Topside covers - just topsides. Anyone done it?

[DDW]

A whole boat cover no doubt gives the best protection but is quite an undertaking, and on my boat would require a structure as well. What I really want to protect from UV is the dark gelcoat topsides. The white deck and house are much more forgiving. So I'm thinking a skirt that just goes from the rail to the waterline (would be used only blocked on land). A lot less cloth, a lot easier to go on and off. We are commuter cruisers, boat gets splashed and cruised for 2 - 6 months each season, then stored on the hard.

Wondering if this is a crazy idea or if anyone has done it.

 

[MVCalypso]

I've not done it personally (my topsides are white) but friends have a classic wooden sail boat with black topsides. They use white covers just as you describe (they sorta remind me of chaps on a dingy) that hang from the cap rail to just above the water. Their covers are used in the slip and they claim they're critical to keep the sun from baking the topsides and drying out the wood. BTW, they are in San Francisco Bay and see the benefits.

 

[DDW]

That's just what I was thinking. Where my boat is stored, the port side is south and there is a big difference between north and south side maintenance. Really you want it stored on a rotisserie so there is UV wear leveling.

 

[SIBERNUT]

A related anecdote - i owned a 66 Egg Harbor sedan. It had lite blue decks. I painted them tan, and the siege began. Seagulls dropping clams. When one finally went thru a hatch, i gave up. Painted them lite blue again, end of problem

 

[Comodave]

When we lived in Tucson I kept my center console covered completely when not in use. I made covers out of Cadet Gray Sunbrella. The gray was light enough not to make a lot of heat inside but not white which would be almost impossible to keep clean. It was some work to put the covers on and off but it kept my boat looking new and in Tucson the sun eats up everything.

 

[BruceK]

A related anecdote - i owned a 66 Egg Harbor sedan. It had lite blue decks. I painted them tan, and the siege began. Seagulls dropping clams. When one finally went thru a hatch, i gave up. Painted them lite blue again, end of problem

Apologies for extending the anecdote; we parked a VW Passat beside a multi story hospital building, its flat roof covered with small white quartz stones. The ravens think they`re eggs, and drop them to open to eat. Windscreen looked like it got a rifle shot! Replaced no excess under insurance, better than damaged panels, but a PITA.

 

[Jeff F]

It doesn't sound crazy to me. They'd be manageable to handle and install.

Have you considered having the entire boat shrink wrapped? The wrap can be brought down to the WL to protect the topsides.

 

[Phil Fill]

We have the stern aera and Portuguese bridge and pilot house area covered with clear canvas. The stern makes another year around living area.

The large bow deck during the winter is covered with heave white tarp and supported by 1 1/2 inch plastic tubing held together with duct tape. The duct tape allows give away in the wind. The tarp is held down with bengy cords ro allow give.

Many times in a strang wind storm the tarp will lay down or flatten, but the deck is still cover. After we get under the tarp and straight black up.

The roof of the salon is also cover with a white heavy tarp using the boom to support the tarp and again bengy cords. So 80% of you 58 ft is covered.

We use Tarp Grappers on the tarp to connect the bengy cords. 20+ years with no failures.

 

[DDW]

Shrink wrap here is around a $2000 - $2500 proposition, redone each year. Not economical. Box Store tarps also don't seem to stay on - 60 mph wind not uncommon, and I'm not there to maintain. I've thought about have a boat painted all over in Faux seagull droppings. "It won't show the dirt".

I've continued to scope this idea, and I think I may try it. First with a skirt that goes from shear to WL. I can then add a cover over the top down to this one, maybe in the future. That would make it 3 or 4 piece, easier to wrestle.

 

[Phil Fill]

We go south with the motor home in the winter so we are not around for months at a time. Our son and great grandchild visit the boat a couple of times per month. Buy a thick tarp, not the cheap blue tarps. They last 2 to 3 years. The tarp grapes hold the tarp and also last 2 to 3 years

This winter we will replace the current tarp after 3 years

 

[Jeff F]

I had a custom cover made for my 34. Three pieces that zipped together. It was great, and covered the topsides.

The problem I had was mostly in storing the frame and cover in the off season. I could (barely) put it on myself, but it took some effort.

Now I do my own shrink wrapping. You can get set up for $1k. It's not particularly challenging, and doesn't require permanent framing. The only thing that bothers me is the plastic waste.

Around my area it's very common for winter storage, and crews come in and do dozens of boats at a time. I think it's typically about US$20/ft.

 

[Tjohn]

I modified a $250 tarp garage frame, extending all the poles using scrap tubes and abs pipe. The tarps last a few years and everything is tied to boat so they don't blow away. Nothing touches boat except lines, and I have good access to everything. Going on 15 years now.

 

[DDW]

$20/ft would make shrink wrap attractive. I can't find anyone here anywhere near that price.

 

[CharlieO.]

$20/ft would make shrink wrap attractive. I can't find anyone here anywhere near that price.

We've been paying $25 a foot.

 

[DDW]

While those prices are nice, it is very expensive to truck my boat across the country to have it shrink wrapped. In this area (PNW), that is a dream.

 

[Jeff F]

Material costs to shrink wrap a 40' boat is less than $300, and my experience is that it's no more difficult to do than installing a fitted cover over a fixed frame.

Invest a few hundred dollars in a basic DIY kit and try it out.

 

[DDW]

I may do just that. Hard to get anyone around here even to show up, and then often they want a King's wages for very substandard work. Typical boatyard rate is $150/hr, for an employee they are paying minimum wage.

 

[SIBERNUT]

If the boat is not huge or complicated, id have it done 1 year then carefully remove it & use next year. The wide tape they use could reattach a severed limb.