Support for a Boat Cover or Tarp

[Catigale]

I use 10 foot 3/4 inch Schedule 40 supply line for the bows and bow them over the mast to keep the weight off. I also put a lumber crutch under the mast at the mast step to support it. Ive done it for three winters now and am still amazed the PVC doesnt snap.

I attach the PVC to the stanchions with sailties

[kmclemore]

I use 10 foot 3/4 inch Schedule 40 supply line for the bows and bow them over the mast to keep the weight off.

Well, I just hobbled out to the garage to see what I had used and it was indeed 3/4" white schedule-40 PVC "drinking water" pipe.

I guess I must be a gorilla or something... or maybe I tried to bend it when it was too cold outside (August!)? But, trust me folks, that baby shattered like glass, and in the process I almost got smacked off the boat by the flying pipe... it would have been a rather nasty fall to our gravel driveway, and - even worse - would have left me having to add my name to that embarrasing 'Have you fallen off your boat' thread, too!

Hmmm..... I think I'll have a go with the electrical conduit.. if I recall that stuff is a little more rubbery than PVC.

[KEVIN'S OWN]

Do you have to remove the boom and step the mast for the winter? We pulled out boat out 2 weeks ago and it is being stored in a marina yard across a road from the water. Kevin was planning on leaving the mast up and only putting a tarp over the cockpit, my thought (his better half) was to bring everything down and cover the entire boat. Any recommendations?

[kmclemore]

I'd cover the whole boat, but then that's just my opinion and others probably differ. My thought is that the only way I can guarantee a mildew-free boat is to keep it very, very dry, and around where I live that's to tarp the whole thing.

[Frank C]

Agree with Kevin, but you can cover most of the boat with mast up ... mine is stored that way ... just can't quite consider it "fully tarped." I use a 9x12 tarp as the boom tent, right over the flaked mainsail ... tarps the leak-prone area, but leaves the aft cockpit exposed. I like to cow-hitch a dockline around the mast, tie-off the end to my split backstay. This keeps the tarp above the sail and provides enough headspace to scoot forward on deck - ball bungees at 4 corners hold it to lifelines or stanchions.

I lead the same kind of dockline from mast to the pulpit as a ridge line for a smaller tarp. I cut a cheapo plastic tarp into a rough pie-shape, otherwise it drapes the entire freeboard right down to the trailer. My ultimate solution will be asking the bimini-boys to create a nicely bow-shaped tent for the foredeck, plus their boom tent for the cockpit. I think the same pieces would serve as shade covers while anchored.

Big advantages of using two tarps ... lighter handling, easier to fold 'n stow one at a time.

[Catigale]

I bring the mast down and cover the whole boat with a single tarp - the cockpit area stays open so that I can get onboard in winter if needed

Its about a one hour job to get the tarp up and set.

[Don n Cheri]

I cover the whole boat with the mast down. I built the frame from schedule 40 PVC pipe but installed “T “ joints in the main (1 inch) pipe that runs along the mast. In the other side of the "T" I added step downs to ¾ inch for the "arms" that bend down to the stanchions. Tried just using ¾ pipe without the “T” joints and it cracked, with the “T” joints the pipe seemed happy, so I was too.

I attach the arms to the top and bottom of the stanchion with plastic cable ties and support the main pipe with white sewer pipe. The sewer pipe has a hole bored in the end so the PVC just passes thru the top and is attached to the Bow cleats. The center sewer pipe attaches to the mast tabernacle using a longer version of the mast support mod (I learned about on this board). The aft end has longer arms which attach at the same place the lifelines do and the 1 inch pipe is tide to the mast to keep it from moving about.

Last year I didn't glue the PVC together just pushed it in tight so it would be easy to take apart in the spring. I did come out one morning to find a sagging section of tarp where one of the arms came out of the "T". Pushed it back in and stayed together all winter. This time I’m arguing with myself over using PVC cement or not.

This worked well for last winter, the snow slid off and the rain didn’t have a place to puddle.

don

[K9Kampers]

Don,

I'm looking at fabricating a PVC frame like these described here, but instead of cementing the pipe / fittings, I'm going to thru bolt with flush head 1/4-20 bolts - easy to assemble, repair & store.

[pokerrick1]

SNOW

Rick

[kmclemore]

Don,

I'm looking at fabricating a PVC frame like these described here, but instead of cementing the pipe / fittings, I'm going to thru bolt with flush head 1/4-20 bolts - easy to assemble, repair & store.

Careful about thru-bolting - you'll weaken the pipe and when bent this stuff is fragile enough! I've had it shatter on me already.

SNOW

Rick

[Steve]

I'm winterizing my X right now and was wondering where I might look for a good tarp. Last season I had the cheap blue Walmart tarp and it sucked. I'd like to set up a cage as described here, but what size and type of tarp does everyone suggest? Thanks!

Steve

[Frank C]

I'm winterizing my X right now and was wondering where I might look for a good tarp. Last season I had the cheap blue Walmart tarp and it sucked. I'd like to set up a cage as described here, but what size and type of tarp does everyone suggest?

Costco sells a medium-duty tarp 2-pak, 12x16', less than $20.
Discussed a year ago as follows:

- long term maintenance of the gelcoat. When mine was less than a year old I had an auto-detailer fully clean and wax it at a cost of $10/ft ... ergo, 260 bucks. However, his advice was that you simply cannot protect a boat or RV from ultraviolet radiation using just a chemical coating. It simply MUST be stored under-cover.

I took his advice for the first three years in mast-up storage. I kept it covered with two silverized Costco tarps, and the black stripe looked brandy-new for that entire time - drawing compliments at every ramp! (Remember that the boat sits under the tarps for 90% of the year). Here at latitude 38, my tarps tend to expire after two years. It would be much worse in the sun belt, and the northern climes would have less UV but greater problems with cold, wind and snow.

Anyway, the real issue with tarps - they're a giant PitA. In the best case, they're removed/folded on Saturday morning, then retarped on Sunday evening. Each transaction takes 20 minutes of hard work. After 3 years I grew weary of the exercise. Six months later, my black stripe had turned weathered gray! I hate that, but have not yet reformed.

I believe the real answer is to make or buy a genuine Sunbrella cover, over "covered wagon" hoops. Mark does this for winter using PVC, and I experimented with fiberglass tent poles and the plastic tarp - but they'd need be inserted into "sewn pockets" to make it manageable, secure and effective. I would definitely want a two-part cover so it can be used either mast-up, or mast-down. If custom-cut to the sizes required to just cover the bow, then that one would be very easy to handle. The aft cover would be bigger, but still not so big as my Costco tarp (12x16). This is on the "someday list."

[Andy26M]

I stole my winter cover plan from an article in "Good Old Boat" magazine:

I go to Home Depot and get 3 bundles of 1"x3"x8' spruce strapping, some 2.25" and 3" exterior coarse-thread screws, a few rolls of foam foundation seal, and some duct tape.

First, cut uprights for each of the vertical stanchions that will stand outside the stanchions on the hull. Cut short lengths of the foam foundation seal and wrap the bottoms of the uprights so they will not mark the hull. Then use more foam foundation seal to wrap around the uprights and the stanchions and tape them in place securely with the duct tape. The idea is to insulate the boat and fittings from chafing, scratching, and sticky tape residue by using the foam foundation seal and tape.

Once you have the uprights in place, put up horizontal rails by screwing more spruce strapping between the uprights. These rails will be outboard of your wire lifelines. They will be the attachment points for your ribs, and will also hold the tarp out a bit so it does not chafe your windows.

Next make an upside-down "T" support to sit in the cockpit. This will support your ridgepole and should be about 8" higher than the mast.

Then make a short support to sit on the bow (I put it right on the foot of the stainless steel bow roller bracket); this will hold the front of the ridgepole and needs only to be about an inch above the mast.

The ridgepole is made by "laminating" 2 layers of the strapping together - overlap the lengths by 4' and screw them together every 2 feet or so. The result is a very strong but very flexible ridge pole the same length as the mast.

Maneuver the ridgepole in place and screw it to the top of your 2 vertical supports. Then build a little "A" frame about midships to hold it up while you put in the ribs. If necessary, steady it in the middle with lines until you get a few ribs in place to really hold it. Use faom under the "A" frame to keep the deck from getting scratched. The ribs are custom measured and cut because the ridgepole is not quite centered (your vertiacl supports are beside the mast).

Add ribs corresponding to the stanchions by screwing lengths of the spruce between the side rails and the ridge pole.

You need the aft portion on the port side to extend a little past the rearmost stanchion on that side in order to be able to open the helm seat.

Once all your ribs are in place, you can add more support between the longer runs with some of the left-over strapping wood.

Finally, use more of the foam and duct tape to wrap all of the corners and joints - this will preserve your tarp.

My boat weathered two horrendous storms and numerous smaller nor-easters in a very exposed location in RI last year with very good results. In at least 2 instances the winds were over 50 mph and I did not lose the tarp.

The whole thing goes up in one to two days and comes down in about an hour with a rechargeable drill to take all the screws out. You can mark the pieces for use next year, or use them as a nice stack of kindling wood...

I'll try and post some pictures.

- Andy26M

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

Kevin,

There is a really simple solution I used for years on my X. Simply slack the lifelines. I replaced the ring ding shackle connection at the mid pulpit (aft end of the forward lines) with a key pin shackle. You can slack both sides in seconds. Now tarp the boat and you will have enough clear downward slope that no water will puddle. (As a bonus, slack the lifelines before you lower the mast and you can put the mast in the trailering position at the bow pulpit without needing to get the spreaders under the lifelines. This makes mast raising and lowering quick and easy.)

Incidently, this year I have switched to an even better system. We had a couple of those pole and tarp garages hanging around from some previous vehicle protection. I took a few extra leg sections from one and added it to the other making the garage (boathouse) 3 sections high instead of 2. This allows the X to be backed right in. We have the full sides and they protect the boat down to mid - hull. The unit is a 10x20. I set it up so the front wall will zip tight across the bow pulpit. The aft wall tents out at a nice steep slope covering the cockpit where it extends past the frame at the back. The whole thing is well roped and staked down.

It's great to just back the boat in and have it protected. It came through our 100 year rain storm this month with flying colors. I've got it along one of our fence lines and it has room for not only the X but also our 18'6" kayak and our wind surfer. I keep a ladder inside at the bow so it's easy to just duck inside and climb right up on a dry protected deck. Being able to walk around on the boat in any weather is a big improvement from the tarp I used for years. It stays well protected but still has great ventilation as well.

[Divecoz]

Lets then, take Parrotheads frame one more step . As I like his best so far. If after you set the frame up, you heat those pipes /tubes with a heat gun or a huge Hairdryer, when the pipes cool they will maintain their shape . You'll have 3 4 5 Half Hoops to store in the corner of the garage ready for next year. They make a specialized unit for this that we use at work . But in a pinch you just make do. Thanks Parrothead I do like the looks of yours.