Do you tarp? How?

[DaveC426913]

SeaSaw sits on the hard at my club. I get little choice where she is put. This year she's exposed to winds from both sides.

I'm trying to find a method of tarping that covers the boat neatly.
Last year, I bought a 20x30. It was too short and two narrow to fully cover her stern.
The tarp got shredded enough that I decided to replace it. Unfortunately, all I could find was a standard duty white tarp, 25x50. It was, of course way too long.
Recent winds shredded it and left it sprawled across the club roadway.
So I bought a new tarp (and that one burned, fell over, then sank into the swamp )
But seriously - This one is 30x40.

The reason I want one that size is that I have taken to leaving the Bimini supports up. This gives me plenty of cockpit space to move around in and do stuff (=smoke stogies).

30' is enough to cover the entire stern, but ends up about 20 feet too wide at the bow. I cant do a lot about that except tuck it in since the grommets are along the edges, and I'm not about to install my own. (I have a grommet kit, but I find manually-installed grommets just don't withstand this kind of stress.)

Next thing I'm going to try is tennis balls tied onto the lining. This will also allow me to shape the tarp into a trapezoid that should make for a better fit.

What do you do?

[yukonbob]

I've been throwing around the idea of purchasing a custom canvas tarp specifically for this, as each year I end up buying yet another poly tarp and there seems to be little I can do to stop it from either shredding on the stanchions, spreaders, pulled grommets etc. I've priced a custom canvas tarp (35 x 14 I believe) with reinforced brass grommets for around $500 CAN shipping included, so state side that should run you around $300 these days Some of the sites I've seen also do weighted pockets etc but I think getting into those options a custom fit cover might be close to the same price. My worry is that the canvas does last for three or four years then shreds anyways, in that case I'd just keep buying poly tarps for $60 each

[DaveC426913]

little I can do to stop it from either shredding on the stanchions, spreaders, pulled grommets etc.

I ran a couple of 1x3s from pushpit to pulpit this time to keep the tarp off the stanchions.

... state side that should run you around $300 these days

I guess that's relative. From where you're sitting, Toronto is pretty much the tropics.

[yukonbob]

Ya i made a crutch for the front of the boat so the mast sits completely level and threw in a bunch of plastic pipe, stanchion to stanchion to help round it off. Since doing that its helped, but the rotating spreader base is 2014/2015's tarp shredding culprit. My biggest problem is torn grommets. It'll be -30 C and blow in strong from the south bringing in warm weather (-10 to -5 C) problem is it takes a while for that warm air to get here, meanwhile my peanut brittle -30 tarp doesn't stand up to the flogging. I’m really lucky to get two seasons out of a tarp and I keep all points off the FG deck and hull (allows lots of airflow and I want to avoid abrasion or a grommet smacking the hull for 4 months straight) I picked up a Navigloo cover (mentioned on another thread) for our river boat, but I found it more complicated and less effective than just throwing a tarp over the mast and staking it out. Guess I’ll just have to bite it and build a garage for it.

Also didn't notice you were in Ont. about the cost for the canvas covers

[seadog]

Hello all,

I buy the 12'x16', reversible blue/brown, 2 pack combo from Costco. I'll start covering mine at the bow, overlap amidships and lace up the stern tarp above the outboard. The sides are tied down to the trailer every few feet. Both tarps are draped on top of the bedded mast, which gives me rain/sun/wind protection and enough headroom in the cockpit.

I usually get a year or two out of them before the elements take their toll. I simply toss em when they start to powder coat my boat as they sluff-off and fall apart. My only complaint is that they don't have much UV protection, but they come with built-in grommets and are priced better ($22) than everywhere else for how thick they are.

The tennis ball trick is a must, or you risk rubbing a hole in the tarps. An added benefit is the privacy I've gained from chatty neighbors who never seem to let me work on the boat, and feel obligated to share their opinions on how to fix or modify something.

Take Care,
Seadog

BTW, My other Costco alternative is the $200 carport. I'd have to add galvanized fence poles to the legs to raise it high enough and run the risk of the neighbors having more to complain about.

[Flightfollowing]

I'm just experimenting with holding the tarp down primarily with a pair of cargo nets:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0054Y ... ge_o01_s00

I figure the main failure mode is wind flapping and grommets pulling through, and using a pair of nets should dramatically help both of those issues.

Attaching the nets over the tarp takes a bit of time, but not too bad. Too early to know results yet.

[DaveC426913]

The tennis ball trick is a must, or you risk rubbing a hole in the tarps.

This is the trick I'm talking about:

They substitute for grommets, but I can put them anywhere I want, like right in the middle of the tarp.

[Starscream]

Each season I buy a 20' x 40' blue tarp from Canadian Tire for about 60$, plus a 10$ roll of light rope. I made a small support for the middle of the mast out of 2x4's and then I just drape the tarp over the mast. I cut short pieces of rope and tie each pair of grommets together under the trailer. In the back I "sew" the grommets together using a longer piece of the rope and then roll it up and use some spring-loaded hand-clamps to keep the roll in place. In the front I just wrap the extra tarp up around the trailer tongue.

This tarp method is OK if you have access to the boat because it requires constant snow removal. During freeze/thaw cycles huge masses of ice will build up in the cockpit area, and the tarp will become weighted down. I cut a couple of weepholes in the tarp just inside the cockpit lifelines to help drain the melt-water buildup before it refreezes. I recently read about a forum member who is now shopping for a new mast because of the tendency for snow to flatten out parts of the tarp and build up to unsupportable levels.

You can't leave the boat wrapped like this for any length of time by itself. I clean it off during snowstorms. Maybe even twice if it's a big one. If I didn't have access to the boat, I would either have a professional shrink-wrap job done or build a self-supporting temporary garage.

Oh, and I jack up the trailer so the wheels are off the ground and so that I can spin the bearings a few times during the winter.

[BOAT]

I jack the trailer every time I park but I do not lift the wheels off the ground. I also put tennis balls on top of all the stanchions and I use the same mast support that fisheadbarandgrill uses.

The silver poly tarp will outlast the blue tarps by about 1 or 2 years. So you would get maybe two seasons from a blue tarp to three seasons from the silver tarp because it reflects the sun. The silver tarps are 19 by 29 at Harbor Freight for about 60 bucks here, and the blue ones for about 50 so the silver is worth the money:



The silver one comes with grommets and I just tie the tarp to the trailer with blue rope:



It works real good. I can't really give the best advice though to you guys because your in the great north west and in snow and wind and all kinds of real weather. Over here anything below 50 degrees is cold. The weather here is also a better value because I get more days per year of activity outside than all my friends in other parts of the country. It's a tiny bit more expensive to live here but well worth it because I get more days outside so it works out to be less expensive for a boating person in the end. If your the type to sit inside all day every day California is not a good value to live in. If your out a lot and travel a lot like I do it's actually cheaper.

[NiceAft]

I do as boat does, except I live outside Philly, PA.


I used to do the PVC pipe thing, but it was too much work for no terrifically better results.

[K9Kampers]

I do the PVC hoops with a 20 x 30 HD tarp and an 8 x 10 covering the stern.

[DaveC426913]

This tarp method is OK if you have access to the boat because it requires constant snow removal. During freeze/thaw cycles huge masses of ice will build up in the cockpit area, and the tarp will become weighted down. I cut a couple of weepholes in the tarp just inside the cockpit lifelines to help drain the melt-water buildup before it refreezes. I recently read about a forum member who is now shopping for a new mast because of the tendency for snow to flatten out parts of the tarp and build up to unsupportable levels.

Ack! I hadn't even thought of that! I mean I know snow builds up, but I didn't think it through. The tarp is draped over my mast and the mast has only the standard bow and stern support!! (It' even possible that this was the primary cause of tearing the grommets out of my last tarp.)

[DaveC426913]

Over here anything below 50 degrees is cold. The weather here is also a better value because I get more days per year of activity outside than all my friends in other parts of the country.

Best idea yet!

Move to warmer climes.

I'll tell the Admiral we have no choice if we want to protect our investment.

[NiceAft]

I should have added in my earlier post that I do place tall boxes along both sides the mast in order to stop the sagging in the tarp which others have mentioned. I also stack Styrofoam under the mast at midpoint of the boat. This prevents mast bend. My opinion is, even with this effort, it is less work than the PVC poles.

If you live in an environment that has snow, you need a tarp to prevent water from getting into cracks, seams, or any loose fitting places. The process of water freezing and expanding in areas where you do not want it, is worth preventing.

A tarp also makes cleaning the boat in the spring much easier.

Ray

[dlandersson]

I LIKE that thought

Best idea yet!

Move to warmer climes.

I'll tell the Admiral we have no choice if we want to protect our investment.