Shrink wrap vs canvas cover for storing cd25 for the winter

[mccml]

This will be my first full winter to store my 2004 CD 25. What advice would people give on shrink wrap verses buying a full canvas cover. I got an estimate to have it shrink wrapped for $4 dollars a foot and $75/hr labor, and they said for the size of my boat it would be about an hour and a half labor. I would like to work on the boat this late fall and early spring so I would have a zipper put in the shrink wrap. I thought a full canvas cover might cost around $800??? Then, I don't really know how long to expect the canvas to last. Any thought on this subject would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark

[Chivita]

Mark,

Up here in Sitka the vast majority of Charter boat operators shrink wrap their boats at the end of the season. I have asked several of them why they prefer shrink wrap and the reponse was:

1. Walk away from the boat and not worry one bit-"We go to Mexico for the winter and don't want to worry about what we'll find when we come back"

2. Snow sticks to canvas, water seeps through, bugs get in, boat gets damp inside, canvas gets moldy, gotta store it in the summer etc. They feel that shrink wrap has none of these issues.

3. Shrink wrap keeps all the moisture out, even in our cold, wet and cloudy environment, the inside of the boat gets warm whenever the sun shines and it drys the entire inside up.

4. "I can come back to town a day or two before season starts, take the wrap off, fill the boat with gas and I'm ready to go. Before shrink wrap I had to get here a week or two in advance just to clean all the crud out that had grown inside, even if it was covered."

5. "Easy for someone to tell if my boat had been broken into or someone was living inside. With canvas guys would hang out inside all winter and I wouldn't find out until I got back"

6. Critters! We get martins and other critters moving into our boats up here in the winter if we are not carefull. I guess they can smell through the canvas and will chew a hole in it and move in. Take my word for this, sinking a boat is about the only worse situation I can think of compared to a martin moving in for a month or so. I have a great bow picker down on the dock that martin's got into this last year. We STILL do not have the smell out. Trapped the martin but the pelts don't come anywhere near covering the expense to clean that thing out. Not even pure bleach removes the weasel stink. Shrink wrap for whatever reason seems to deter this issue. Local thought is that it is slick, slippery and more difficult to get teeth ito it when it is stretched tight. They also cannot seem to smell what is inside.

About the only disadvantage is that you have to pay every year versus buying canvas once every five years. At the current cost of a canvas cover, you're not saving a whole lot.

[mccml]

Chivita, thanks for your thoughts. We hope to make it up there some day when we start traveling out to the west coast.

Mark

[C-Otter]

I shrink wraped one year for Ten Dollars a foot with a zipper door, carefully removed it and used it for three more years. Not sure this year.

C-Otter.

[Doryman]

I stored my first boat (an open Hewescraft) under canvas in Utah (LOTS of snow!) Every spring I had to dig out the interior -- it would be full of leaves, twigs, and worse. The canvas often would sag and water would puddle.

I was planning to buy my own shrink wrap equipment (as I recall 3 seasons would pay for it) and then I sold that boat and moved out of snow country. There are TONS of vendors for this stuff on the internet. Here is one.

Warren

[Minnow]

I've been using one of the pipe-framed "instant garages" for my winter boat storage. The tarp material was guaranteed for 3 years, but is going on 11, probably because it's in the shade. It's only now starting to show some pin-holes. These make it real easy to work on the inside or outside any time of year.
If you trailer your boat, it's a big plus to just back it in and have it protected.
Try comparing the cost of one of these to a few years of shrink wrap.

[dotnmarty]

Here's a little discussion we had last year about boat covers from Angola Canvas. I have no interest in the company other than as a satisfied customer. Good luck.

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=4588&highlight=angola

Here's a picture of my cover "at work"

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_albumName=Lizzie&id=2006_Dec_30&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php

[ffheap]

Hi Folks,

I am thinking of using shrink wrap this winter. I have used canvas but find it blows in the wind and wears the corners of the cabin top. Also, no mater how I put slats over the cockpit, rain catches and freezes, and I have to go under it and get the ice overboard. I am getting to old for this.

I would love to put up a tent but I think the town would give me trouble. I had somebody check it out and the answer was "no". I usually take the route of doing it and working the problems later, but the cost is to much not to have it allowed. It might be a situation where if nobody dropped a dime, it would work. I could then get a lot of work done on the outside of the hull.

Nice thread and well timed.

Fred

[ffheap]

I forgot.

You can buy shrink wrap kits. It is very easy to do. You put the plastic material over the boat making sure no water will catch. Then use a high powered hair dryer. The dryer makes the plastic stick to it self, and shrink around the hull. Then add the zipper door.

The first time might take a little time.

Then in the spring, you carefully cut it off. Use the same plastic in the fall and it will rework it's self. (Learning curve.)

Fred

[Doryman]