Winter cover frame from water pipe?

[Tim Good]

I’ve seen people make curved frames from
Flexible water pipe from builders merchants. I’m having the boat ashore soon and the mast down.



Above is a photo of my cover which uses the mast and boom normally so I wanted to make some kind of frame for the cover to sit on and make a nice seat to be resistant to wind and rain.

Any advice or techniques for making a frame like this would be appreciated.

 

[Refueler]

Have you looked in the local camping shop - you can get the tent Carbon Fibre poles that slot together and curve very nicely. Much easier and better than water pipe. Of course it depends on the beam of the boat and how high you want the tent.

The other way of course is to drop mast - lay in Y crutches supported at bow / mid section and transom - at height suitable .. not only do you have a strong ridge to support your cover - but it also protects your mast from the elements ... allows you to even work on the mast / boom / furler under cover.

Just a thought.

 

[Tranona]

I made such a frame several years ago with blue water pipe for the arches, attached to stanchions and a 4" drain pipe for a ridge pole. The arches were continuous going through holes in the drain pipe. Sort of OK, but not all that rigid even with just 8' beam and later iteration used a 3*1 1/2" wooden ridge pole which was much better.

Looking at your cover I think I would aim to keep it - looks a good design and make a wooden ridge pole. Will need quite a bit of support and you might find you need wooden frames to hold its shape as well as a ridge.

 

[Rappey]

I had my mast on wooden supports on top of the boat and used 22mm blue poly pipe cable tied to stanchions and over the top of the mast. Covered the whole lot with a clear reinforced tarp. Was brilliant as it was warm on deck mid winter, like a greenhouse.
Worked well for 7 months

 

[Quandary]

Mine uses hoops of 38mm hdpe (blue) pipe, the hoops run from deck to deck secured with a load of cable ties to the stanchions and to a ridge board made from two pieces of 50 x 25 roof tiling batten. It has a big opening at the stern for climbing aboard and a smaller one at the bow for through ventilation. I try to avoid any wind load damage to the stanchions by arranging the hoops to be long enough to have a bit of tumblehome where they come down to the deck and a cross brace at the mid point. The wooden stanchions that support the ridge board from the deck are inverted tees so they also resist cross wind and two of them have guy ropes to the toerail, all because bent stanchions on an early tent shaped cover which had a big load of half melted snow cost a fortune to replace.
I use white tarps two overlapping at the mast step, plenty of light and surprisingly warm when working aboard, essential to have shock cord where the tarps are fixed ,otherwise eylets or clamps pull though in a few weeks.

 

[Rappey]

essential to have shock cord

I used 2litre milk bottles as weights but as they punctured over the months i filled them with gravel...
Also used 400mm lengths of roofing batton screwed along the edge of the tarp then it takes many many months before it even thinks about ripping when tied

 

[James_Calvert]

Just a tip: if the water pipe is too bendy where you want it straight, try stuffing some bamboo canes into it.

 

[dutyhog]

I removed lifelines and simply pushed blue pipes over the staunchions - a tight fit. That allowed some adjustment of height. The ridge pipes were joined/reinforced with wood. I refitted an old spray hood as well - it was in the way a bit but made a more rigid support than the pipes.

 

[alahol2]

Do it every winter. Definitely use the larger 32mm(?) pipe. You need a ridge pole of some sort cable tied to the 'hoops' to prevent them twisting/collapsing. Hoops cable tied to outside of stanchions.

 

[Tim Good]

As a matter of feedback I took on board the various pieces of advice and constructed my cover frame today. 50mm pipe. It’s all quite rigid now. I plan to just put bungees underneath to allow the cover flex father than strapping it down tight.

I’m a bit disappoint to use plastic in terms of environmental impact but I do plan to make a clear guide so it can be disassembled and then reused for potentially years to come.

Hoping this will stand up to 18 months ashore.

 

[Tranona]

That looks good. Like the low profile. Should withstand winter gales well.

 

[Daydream believer]

May I suggest extra protection over the joints at the stanchions, as movement will quickly wear through the cover over the knuckles. Particularly as there are exposed edges on the "T"s ( as demonstrated in the second picture) & you propose to allow movement in the cover.

 

[Tim Good]

May I suggest extra protection over the joints at the stanchions, as movement will quickly wear through the cover over the knuckles. Particularly as there are exposed edges on the "T"s ( as demonstrated in the second picture) & you propose to allow movement in the cover.

Thanks. Will see what I can find

 

[Daydream believer]

When I refurbished my wooden Stella I finished the work at the end of the season. I put it in my yard & covered it with a large tarp right down past the waterline & hung cast iron sash weights all round to keep the tension .
When i uncovered ready to launch I found that over the winter the cover had rubbed the gloss paint to the clinker on the lands so much that I had to re paint the entire topsides because the wind had made the cover constantly flap slightly against the paintwork

 

[Tim Good]

When I refurbished my wooden Stella I finished the work at the end of the season. I put it in my yard & covered it with a large tarp right down past the waterline & hung cast iron sash weights all round to keep the tension .
When i uncovered ready to launch I found that over the winter the cover had rubbed the gloss paint to the clinker on the lands so much that I had to re paint the entire topsides because the wind had made the cover constantly flap slightly against the paintwork

Oh god I hate it when you take time to protect something and the solution makes the end result worse than if you did nothing. I’ll bare that I mind.

 

[Dknightsx]

I also had my mast on wooden supports on top of the boat and used 22mm blue poly pipe cable tied to stanchions and over the top of the mast.

 

[Quandary]

I would be a little concerned by the flattish gradient of the cover, maybe not a problem any more with increasing temperatures but when I was using a frame of that shape back in 2007-2008 we had snow which melted a bit then froze followed by rain and night frosts resulting in ponding which built up until the weight of slush and ice bent the stanchions. Would not have been a problem if I had been there to shake the cover with a broom so if winter should ever return keep an eye on it.

 

[smithy]

I just went for the all wood version its absolutely solid. It's held on to the stanchion bases and winches with heavy duty cable ties. It takes less than an hour to erect at the end of the season.

 

[Tim Good]

I also had my mast on wooden supports on top of the boat and used 22mm blue poly pipe cable tied to stanchions and over the top of the mast.

Yeah if I had the mast as a backbone it would have been a lot easier for sure.

I just went for the all wood version its absolutely solid. It's held on to the stanchion bases and winches with heavy duty cable ties. It takes less than an hour to erect at the end of the season.View attachment 120509

Would you be happy for me to use this photo and quote you for an article I'm writing?

 

[smithy]

Yeah if I had the mast as a backbone it would have been a lot easier for sure.


Would you be happy for me to use this photo and quote you for an article I'm writing?

No problem