JohnRPollard - are you out there?

[Quickstep192]

Where did you get the cover that's shown on your boat in your avatar?

[Freesail99]

Quickstep, you should have just sent him a PM.

[JohnRPollard]

Yes, I'm out here.

It was made by Canvas Creations in Annapolis. It is highly customized to the boat -- it even has little pockets for the flukes of our anchors so we don't have to remove them from the bow rollers.

The cover came with our boat when we bought it (the cover was brand-new and had never been used). When I unfolded it for the first time, the receipt fell out. I was flabbergasted by how much it cost. I'm not sure I would have spent our boat sheckles this way, but I sure am glad to have the cover.

As you can see, it can be used with the rig still up, in or out of the water. It's supported over the forepeak by three halyards (spin, jib, and staysail), and over the rest of the boat by the boom. As long as it's sunny, it makes a nice tent/greenhouse for working on the boat during those cold winter days.

[chucklesR]

okay John give, how much did it cost, and for comparision, when

[sailingdog]

Also, how big a boat is the cover for.. Inquiring minds want to know...

Chuckles... forget trying to cover your beastie... mine's doable...but yours is just too fat...

[chucklesR]

Altho I could put my boat on a low carb high protein diet I wasn't even thinking about it just curious.
One of the gem's we rafted to this past summer had a rear bimini made up that covered the hammock and side decks aft of the cockpit, cost 4k by the same folks. My wife and I made one from sunbrella, PVC and fishing rod covers that cost 200 bucks (not for use underway tho).

I figured a custom whole boat cover must run about the cost of a RIB with a 15hp and a couple other toys I have higher on my priority list.

[JohnRPollard]

Okay, I'll spill:

Remember, though, we didn't pay for this. It was thrown in as an "extra" to clinch the deal when we bought our boat (we didn't even know about its existence when we made the offer). It was brand-new, never used.

I can no longer recall the exact figure, but it was somewhere in the mid-upper $4K range, definitely somewhat south of $5K. That was in 2002/2003 dollars.

Our boat is 33' LOA with the sprit/pulpit x 10' beam.

As an aside, if there is anyone reading who could give me advice on the easiest way to make up some weights/sandbags to hold the cover down, I'd be grateful. It is simple to tie the cover off under the boat with lines when it is hauled out, but it is a royal PIB when it's in a winter slip. The problem with sandbags is you then have to store/transport them. Water filled weights can be drained, but do not seem like they would be heavy enough and would freeze up -- but maybe that's okay?

[chucklesR]

Antifreeze in rubber hot water bottles (that have loops for lines) or milk jugs?

[sailingdog]

It doesn't even have to be antifreeze, provided the bottles are large enough to handle the expansion of freezing water. Although, the antifreeze would definitely make fewer dents when they swing into the hull.

[JohnRPollard]

Originally Posted by chucklesR

Antifreeze in rubber hot water bottles (that have loops for lines) or milk jugs?

Originally Posted by sailingdog

It doesn't even have to be antifreeze, provided the bottles are large enough to handle the expansion of freezing water. Although, the antifreeze would definitely make fewer dents when they swing into the hull.

Yeah, that was my concern, having the water freeze and bang against the hull when the wind blows. Even dry loose sand has a little give to it.

Antifreeze is an interesting suggestion, but antifreeze is fairly expensive too. It could be re-used of course, but then there's the hassle of storing it all.

Walking around the boatyard, I see a fair number of boats using what appear to be sandbags. Maybe they just leave them filled and store them that way for the summer -- they must schlepp them back and forth. Or maybe they go in the bilge as extra ballast!! Lending new meaning to the term "sandbagger"...