Recommendations for boat covers for winter storage?

[Seachelle]

Hi, folks! I've got a Com-pac Legacy who needs a winter coat!    Can anyone recommend boat cover solutions — aside from buying just a plain ol' tarp? I've read it's best to have a breathable material to snuggle the boat into. At this point, it's too late to order anything custom (I'd assume), so if anyone has any ideas on something that's OTC/ready to go — I'd be so appreciative! I did a search online for sailboat covers, but didn't find anything that piqued my interest and sealed the deal. Many thanks in advance for your suggestions and feedback!

Cheers,
~ Chelle and SV Sunny
https://sailawaywithchelle.wordpress.com/

[Cpy23ecl]

While a fitted custom cover is a lot nicer, I've used plastic tarps over 15 years on a couple of my boats and had no problems with them.  I made a frame of 1.5" pvc drain pipe along the sides and center and then 3/4" pvc pipe for cross pieces that fit into holes I drilled into the 1.5" pipe.  I used pvc T's in order to fit the side rails over the stanchions and places where I wanted vertical support posts.  That also allowed me to keep the long rails in short pieces for storage over the summer months.  The cross pieces were cut just a little bit long so that they had a little bit of upward bow to them when fitted in place.

The plastic tarp went over the frame and any large "flaps" of tarp left hanging were folded flat against the boat and duct taped to the parts of the tarp that fit fairly tight against the frame and boat.  Usually got 3 years of service out of the tarps.  I left the tarp open (that is the ends not pulled together and fastened together) at the bow and stern to provided lots of ventilation.

That said, at this point in my life I would just have someone shrink wrap the boat.  My last large boat was 32' with a 12' beam and it cost me about $400 (about 10 years ago) to have it shrink wrapped each year. 

Another option if you have the space is one of the car shelter tents or a steel car port.  A neighbor has a Shelter Logic tent that he's had for a number of years already it it still appears to be in good condition.

Fred

[Renae]

If at all possible for you, canvas is much more environmentally-friendly than shrink wrapping and/or plastic tarping.  Almost none of those materials are ever recycled.

[Seachelle]

Thank you so very much, Fred and Renae, for your suggestions and the info!

Fred, that PVC frame sounds great!!! I think we will give that a whirl!!!

Renae, yes, I agree with you re: the canvas — I'll see what I can find in that material. :-)

All the best,
~ Chelle and SV Sunny
https://sailawaywithchelle.wordpress.com/

[Cpy23ecl]

I'm sure you're right that most places don't recycle shrink wrap.  Fortunately the guy that I used did.  Probably not true today since the recycling center in my area doesn't accept nearly the number of items that it did a couple years ago.

Fred

[Sunny Day]

Sadly, even though the plastic goes into the recycle bin, more than 70% of plastic sent to recycle centers in the US ends up in landfills.

It is just too cheap to make more.

[Seachelle]

Hi, folks! I ended up just buying a heavy tarp - scroll down to the bottom of this linked webage to see the tarp on my boat, Sunny: https://sailawaywithchelle.wordpress.com/2021/10/19/the-pillow-fort-storm/.

I check the tarp every day and adjust things if the lines stretch too loose. We get a lot of good wind 'round these parts, and so far, knock on wood, the tarp is holding up. The tell-all will be when the snow starts to fall. I plan to keep on top of making sure that the snow is brushed off to prevent additional strain on the tarp/its grommets. I'll see how long it lasts, but I am hoping I'll get several years of use out of it.

Thanks, again, to all for their suggestions! So appreciative!

~ Chelle
SV Sunflower (Sunny) | 2021 Com-pac Legacy
https://sailawaywithchelle.wordpress.com/

[Cpy23ecl]

A leaf blower makes short work of blowing snow off of tarps as long as it isn't heavy, wet snow.  I use my leaf blower all winter to blow the snow off the tarps I use to cover my firewood.

Fred