Boat Covers

[bigheaded5]

I have a 17 V hull run about O/B that I cover with a blue tarp...doesnt look very good in my yard but it does keep it dry and clean. Im looking for a fitted cover, dont want to spend over $100 and want it to last more than ONE season and keep the boat DRY.... is there such a thing? reviews for many say they leak..... am i better off with a tarp?

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Boat Covers

you have conflicting requirements due to price limits.

what works best depends on conditions; a tarp is not closed (fitted) which allows some intrusion but also allows air to circulate. They don't last in windy conditions, and look bad (and can be loud in the wind, too).

fitted covers eventually leak and wear out, and cost more. A good one traps moisture, often a bigger problem than the weather.

covering a boat for heavy snow/ice conditions is a very different exercise than covering for leaves, dirt, sun and security.

when I used to cover a boat, since it had a fiberglass deck, I didn't care if the tarp leaked since the water drained out. Only had occasional snow. I used fitted covers but they wore out at the pressure points (I got an awning company to sew in reinforcements, too).

When you order a fitted cover, 80% of the time it won't fit. Unless you can get one you know fits (post your boat specs) you will return them. So buy local.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Boat Covers

You'll need to cover that cheap cover with a tarp if you want it to last more than a year and not leak.

 

[acarter92]

Re: Boat Covers

I have a 17 V hull run about O/B that I cover with a blue tarp...doesnt look very good in my yard but it does keep it dry and clean. Im looking for a fitted cover, dont want to spend over $100 and want it to last more than ONE season and keep the boat DRY.... is there such a thing? reviews for many say they leak..... am i better off with a tarp?

As said above, your not going to get anything too good for $100 bucks. Most of the custom/ fitted covers last pretty long, but start to leak pretty early in their life....

My boat came with a "custom" cover that fits awesome, I use it for long drives and it keeps the dirt out, but it's nowhere near waterproof.... I leave my boat in a carport in the summer so the cover works good to keep leaves and dirt out, in the winter I kick the boat outside and put a tarp over the "custom" cover. The custom cover is a support for the tarp, boat is always dry and clean...

Austin

 

[ssobol]

Re: Boat Covers

As said above, your not going to get anything too good for $100 bucks. Most of the custom/ fitted covers last pretty long, but start to leak pretty early in their life....

My boat came with a "custom" cover that fits awesome, I use it for long drives and it keeps the dirt out, but it's nowhere near waterproof.... I leave my boat in a carport in the summer so the cover works good to keep leaves and dirt out, in the winter I kick the boat outside and put a tarp over the "custom" cover. The custom cover is a support for the tarp, boat is always dry and clean...

Austin

I use heavy duty tarps (not the blue ones) from Home Depot or Tractor Supply to cover my 16' RIB. With an hour or so of work I can tailor the tarp to fit the boat better and add extra grommets for better attachment. These tarps tend to last about a year before breaking down at the pressure points due to UV damage. I've recently added a second smaller tarp over the high stress areas to help with the UV issue. A tarp to cover my boat runs about US$40. A custom fitted cover would be about US$700 and might last for 5 or 6 years. Even replacing the tarp every year, I still come out ahead.

A tarp cover is suitable for storage. It will not do for covering the boat when trailering. Although If I spent more time on the tailoring it probably could be made to work.

 

[ricohman]

Re: Boat Covers

I spent nearly $500 on a cover, and I have to cover it with a $20 tarp to keep the water out. The cover I bought is an Aqua Shield sold here on iboats.
Don't let that name fool you also.

 

[jayhanig]

Re: Boat Covers

I have a very similar boat (though mine is an I/O) and I bought a Classic Accessories StormPro cover for $125 back in the fall of 2010. It is a vented cover made of waterproof marine canvas and comes with a 5 year warranty. Aside from the support pole that came with it was useless, it has turned out to be a very good cover. My boat lives in the driveway and unless I'm headed to the marina, it stays covered all of the time. They say the cover is highway ready and I can attest to it holding up at highway speeds. I left it on my boat for Hurricane Sandy when it went by (had gale force winds here along with heavy rain) and there wasn't a drop of water in the bilge afterwards.

You will want to create some sort of support (I use two PVC pipes: one from the bow to the windshield and the other from the windshield to the stern; both along the centerline) to keep heavy rain or snow from pooling on top of the cover. I also threw a folded tarp over the ridge of the windshield (but under the cover) to prevent the sharp corners from wearing through the cover.

Not only do I not have water under the cover, I have no mold either.

One final note: I ordered a size "C" which stretches from the bow to over my swim step. The ad says that covers from 16' to 18.5'. You can find these with a google search. Unfortunately iboats doesn't sell them. Anyway, it's a little over your price but not by a lot.

 

[doyall]

Re: Boat Covers

If you keep a diligent eye on that auction site you likely can score a very good fitted cover (but probably not a custom fit especially for your boat) in your price range. But without support poles/straps along with tying it down very snugly at strategic points, it likely will puddle water which will eventually seep through if left standing. And even with added support it probably isn't going to function well with any amount of snow accumulation. And as others said, reinforcement at pressure points is required to prevent ripping. It is a lot of work to cover a boat well for storage outside.

Here in the deep south I am lucky to get two years out of even relatively good covers because of deterioration due to the sun.

 

[SDSeville]

Re: Boat Covers

I use heavy duty tarps (not the blue ones) from Home Depot or Tractor Supply to cover my 16' RIB. With an hour or so of work I can tailor the tarp to fit the boat better and add extra grommets for better attachment. These tarps tend to last about a year before breaking down at the pressure points due to UV damage. I've recently added a second smaller tarp over the high stress areas to help with the UV issue. A tarp to cover my boat runs about US$40. A custom fitted cover would be about US$700 and might last for 5 or 6 years. Even replacing the tarp every year, I still come out ahead.

A tarp cover is suitable for storage. It will not do for covering the boat when trailering. Although If I spent more time on the tailoring it probably could be made to work.

+1 on this. However, I get my heavy duty silver tarps at HF for under $20 when on sale plus with the 20% off coupons easily found on line.

As ssobol said, the key is to tailor it yourself to get the correct shape and add tiedown points. With the tie down points in the correct places, I don't even have to use supports to get the water to drain off (not puddle). It only takes about 30 min to an hour to tailor and it actually looks good enough for the driveway if you do it right.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Boat Covers

I will sort of just toss this out there as a thought. Personally I don't have a garage so short of paying for indoor storage a cover is your garage and even if you pay for storage you still have to have a cover to keep your things out of sight and slow them down from walking away.

Now all of that being said. a good cover isn't cheep. In the boating world their several fabrics that are known for their durability and just plain toughness. yes you can use tarps and many other things and yes I have over the years tried about all of them at one time or another. You simply cant beat a custom made cover made from sumbrella. No its not going to be cheep the first year. But it will last 10 to 15 years.

Their several things to consider when picking out a way for winter cover storage, one is breath ability, damp air trapped in the boat will make it mildew its that simple, If you don't mind peeling the cover back in the spring to find ever thing has grown hair over the winter, well that's one choice. And yes you can rig up fans and timers and other things to stop it.

I am a bit lazy, I don't see any need to do a lot of extra usless work if its not needed. In years past I have done the trap thing and the simi fit covers, and this time around I chose to have one made, and yes I did pay a big price of it 1200.00 in fact but it fits exactly right, and its made from sumbrella so its breathes and it takes all of 5 minutes to put it on or off, and my boat is on a slip 9 months of the year so it is exposed direct sunlight and I wanted the interior protected, but it also with in my yard in the rain and snow the rest of the time.

My cover is my garage. I fully expect to get 10 plus years of constant weather exposure out of it so 120.00 a year for 10 years is very cheep. Not to mention the 4000.00 I put into a complete rebuild on the interior.

My cover is a good bit more expensive simply because its a 20 foot pontoon boat so it took a lot more fabric and I am not in a high boating area so their is less competition among custom shops. Boating is not nor has it ever been cheep. Over the years I have found cheep all ways cost more.

 

[The_Kid]

Re: Boat Covers

The first cover I bought was one of the cheap light weight silver ones I found at Walmart. It lasted about 3 years before it started to fall apart do to the sun, and it was either under a covered dock where it got some sun, or covered with a cheap tarp all the time. I replaced it last year with a custom grade polyester cover made by Dallas Manufacturing. So far it seems to be holding up. It seems to be fairly water proof, but I don't know what would happen if the water pooled in a low spot.

Here are the specs for the cover. 600 denier blue polyester fabric. Reinforcement at bow and stern, as well as
reinforced web Loops. Includes bow strap, storage sack, trailering straps for tie-down and dual rear air vents. 5 year warranty. Not to bad for $95 plus $10 shipping.

This is the one I bought. Fits a 17' to 19' V hull with up to a 96" beam.

 

[ssobol]

Re: Boat Covers

I recently looked at boat I was thinking of buying. One thing I thought was clever is that the guy who owned the boat covered it with a pool cover. He had to trim it a bit, but it is very strong and durable. Don't know how much it cost, but it looks like it does a very good job.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Boat Covers

Im looking for a fitted cover, dont want to spend over $100 and want it to last more than ONE season and keep the boat DRY.... is there such a thing?

well, i went to my local menard's. got me a cover for $107. so the price is in your price range. whether or not it will keep the boat dry remains to be seen. it did rain here the other day and water was being repelled off it. here's what it looks like on my boat. look at the last comment by me.
i've no idea if it will last, but i'm getting poor and needed to do something to protect my boat and that's what i came up with. i know it's not perticularly fitted to my boat. but nothing is short of a custom made cover (think big dollars). i have a hardtop i have to cover. so nothing will fit mine perfectly. reason i went too long was so i could get a 104" beam to compensate for the hardtop.
good luck in you hunt.