Inflatable RIB Cover Supports

[Jmreim]

Seems trivial but does anyone have a good system for preventing rain from pooling in low areas of a RIB cover? I store my 8.5' AB on the aft portion of my flybridge deck and 2 support poles prop up a nice Sunbrella fitted cover. The poles (perhaps too light?) have plastic mushrooms at the top but they seem to move around a bit over time and inevitably, rain collects in the cover's low spots.

Again, this should be simple - but it hasn't been. Maybe I have the wrong type of poles? Any product suggestions or proven method recommendations would be most appreciated.

Thx -
Jim

 

[ranger58sb]

You might look at the flexible poles used for small tents. Make a bow from one side of the hull to the other...

?

-Chris

 

[C lectric]

Some photos of what you do have may help with the answers.

But a bent flexible pole may improve reliability.

Can you arrange pockets at the tops and the bottoms for the poles to key into?

 

[AlanT]

Seems trivial but does anyone have a good system for preventing rain from pooling in low areas of a RIB cover? I store my 8.5' AB on the aft portion of my flybridge deck and 2 support poles prop up a nice Sunbrella fitted cover. The poles (perhaps too light?) have plastic mushrooms at the top but they seem to move around a bit over time and inevitably, rain collects in the cover's low spots.

Again, this should be simple - but it hasn't been. Maybe I have the wrong type of poles? Any product suggestions or proven method recommendations would be most appreciated.

Thx -
Jim

I had the same problem and made a skeleton frame from 1" Schedule 40 plastic water pipe. I glued some of the fittings but left some unglued so it comes apart and doesn't take up too much space when not in use. It works perfectly. Frame is like a ridge pole tent frame. I had to add a support mid length for my 14' dinghy which may or may not be necessary for a smaller dinghy.

 

[Bmarler]

do you have a way to secure some battens under the cover? like this: https://www.whitehallrow.com/classic-whitehall-spirit-boat-covers-battens-cushions/

 

[AlanT]

I had the same problem and made a skeleton frame from 1" Schedule 40 plastic water pipe. I glued some of the fittings but left some unglued so it comes apart and doesn't take up too much space when not in use. It works perfectly. Frame is like a ridge pole tent frame. I had to add a support mid length for my 14' dinghy which may or may not be necessary for a smaller dinghy.

Further to the above I looked for pictures of the frame I made but have none. So I sketched it for you here: Total cost around $15.

 

[Dougcole]

Do you have anything above the dinghy that you can tie a line to? Like a mast maybe?


Our tender sits under a cover on davits on the swim platform. I tried the supports but they were hard to rig up and didn't work well for our setup. So I used two tarp clips to grab the center of the dinghy cover about 4 feet apart, then ran a light piece of line between them and through a 3' long piece of 3/4" PVC. I tied a line to the center of the PVC "spreader" and tied the other end to the base of the stanchion on the flybridge deck above the cockpit. The setup pulls the center of the cover up from above rather than pushing it up from below. Works great.

 

[Comodave]

Do you have anything above the dinghy that you can tie a line to? Like a mast maybe?


Our tender sits under a cover on davits on the swim platform. I tried the supports but they were hard to rig up and didn't work well for our setup. So I used two tarp clips to grab the center of the dinghy cover about 4 feet apart, then ran a light piece of line between them and through a 3' long piece of 3/4" PVC. I tied a line to the center of the PVC "spreader" and tied the other end to the base of the stanchion on the flybridge deck above the cockpit. The setup pulls the center of the cover up from above rather than pushing it up from below. Works great.

I did a similar thing to a flybridge cover for a previous boat. I sewed a couple of D rings into the top then used a bungee to clip to the bimini frame. Worked great and never fell over or blew over.

 

[Dougcole]

I did a similar thing to a flybridge cover for a previous boat. I sewed a couple of D rings into the top then used a bungee to clip to the bimini frame. Worked great and never fell over or blew over.

Dave flexing on us with his sewing skills, LOL. D rings would be a better way to do it, for sure.



I do notice that where I attach the clips changes based on how i put the cover on. Our cover is hard to put on as I can really only reach one side of it. It is held down on the other side (the aft gunnel of the tender) by dive weights on the cover. So I don't always get it back on in exactly the same spot every time.

 

[Jmreim]

Thx to all for the creative responses.

Unfortunately, I have nothing above the dinghy - it's all the way to port (so no boom above) and it's aft of the Bimini.

The battens are appealing but not sure I can find a simple/convenient way to hold them in place - their pretty cheap so might be worth some experimentation.

Jim

 

[Comodave]

Not so good at sewing anymore, arthritis has taken a toll on my hand strength. So much so that I am actually having the tops made for our boat this time. Week after next they should have some of them done, can’t wait to see them.

 

[AlanT]

Thx to all for the creative responses.

Unfortunately, I have nothing above the dinghy - it's all the way to port (so no boom above) and it's aft of the Bimini.

The battens are appealing but not sure I can find a simple/convenient way to hold them in place - their pretty cheap so might be worth some experimentation.

Jim

Invest $15 in some sched 40 pipe and fittings (per above illustration) and you will be surprised how sturdy it is. Mine hold up a heavy sunbrella canvas cover for a 14' dinghy. Cinching the cover down around the dinghy (I made my cover with bungee running all around the bottom edge) makes the whole set-up rigid (just like a ridge pole tent). We've gone through winds of up to 40kts since I installed without it blowing off or catching water.

 

[Jmreim]

Thx Alan - just to clarify, the end poles & middle bar rest on the RIB floor? So this frame sits inside the dinghy, correct?

 

[AlanT]

Thx Alan - just to clarify, the end poles & middle bar rest on the RIB floor? So this frame sits inside the dinghy, correct?

Yes the frame sits in the dinghy and is held in place by the pressure of the cover acting on it.

My dinghy has a small V shaped seat at the bows and a wide seat at the stern. The frame is grounded on the V seat at the bows (dinghy seat cushions are stored in the mothership). The Center support is grounded on the dinghy sole and the horizontal member of that is at right angles to the fore/aft pole, which provides lateral stability. The aft support is grounded on the aft seat. When I made it i wanted it to fit such that the cover was fairly taut so that there would be no pockets for water to gather. So I made the vertical supports longer than I thought necessary then progressively shortened them until I had the fit that I wanted under the cover. Once it was fitted correctly I used pipe dope to glue both end structures. The ridge pole is not glued so it breaks down pretty small for storage.

On my installation my cover has to accommodate a helm with a perspex windshield, so the ridge pole had to be situated high enough to peak above that windshield to avoid dips that would collect water.

The verticals at each end are spaced so that they are as wide as the dinghy will allow, this prevents them from moving laterally.

You may not need a center support for a smaller dinghy, experimentation will prove that one way or the other.

I will be on the boat in a week or so and can take a picture for you if needed.

~A

 

[Jmreim]

if you think of it when on the boat, I'd welcome some images showing how it sits/fits in the dinghy.
Thx again for taking the time to explain it to me -

 

[AlanT]

if you think of it when on the boat, I'd welcome some images showing how it sits/fits in the dinghy.
Thx again for taking the time to explain it to me -

Will do, you're welcome.
~A

 

[Jmreim]

forgot to ask what diameter pvc you used . . .

 

[AlanT]

forgot to ask what diameter pvc you used . . .

I used 1" and schedule 40 which is the heavier more solid grade. Not the lightweight stuff they use for yard sprinklers.

 

[Jmreim]

Thx - I have just a 5’ span. Might try ¾” sched 40

 

[Scottwb96]

velcro or a simple snap on the inside should hold the pole in place...

 

[Mischief Managed]

Outside the box idea: a couple of ball fenders might do the trick.

 

[Delta4242]

I have found that installing a couple of grommets where the poles hit the canvas work well.
The ends of the poles poke through just enough to keep them from moving around. Keep the ends only 1/2" thru to keep the wildlife from sitting on them!!

 

[Mark Myns]

I got tired of the poles falling down and instead took some of my old extra fenders, laid them on the seats and it worked fine. I thought about partially inflated beach balls also. They can not be fully inflated or they won't stay.

 

[gwbullis]

My "Little Project Girl" made a great cover for our Highfield 310 as it hangs from the davits I designed using Steve Cyr's Stella Blue davit project. The cover has 3 slots in the top that I feed a 6 foot pvc pipe thru. Paracord is run thru the PVC pipe with clips on each end that connect to the D rings on the davit straps that hold the cover up like a tent top.
Sorry no pics - I tried.

 

[raised kk36]

Beach ball. Working for me for 40 years.

 

[Kintala]

Two ideas have recently come up on another forum I’m in. One is to use several of the sturdier pool noodles bent in a U and secured to the seats, the other is to use the large inflatable exercise balls on top of he seats under the cover. We are currently using one under our cover on the hard and it seems to be working well. The advantage is that it’s easy to uninflate and store.

 

[koliver]

Seems trivial but does anyone have a good system for preventing rain from pooling in low areas of a RIB cover? I store my 8.5' AB on the aft portion of my flybridge deck and 2 support poles prop up a nice Sunbrella fitted cover. The poles (perhaps too light?) have plastic mushrooms at the top but they seem to move around a bit over time and inevitably, rain collects in the cover's low spots.

Again, this should be simple - but it hasn't been. Maybe I have the wrong type of poles? Any product suggestions or proven method recommendations would be most appreciated.

Thx -
Jim

My dinghy cover fits over the dinghy while it is hanging on the transom mounted davits, or, as this winter, while it sits on a trailer in the back yard. The cover rests on the grab bar that forms the high point of the console, and covers to the rubber strip that circumscribes the tubes, at about their midpoint. I sewed a pair of straps that pass beneath the dinghy and pull the whole top area taut. The outboard strap hangs into the water when I am installing the cover, so a boathook is used to capture it and pull it to its fastener on a short bit of strapping on the near side. The aft end of the cover is just ahead of the outboard, which remains uncovered, and teh last bits that cover the last foot or so of the tubes are strapped together behind the outboard. No pooling of water so far.

 

[AlanT]

if you think of it when on the boat, I'd welcome some images showing how it sits/fits in the dinghy.
Thx again for taking the time to explain it to me -

Here are a couple of pix of the structure made to support the dinghy cover and eliminate sags which can collect water. Try not to look at the crane which is prepped for paint!