Boat Covers: How to Protect Your Boat Year Round
Take Cover
You might like spending time in the sun au naturel, but your boat doesn’t.
Invest in a custom storage cover to fight the effects of exposure.
Everyone loves the feeling of the sun on their skin, but that doesn’t mean we should all start running around in the buff. Not only would that be both unlawful (at least in most places) and aesthetically gruesome, but we’d have to dip into the boating budget to pay for extra sunscreen and dermatologists. However, plenty of boat owners, folks who wouldn’t leave the house showing an extra square inch of skin, nevertheless store their boats naked, fully exposed to sun, rain, snow, sleet and other climatical assaults. Don’t subject your boat to this mistreatment: Invest in a proper, custom-fitted storage cover instead of one-and-done shrink wrap or ill-fitting blue polyethylene tarps. A custom-fitted cover is classier, does a better job and, although costly up front, in the long run is cheaper: With care it will likely last for twenty winters, and save two decades worth of discarded shrink wrap. When you sell your boat, you’ll hand the cover to the new owner.
Being a New Englander, when I think “cover,” I think about winter, about keeping the ice and snow off the old ark until the Vernal Equinox. Decades ago, when boats were built of wood and no gentleman left the house with his head uncovered (and wouldn’t be caught dead in a baseball cap, unless he was heading for Yankee Stadium), no proper yacht spent the winter uncovered. Supported by its ribcage-like frame, a canvas cover not only protected the yacht from snow and ice damage, but also from winter winds that would dry the wood planking, ruining the topsides paint job and opening the bottom seams. Drying’s not a problem with fiberglass boats—we want them to dry out, to prevent osmosis—but winter can still do a number on the yacht stored naked out-of-doors. Water can get under poorly bedded deck hardware and seep into cored laminates, creating havoc when it freezes, while even the weak UV rays of winter attack brightwork and gradually turn gelcoat chalky.
Folks in friendlier climes have different enemies—blistering sun, for example, or airborne pollution, incontinent pelicans, etc. Heck, even pilfering dock walkers are put off if they have to slither under tight-fitting canvas to rip you off. These folks need covers, too, but rather than the heavy fabrics and skeleton-like frames we use to fight the Polar Vortex up North, they need covers that are easy to remove for a day on the water, and then put back on after washdown. But whether we’re considering winter covers, storage covers, mooring covers, trailer covers, covers for the windshield to keep the sun out of the salon, or even sheath covers to protect varnished handrails, there are a few common considerations to address.
What Fabric is Best?
A cover succeeds or fails mostly by its fabric, and to get maximum life from your cover you have to choose the right one. It should be strong enough to bear the weight of snow and ice, and breathable so any water that gets under it can evaporate away. It should be both abrasion-resistant and non-abrasive so it doesn’t damage any surface that it touches—painted topsides, for example. Mooring and trailer covers have to be light enough to remove and replace easily, and resistant to the UV rays of summer and/or tropical sun. Which of these qualities are most important depends on where you live and what you need from your cover: A winter cover in New England faces different challenges than a mooring cover in Miami.
Rather than become an expert in marine fabrics, find a reputable canvas shop near your boat and take their advice. These pros build, repair and maintain covers of all kinds for a living, and know what works and what doesn’t in your area. I called the folks at Fairclough Sailmakers in New Haven, Connecticut, for advice. Why Fairclough? They’ve been building sails and covers since 1938, including for two friends of mine who invested in winter covers for their 30-something-foot sailboats. The covers are beautiful, perfectly fitted and supported by galvanized metal tubing assembled, Tinkertoy style, using cast-aluminum joints to connect the fore-and-aft spine with the athwartships ribs. The whole works comes apart into easy-to-store sections when the cover is removed—so much more elegant than shrink wrap, and more environmentally friendly.
Thirteen years ago, when writing a column similar to this one, I also called Fairclough, and spoke with Erik Schmaling, company vice-president. When I called in June, 2023, who answered the phone? Schmaling—he’s still there, still the VP, still overseeing the manufacture, maintenance and repair of hundreds of covers every year. Back then, as they are today, most Fairclough covers were made of Vivatex high-thread-count 100-percent cotton duck that swells up tight in wet weather to repel water, but opens up when dry to let fresh air under the cover and allow any moisture to evaporate. Fabrics that don’t breathe promote mildew and mold growth. But, Schmaling warned, cotton has no UV inhibitors, not a problem in New England winters when the sun isn’t so damaging, but “June and July are the no-no months for cotton covers; take them off sooner, put them on later.” Don’t use duck in Florida.
Schmaling said that while cotton duck was still his standard fabric for winter covers, especially for sailboats and smaller powerboats, for larger powerboats he recommends a solution-dyed polyester fabric—the fibers are dyed before being woven, so the color goes right through the fabric to resist fading. (Fairclough uses Top Notch from Marlen Textiles). Polyester is stronger and lighter—only a couple of ounces per square yard less than cotton, but on a tall flying-bridge sportfisherman or cruiser it makes a difference. Polyester doesn’t stretch or shrink, resists abrasion—powerboats have lots of corners and edges that can wear through the cover—and can take a beating from the wind. It is very breathable, and more UV-resistant than cotton duck. If maximum UV resistance is what you need, for awnings, upholstery, Bimini tops, etc., you can’t beat an acrylic fabric like Sunbrella, said Schmaling. But acrylics aren’t abrasion-resistant, so they don’t make good winter covers. “After a year or so you’ll be patching lots of small holes,” he said. Polyester is the better choice for covers.
Protect Your Investment
A custom cover isn’t cheap, so protect your investment by taking proper care of it. This is mostly common sense. Don’t uncover your boat until the fabric is bone-dry—never store the cover wet, or you’ll have mold and mildew next fall. Keep it safe from mice and other varmints, too—they love to burrow into folded-up fabrics. When you disassemble the frame, mark the pieces so you can rebuild it with a minimum of anguish. Don’t rely on memory, or assume you’ll figure it out when the time comes. None of us are getting any younger, and memory ain’t what it used to be. Mark the pieces.
Maybe the smartest way to store your cover is to have the folks who built it do it for you—they can remove it, fold it, and stow it along with the frame. When it’s time to re-cover the boat, let them do it; covers are heavy, and if your boat’s bigger than 30 feet or so, it takes some manhandling to wrestle it into place. It’s even harder if you have to haul it up and over the flying bridge or hardtop, so my advice is to let the guys do it who know how, and just write the check. You’ll also be less likely to fall off a ladder.
If the sailmaker stores your cover, they will also inspect it and note areas that need repair—maybe there’s an area of abraded fabric that needs patching, or the stitching is due for replacement, etc. Schmaling said that the thread will go before the fabric does, and covers typically need re-sewing after ten, maybe twelve years. A top-quality zipper can last for twenty years, he said, but lesser ones often need replacement, too. Once re-stitched, repaired and cleaned, the cover will be as good as new, and ready for another decade or more of service.
A custom-fitted cover is an investment, so shop wisely and use the expertise of the folks who will build it for you. It’s a big step you’re taking, away from pedestrian shrink wrap or even a patchwork quilt of blue poly tarps into the elite world of bespoke canvas. Your sailmaker will know what fabrics are available, and can provide the pros and cons of using each one. He will also give you a chair to collapse into when you hear the final cost. Custom covers don’t come cheap, but a good one will last for two decades or more, so in the long run it’s a good investment vs. buying and discarding shrink wrap every year.
Don’t Be a Canvas Snob
OK, I admit it: I’m a canvas snob. I love the feel of cotton duck, how it looks, how it sounds when it flaps and snaps in the wind. Maybe it’s from being raised by a sailor from pre-Dacron days, I don’t know. All I do know is, I’d rather not tell you that I have, in the past, covered my boats with shrink wrap; actually, I paid somebody to do it for me. I didn’t want to be caught wielding a propane-powered heat gun. And I own a couple of blue poly tarps, too—but not for use on board. They stay in the basement, or the back yard.
Shrink wrap and blue poly tarps are not all bad. Neither is overly expensive, and for some applications they’re the best choice. Custom canvas is great; it’s a Rolex vs. the Timex I’m wearing now. But it costs big bucks, and unless you plan to keep your boat for ten years or more, it’s a big up-charge per year versus shrink wrap. Shrink wrap fits snugly and is pretty tough, that’s why boat manufacturers shrink-wrap new boats for shipment to the dealer: It protects against road grime, flying stones, bird strikes and other in-transit risks.
Shrink wrap doesn’t need an elaborate cover frame, usually just a few uprights and strapping to support the cover, which is held onto the boat with a “perimeter band” of woven polyester strapping wrapped very tightly around the hull below the gunwale. Shrink wrap is abrasive, so it must be very tight to keep from moving, or it will chafe the surface. If your topsides are painted (Awlgrip, Imron, etc.) don’t use shrink wrap, or at least fit the perimeter band immediately below the gunwale so the wrap doesn’t touch the paint.
When it’s time to uncover the boat, just cut off the shrink wrap, but don’t throw it away: Discarded shrink wrap is an environmental nightmare; it will live in landfills until the dinosaurs return, as will so many plastics that we use every day. The material used to wrap boats (low density polyethylene) can be recycled, although it’s hard to find a recycling center in some areas. Check with your boatyard; if they don’t recycle used shrink wrap, think about finding another yard or bite the bullet and invest in a proper canvas cover. Whatever it takes, do your best to keep used shrink wrap out of landfills.
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This article originally appeared in the October 2023 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
Source: https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/maintenance/boat-covers-how-to-protect-your-boat-year-round
