P34 Winter Cover

I am trying to come up with some ideas for a winter cover design for my P34 Sedan. I will be pulling my 34 out of the water this year and shrink wrapping her but I do not want to continue down this road. I would like to come up with a design that would allow me to be able to cover it while she is in the water and keep her in the water for the winter. I have a painted hull so whatever design I come up with must keep the cover from wearing on the paint. I found a frame design on the yahoo mainship site. I like the frame design ideas but this boat sits out of the water so the tarp closes at the bottom of the hull. If I design a frame similar to this I was thinking that I could possibly install snaps on the underside of the rub rail thus allowing me to keep it in the water and not compromising the painted hull. Has anyone thought about trying something like this or perhaps have suggestions, comments or other design ideas that they would like to share?

From behind

Lohman Covers...He's out here but his covers are great, I've had one on a previous boat.

That's quite an elaborate rig. I would think you could run 3 lengths of 2x4's from the hardtop to the bowsprit and accomplish the same. I had a nice canvas cover on my old sailboat and the perimeter was held down with canvas sandbags tied to grommets in the cover. Worked great, in or out of the water.

This is what I have decided to do long term since I have moved our Pilot 34 to Connecticut and it is stored on the hard for the winter.

I don't believe it is necessary to cover the hardtop or the bow of the boat. But I do believe it is necessary to keep snow off of the cockpit as it can thaw, refreeze and block the scupper and then when it thaws again it could flood the aft lockers with water. Also getting in to the boat over the winter to check on things will be much easier with no snow.

If you look at my avatar on the left you will see that the boat is equipped with a bimini over the cockpit. But I don't want to rely on that to hold the snow loads in the winter. So I will remove the bimini but use its track on the aft of the cabin top to attach an aft cover. The cover will start at the aft cabin track and slope downward and then over the dinghy and around the aft of the boat where it will tie underneath.

I plan to have it made out of vinyl covered sunbrella or similar so the snow will slide off easily.

David

I disagree about keeping snow off the cabin house and bow. Letting snow accumulate on the boat will almost guarantee leaks at fittings. Also I find that if snow sits on the house and deck, it will lead to ice and condensation INSIDE the boat that can damage finishes and any fabrics on the boat. I use a simple ridge pole made from 2x4s that is the full length of the boat. It is supported by a post every 12 feet and is high enough to give me a 50 degree pitch so snow slides off the cover.

I tarped my previous boat after hauling it but it would be on a trailer so it was easy to secure the tarp by running bungee cords underneath and to the trailer frame. I would like to keep this one in the water. I hate shrink wrap. I think it is a waste of money. I would rather have a custom canvas tarp made up. However the painted hull is what is making this more difficult to plan out. I was hoping that someone with particular model might have had success with a design which is why I put this post in the Mainship forum. I guess I will cruise by my local canvass shop to see if he has any ideas.

TDunn said:

I disagree about keeping snow off the cabin house and bow. Letting snow accumulate on the boat will almost guarantee leaks at fittings. Also I find that if snow sits on the house and deck, it will lead to ice and condensation INSIDE the boat that can damage finishes and any fabrics on the boat. I use a simple ridge pole made from 2x4s that is the full length of the boat. It is supported by a post every 12 feet and is high enough to give me a 50 degree pitch so snow slides off the cover.

Click to expand...

I concur. Keeping snow and ice off the entire boat is ideal. Ice will also expand spider cracks in the fiberglass.

That is an impressive structure for winter storage. JackDhas the right idea. You could build your structure with five 2x4’s, two 16footers and three 8 foot supports. You could also use 3” PVC and fittings to dothe same thing. Use string from the frame to the rail for support. The key is the height of your frame above theboat. The higher you go the more pitch you have and snow will not stick. Itdoes add a little wind resistance. You could go with shrink wrap or a 9 miltarp. If you go with the tarp you may want to purchase the punch and eyelet setand add more eye holes to the tarp as needed.
With shrink wrapping becoming more expensive and some topside work I want to do this season I have decided to try the tarp this year. Weeven had several boaters within our marina buy the DIY shrink wrap kits. It cost asmuch as having the boat shrink wrap the first year and drops down to under twohundred the second year since you havethe rose bud torch tip and hose assembly . All you need to buy is the shrink wrap material.
I cover the entire boat and use the propane heater for top side work if needed.


Jeff

This has worked for me buttons under rubrail . we have a a ton of snow every winter.

This works really good .