Tarpaulin cover?

[rogerroger]

I trotted down to the boat yard where my boat's ashore yesterday with a couple of recently purchased tarps from B&Q to wrap my baby up for the winter.

However, when I got down there I didn't see a single boat covered this way. Being a sheep and not wanting to risk ridicule from some salty sea dog I left the tarps in the car.

Why aren't boats covered ? I know there's the wind to consider so I was going to tie them down securely. Should I just go ahead and do it anyway!!

Cheers


Roger Holden
www.first-magnitude.co.uk

 

[Guest]

Course you should ,the amount of muck that builds up .Plastic milk bottles are realy good as wieghts to hold them down.
Mick

 

[Guest]

Course you should ,the amount of muck that builds up .Plastic milk bottles are realy good as weights to hold them down.
Mick

 

[Guest]

Is it me or is there an echo in here<s>

 

[rlw]

Definately recommended ! Less cleaning work in the summer.
The weak spot of the DIY tarps are the rings. Make shure they can't flap in the wind or the might not last long.

I punched extra rings in mine to spread the load.

Rob

 

[dick_james]

Do it! I bought a heavy duty white one last year (mail order from boat mags) don't know why I didn't do it years ago. Keeps the boat dry and clean. Leave gaps at each end for air circulation. The white ones also let enough light in to work inside (on a sunny day) and being quite thick, it doesn't flap around too much.

 

[pandroid]

Most people are simply lazy, and boats are made to be left out. Do it, but a couple of things to watch for are:
a) Water can pool in the tarp if its not supported very well (i.e. by the boom or a wooden structure) I once spent 2 hours bailing out the cockpit and I'm surprised the boat didnt tip over with the weight of water held by the cover.
b) Try and get the tying rings below the waterline or held away from the boat by a line round the cradle. When the cover flaps (which believe me it will - go and see you boat in a gale) the rings can rub against the topside and mark the glassfibre

 

[tony_brighton]

Saw an excellent solution for a boat in the water up the Medina River - had sandbags pulling the edges down. They just hovered above the water by half an inch so wave action keeps them damp and heavy.

 

[chrisc]

interestingly there is a part of my contract with boat yard
that specifically forbids fixing the tarpaulin to the cradle /
support. Apparently this has caused the toppling over of
boats when the tarps have got loose and exerted all its
spinnaker like forces on the cradle.
Best reason for putting tarpaulin on is to allow one to open
a couple of hatches a little and ventilate boat.,so the tarp should
always have some air flow between it and boat.
this seems to be common practise in Scandinavia but not in UK.
never use heater on boat in winter either,just encourages mould.
maybe it's a climate thing .

 

[roger]

Certainly covering the boat is a good idea.
1. It keeps the boat dryer
2. You can work on the boat in the rain in less discomfort - if the cover is white you have more light.
It keeps the dead leaves out.
Some authorities require the tarp is secured by rope right round the boat - not to the cradle and never to the props.
Tarps wear on sharp bits of boat or wooden supports so use padding.