Covering aft deck?

[bowball]

My overhang only covers about a third or half of my afterdeck. I’m in the PNW, so sun and rain avoidance is nice, though I have a covered flybridge.

I’ve been considering covering it more, either through a hardtop extension of the existing fiberglass(very pricey). A few weekends ago I was staying on a friends boat, and for the warmer Florida climate he had installed an extended mesh covering, but it could just as easily have been waterproof material (maybe not where it was attached though which seems like it would leak). It was removable and relatively far less expensive.

What have others done, if anything? In the PNW. Or just enjoy the weather!

 

[SteveK]

I forget what boat you have.
Do you need or want an enclosed area there, the area seems small to enclose.

 

[bowball]

I forget what boat you have.
Do you need or want an enclosed area there, the area seems small to enclose.

It’s 55’ so big enough area to sit as I like being on the aft deck. I try to avoid sun and rain.

The hard top option doesn’t extend as far, as photo below shows. (One advantage though is I could reorient my tender like they have). The canvas besides being cheaper would provide more coverage and be removable.

I guess fishing would be harder

Here’s a 55’ with the hardtop option. Photo makes aft deck look bigger than it really is!

 

[Comodave]

You could easily put an aluminum keder rail on the bottom of the rear of the hardtop to attach the canvas to. Then rod holders in the coaming on the transom and angle them aft and outboard. A couple of S/S poles to fit into the rod holders with a pulley and a jam cleat to secure the lines. If you use Stamoid it is waterproof. It comes in 2 thicknesses. The thinner one in white will allow a lot of light through it but may not stand up to winds as well as the thicker. We are having our canvas done on our boat and using the thicker Stamoid in gray.

 

[Bmarler]

for some reason, here in the pnw, stamoid isn't nearly as popular as fabrics like sunbrella. i have limited experience with stamoid, but i think it's a great fabric for stuff like that. like dave says, it's rain proof, and will let light through, but will provide sun protection too.
i'm all about having shade in the summer, i think a cover like that is a great idea. the hard part these days is finding a good canvas fabricator to do it.

 

[mvweebles]

I looked closely at the sister-ship picture with extended hardtop. Appears to show original length plus the extended length. Nice.

Willard 36 sedans were built both with a short aft-deck and an extended one. Mine was short and had a 1-inch stainless 'hoop' that followed the transom curve, with two 1" support posts. A stamoid cover was laced tight onto the hoop similar to how t-tops are done on center consoles. Fabric wraps over the frame and is laced underneath so there is no gap between the frame and the fabric. Forward edge was fastened to fiberglass hardtop via awning track and bolt-rope on stamoid. Lasted a long time and was relatively waterproof, though some leaking through the thread-holes.

I recently had the hardtop extended in fiberglass and it looks factory original. It was fairly expensive to do, but its nice to be able to walk-around the aft part of the hardtop which obviously I could not do with stamoid top

Good luck

Peter

 

[bowball]

Thanks Everyone.

Peter, yes you can see where it was extended. It obviously won’t cover the entire aft deck though which canvas would. If would allow me to reorient my tender to the way this sister ship has done. Right now, my tender is perpendicular to the length of the boat. And the canvas extension is many multiples less of the cost of extending the hardtop (especially as I may be switching boats in a year or two). And can’t be temporarily removed easily.

Decisions.

 

[guy with a boat]

I would talk to a canvas guy and discuss options for an extension in some appropriate fabric (Stamoid or other). Done right, it will look like it belongs there and make the space shaded from sun and rain. Maybe when that needs replacement you can consider spending 10x to do it in a hard cover, but I doubt that you will want to.

One of the possible outcomes is that you may decide that you want to allow better fishing access by shortening the coverage or making a convertible section. Much easier to have these options in a soft cover than if done in fiberglas.

 

[trihartsfield]

What about something like this that you could add to the cover that is already over the aft deck. You could consider getting one that has supports also and figure a way to attach them to the railing.

https://newatlas.com/outdoors/fast-nomad-car-camping-awning/

 

[bowball]

What about something like this that you could add to the cover that is already over the aft deck. You could consider getting one that has supports also and figure a way to attach them to the railing.

https://newatlas.com/outdoors/fast-nomad-car-camping-awning/

Thanks, but I want it to look more “factory” installed.

 

[kapnd]

[QUOTE=mvweebles;108698
Willard 36 sedans were built both with a short aft-deck and an extended one. Mine was short and had a 1-inch stainless 'hoop' that followed the transom curve, with two 1" support posts. A stamoid cover was laced tight onto the hoop similar to how t-tops are done on center consoles. Fabric wraps over the frame and is laced underneath so there is no gap between the frame and the fabric. Forward edge was fastened to fiberglass hardtop via awning track and bolt-rope on stamoid. Lasted a long time and was relatively waterproof, though some leaking through the thread-holes.

Wrapping the fabric around the tubing looks clean, but provides an excellent environment for corrosion between the fabric and the tubing, especially on vessels that spend a lot of time far from fresh water wash facilities.

 

[mvweebles]

Wrapping the fabric around the tubing looks clean, but provides an excellent environment for corrosion between the fabric and the tubing, especially on vessels that spend a lot of time far from fresh water wash facilities.

I see your point, but in my case, didnt happen that way - was nice and clean after 30-years.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

My prior owner extended the upper deck over the cockpit, probably as part of a restoration of bad upper teak. It is very well done and one of the big selling points for us. It has 1.5" stainless support posts, a railing around the top deck, a ladder hatch that seals off the cockpit if it's raining, and rain gutters around the edges.

It does make fishing from the cockpit a challenge, but the trade off is a "sun porch" on the aft deck when it is raining. In fact, with the "canvas" rolled down it can get really warm from the sun even in the winter. It isn't really canvas, it's all vinyl coated polyester, kind of like an inflatable dinghy. The old Sunbrella was rotted and the windows cracked, but still in good enough shape to use as templates.

It makes a nice place for cocktails when it's a little too windy to sit outside. We sometimes take showers back there (no need for all that moisture inside). I have no idea what the prior owner paid for all of this, but it easily added a lot of value for us when we were looking for a year-round PNW boat.

 

[Miz Trom]

You might also consider these pros, a stunning and much longer-lasting alternative to fabric coverings...


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Best Regards,
Mrs. Trombley