Not happy with my shrink wrap job

[onoahimahi]

I had my Sailfish shrink wrapped this year for about $300 and am not happy with the job - he left the swim platform exposed just taping the wrap to the forward part of the Eurotransom. The motor-well spent the winter full of ice and snow as shown in the photograph. He charged $11/foot, I should ask for $22 back for the two feet he missed.

Anyway, are there other or better options for covering a Sailfish or similar sized boat with a hardtop? It is worth having a custom cover made up? How long to they last? Or should I just go with a big poly tarp, which is what usually used on my previous boats?

Thanks,
-Scott

 

[reelserious]

I would just find another guy if you have that option. Also, I would worry more that he didn't run the wrap all the way down to the waterline/bottom paint. Hopefully there won't be too much chafing, but there will be 6 more months of oxidation/fading on your hull.

For what it is worth.....I pay $16/ft, but at least it is done right.

 

[JeffN]

I use a 1 1/2" pvc frame with a large silver and black tarp and it works very well. On the plus side I get several years out of a tarp. I covered with shrink wrap one year and did not like the results, went back to the tarp.That said my boat is in my side yard where I can check it anytime. I see you are at a boat storage facility of some sort. I guess I would look around there and see who has the most suitable shrink wrap job on their boat and find out who did it and have them cover yours next winter. Might not be the lowest bidder though, you get what you pay for usually.

 

[fishbust]

I learned the same lesson this winter but I use tarps.

Next time I will put a blanket over motor covers to protect from scratching and lay a piece of plywood from top of motors all the way across to top of transom and tarp everything, leaving a small access for me to get in and out the transom door so I can work on my projects in there in the winter.

Next time you hire a shrink wrap (someone different), do have the discussion about this so it doesn't happen again. Save that photo so everyone is clear about what is not going to happen again.

 

[grady33]

I used to have a sailfish and now a 330. Your person should have done it this way (photo). My guy used these plastic straps (not sure what they are called) from the hardtop to stern and in the bow to support shrinkwrap. Works great. It it like the plastic bands around shipping boxes. BTW the above cost me around $430 although I had quotes up to 600+.

I ended up purchasing a cover for my sailfish 4 years ago from Boat Covers Direct. It was around 700 or so but it was awesome. It was navy blue and kept the boat toasty warm inside. I'm sure the cover will last 10+ years for the new owner.

 

[gw204]

I use the heavy duty UV resistant gray/black tarps as well. They work great if you support and tie them down properly. If you really think about it, it's not a bad idea to have an big unused tarp lying around when the spring and summer thunderstorms come calling anyway (if you have trees around your house like I do).


Had a custom Fisher Canvas cover for my old Sailfish and hated it.

 

[onoahimahi]

I used to have a sailfish and now a 330. Your person should have done it this way (photo). My guy used these plastic straps (not sure what they are called) from the hardtop to stern and in the bow to support shrinkwrap. Works great. It it like the plastic bands around shipping boxes. BTW the above cost me around $430 although I had quotes up to 600+.

I ended up purchasing a cover for my sailfish 4 years ago from Boat Covers Direct. It was around 700 or so but it was awesome. It was navy blue and kept the boat toasty warm inside. I'm sure the cover will last 10+ years for the new owner.

That photo looks like a nice job. I'm happy to hear you liked the Boat Covers Direct cover - maybe I will go that route. I will pay for itself after two winters in shrinkwrap savings. It looks like all you have to do is tell them the length - do you recall what length you told them for your Sailfish? They list every foot on the half-foot boundary. I.e., 26' 6", 27' 6", 28' 6", etc but I don't know if that includes the pulpit. Did you have a radar dome? I don't know if that would be an issue - probably not.

 

[Rosstafari]

that may be one of the worst shrink jobs i have seen. you should have not paid and demanded he re did it. Also you should make him buff out the hull for free for the way he put the banding right on the hull

 

[onoahimahi]

that may be one of the worst shrink jobs i have seen. you should have not paid and demanded he re did it. Also you should make him buff out the hull for free for the way he put the banding right on the hull

I don't disagree. Unfortunately the guy is a member of my yacht club so I can't go too ballistic on him. He does about half the boats at the club (at a discount). I think my boat was the last one he did for the year - one of the guys joked that he ran out of material by the time he got to me. He didn't do any of the other eurotransom boats that way. It is especially annoying because I am paranoid about water getting into my transom from the top.

A lot of the guys at my club with the big diesels do their own - they chipped in and bought the big torch set up and buy rolls of material. One guy does it in such a way that he gets at least two-three years out of each cover. He stuffs something behind the shrinkwrap before he shrinks it to keep it from getting so tight that he can't remove it.

 

[Rosstafari]

here are a few pics of my 265 shrink wrapped.