Mooring Cover

[Bob's Cay]

I need to get a mooring cover for my '88 Overnighter. After years in a comfortable boat house it has been "kicked" out side to a side tie at our dock. I have a trailer cover for it that requires tie down to the trailer or straps run under the hull. I tried to use it but it is way too much trouble to work while the boat is in the water with access only on portside. i do not thing it can be adapted to use with snaps.

So I am investigating having one made. I know it will likely require installing snaps around the boat and some type of center support. The boat does not have a hardtop, just a bimini. I know a pretty good canvas shop as I suspect this will have to be custom made.

Do any or you have pictures of a similar cover on your boat or ideas on how to best accomplish this project?

Bob

 

[DennisG01]

If you either already have a decent sized hem, or can add one, you could thread the hem with a nylon strap (like on an orange, Type II PFD, for example) and use a ratchet. You can buy the strap by the foot. Open the hem at a convenient spot and that is where you can put the ratchet. Sew-in a pocket, if you want, to protect the ratchet from the elements. With this method, you won't need tie-down straps nor snaps. It will snug down very tight.

If the current hem doesn't fall far enough below the rubrail to install snaps, you could always sew-in short extensions, using nylon strapping.

The easiest center support would be a 2x4. Sew-in a reinforcing patch and put a snap on the reinforcing patch and the top of the 2x4. There's also adjustable poles that are commonly available for this purpose... even ones that have a vent built-in.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Bob, check with the shop and do it right. A mooring cover needs to be well fit, taught, and properly supported. Somehow, I don't see you laying a 2x4 across your windshield and stern, your boat is too pretty ... :wink:

 

[Parthery]

Bob,

Who are you planning to use? I need to get a cockpit cover made for the 223.

 

[suzukidave]

i am also in the market for a cockpit cover / tonneau for a 223. if you find someone with a pattern please post up.

i had a cockpit tonneau made in sunbrella years ago for for my 190 which i keep on a mooring buoy and it has been excellent. it is basically a large rectangle attached around the top of the windshieldrunning all the way to transom with a notch for the splashwell. the snaps install into clips that fit into the windshield and into the hull on the outside just above the rub rail.

i did make some additions

--i added an adjustable prop pole with a snap on the end that fits into a snap sewed into a panel in the tonneau cover. after trial and error this needs to be fairly close to the stern to create a ridge that will shed all the water. for a larger hull you may need two poles.

--added leather style vinyl hem protection material at wear points around the aft cleats and on the windshield corners, and around a flag pole holder that wore its own hole in the canvas.

--added two snaps about an inch apart at each attachment point on the sides (they actually get gradually further apart as you reach the stern)-- sunbrella panels this big stretch and shrink a lot according to wetness and temperature so i find you need a loose fit and a tight fit. sometimes i have to leave the transom snaps undone.

if i was doing it again, i would have the whole thing made slightly too long with a second set of outer snaps on the stern to allow for the periodic shrinkage.

 

[Bob's Cay]

Brian,

Would use Craig of Craig's Marine Canvas on Holiday Rd. Talked to him today about the cover. A full sunbrella for a walkaround would be expensive. We may try modifying my trailer cover first to see if that works.

The Hacker is in the boat house now on a lift with a full waterline Sunbrella cover!

Bob

 

[DennisG01]

Bob, it sounds like you're saying the trailer cover is in good shape and would otherwise just collect dust on a shelf? It's certainly worth a try to modify it (I'm sure the money saved will get used up awful quick in gas money, though!). Post back with your thoughts on what I mentioned above and maybe we can hash out a good plan that would suit your needs.

I will say that I am a big fan of the ratchet-strap-in-the-hem covers (along with the vented cover support poles). They're very easy to use and work great. Another thought for modifying your cover to a ratchet strap... rather than modifying the existing hem, just sew a new hem in place right over top of the existing one. I can't imagine that being very expensive, at all.

 

[Parthery]

Brian,

Would use Craig of Craig's Marine Canvas on Holiday Rd.

Bob - thanks. I suspect he will need to see the boat to measure it...as I'm hoping to finally get it back by the end of the month I will give him a call.

 

[Bob's Cay]

Dennis,

Will do. I did talk to the canvas guy whom I have known for years and trust about the rachet idea. He said that a lot of ski boats come with a similar system but they have a problem getting them tight enough. But we are not ruling out anything. He said a concern is the sheer size and weight of a cover designed to cover a walkaround with a high rail, windshield and cockpit. It is hard to make a cover for a walkaround in anything other than a single piece. For instance on Brian''s boat a seperate cove can be made for bow and cockpit with the consoles and winshield as divider.

Need to take some pictures if I get up to the lake this weekend as I did end up with the trailer cover streched over the boat last weekend. Only took about an hour! And it wasn't tight enough I don't think to shed the rain we have had this week.

 

[DennisG01]

As far as tight enough goes, I suppose it depends on how it's made. I've worked in the marine industry for 26 years and the last 15 at a Sea Ray dealership. I've had plenty of experience with the ratchet covers on boats up to 25' and I can personally tell you that it gets TIGHT. You can't even get your fingers under it and I have trailed with these covers many times (and I don't go slow) with NO problems.

Just to throw this out there: Fischer covers, one of the best, will make larger covers (much bigger boats than yours) in multiple pieces with zippers. But, even for my 28' Sundancer, it would be a single piece. A single piece really shouldn't be any problem at all for your size boat.

 

[Tour190]

suzukidave,
Do you have a pattern for the mooring cover for your Tour 190 that you wouldn't mind sharing? I have a 1985 Tournament 190.
Thanks,
Don

 

[BobP]

Consider just a cover that attaches to the same DOT window snaps as if there was an enclosure under a bimini, so that the entire bridge enclosure is covered.
Not much more than the stern seats exposed, at least what matters. Put the stern seat cushions away.

The Overnighter has the same snaps as my 252G about the glass framework perimeter and down the rear bridge. The bridge seats get turned facing the other way To (stern) while the cover is on. Sunbrella type fabric (breathable) preferred and lasts forever (it seems!)

Getting enough height for a full cover over the sides since the bow rail is relatively tall is a job to avoid puddle lakes from rain.

Forget about towing with it on unless off the hiway and short haul.