Boat Cover Modification

[John Stone]

We are in the process of painting the exterior cabin top of the Far Reach with Awlgrip. But the paint has narrow temp and humidity parameters which makes rolling and tipping it a challenge. We rolled and tipped the topsides (hull) in 2017. Often, it is either too hot or too windy to paint or it's raining or the dew point leaves the deck wet.

I have a full boat cover I bought used in the fall of 2019. It's a nice cover. Made for a stock CD 36 it fits my modified boat pretty well. One of the things I didn't like is the sides could not be rolled up. It was either on the boat protecting it or off the boat--no other option. On the boat it's dark inside the Far Reach and hot under the cover when the temps are elevated. It's too dark under the cover to do any work or maintenance on the deck.

It seemed to me if we could roll up the sides of the cover we could have shade for the deck, some air to keep it cool, and enough light to see what we are doing. Gayle and I decided to sew web straps all the way around the cover--18 pairs to be exact--at the level of the lifelines. We had the cover at home since I was in the process of sanding the cabin top. It took about five hours using our canvas sewing machine to sew on the web straps. It was hard work to position and roll the sides of the large canvas sections to pull through the small throat of our machine. But we completed it yesterday.

We took our modified cover to the boat today and tried it out. What a difference. Great shade, good light and ventilation. It came with interesting long webbing straps sewed on the inside of the cover that you pass over the lifelines then down to the bulwarks. These straps hold the cover in place if the wind gets under the cover. It's a nice feature I have not seen before. With the sides rolled up I can also work on the bulwarks or apply new kiwigrip to the deck without taking the cover off. I don't know if the wx will cooperate this fall for Awlgrip but if not we will knock it out in the spring. I have sanded and taped off and we are ready to paint at the first opportunity. Looks like wx might be OK this coming week. Looking forward to having this project behind me so I can return my attention to the stripping, repairing, modifying, and revarnishing of the coamings.

[Jim Walsh]

An elegant solution. It should make your work infinitely easier, yet the modification hasn’t affected the ability for the cover to serve its intended purpose, it has merely added flexibility based on your current needs.

[John Stone]

An elegant solution. It should make your work infinitely easier, yet the modification hasn’t affected the ability for the cover to serve its intended purpose, it has merely added flexibility based on your current needs.

Thanks Jim. I was down at the boat today. Takes about 20 min to roll the sides up. I can do it from the deck of the boat.

When will you haul Orion out for the winter?

[Jim Walsh]

Orion was hauled out yesterday morning. I’ve already begun my annual routine of lightly sanding the bottom to minimize the buildup of antifouling and keep it as smooth as possible. This past season I tried Sea Hawk Biocop and the results were better than expected. Hardly any slime and zero anything else. I’m in a relatively shallow cove and it is slime prone. It’s nice to find something suited to my particular area.