the gray stuff was a b##%%h to get off. (desert wind, dust, sun and lack of humidity is hard on boats).

BB,
SK

Wow! I've never had that kind of issue. We get lots of winds that blow the tarp all over and dust from the storage lot, but it never rubbed off. I wonder if it's the type of tarp. Mine is silver and brown on the other side. I put the silver out because it looks nicer, not sure if there is a proper outside to these things.
I do put a coat of wax on the hull before putting her away for the season, but not on the deck. In the spring there is a lot of dust to clean off.

Oh yea, those grey electrical PVC pipes would probably work well too. They are MUCH more flexible and as mentioned above, when heated are supposed to bend to shape.

--Russ