[Rhodes22-list] Boat Covers - Art, Robert, Ron

[Robert Skinner]

DCLewis1 at aol.com wrote:
> ...
> Robert,
> I’m trying to sort out what you’ve done, it looks like an extended ridge
> line.  Am I correct?

Yes - PVC supported at several points by vertical 
posts with an inverted "T" at the bottom.  Some 
joints are glued, others not, so as to make setup 
and storage easy.  Smooth and straight ridgepole
and adequate pitch are the keey design elements.

> You have to strike your mast and remove your furler for it to work?   We didn’
> t strike our mast this past winter, and I’m not sure we will want to,  unless
> we have to, or there’s a problem.  That might be an issue.

While I choose to strike the mast, since I trailer 
my boats, the design could be modified to work with 
a mast stepped.  In that case, the tarp would have 
to be cut (probably on the side) and the ridgepole 
sloped away from the mast to allow edges of the 
tarp to be overlapped.  The tarp would also have to 
be reinforced where it passed around the mast.

However, leaving the mast in place defeats my 
objective if denying ANY point of access for water.  
Moreover, unless a tarp can be used as is, without 
cuts or reinforcement, it probably makes more sense 
to use sunbrella.

> What kind of tarp do you use?  Do you secure the tarp to the boat or  just
> weight it?

I use an off the shelf riber-reinforced green tarp 
- one step above the cheap blues.  As the boat is 
on a trailer, I secure the tarp to the trailer with 
a lot of bungee cords.  

I am happy to report that my arrangement just came 
through a two day nor'easter packing snow, rain, 
and local winds ranging from 40 to 60 mph.  The frame 
and tarp are still in place, and a preliminary check 
indicates that the boat is dry.

When the attachment issues are cured on the list (or
on my machine) I will resend the PDF with drawing to
the whole list.

Hope this helps,
/robert