Camper back on a 23" C-dory.

S

steveandreina

New member
I have a camper back that I just recently purchased from King marine canvas in Seattle and now need to tow my boat to Oregon and back to Seattle. I was wondering if anyone knows if you can travel with the camper back attached or does it need to be disassembled? And if it needs to be disassembled is there some sort of instructions on how to store the Bimini portion? I looked at if briefly this morning and seems I need to unscrew it from the boat with a screwdriver?
 
I would not tow with a camper back or canvas on at highway speeds.

You will wreck it.

40 miles and hour max with canvas would be what i do.
 
What type of distance and speeds are we talking about? If it's more than say, 20 miles and highway speeds then I'd say NO WAY.

If it's all back roads and speeds of 25-35 mph then you'll be fine. Just imagine if you were on the boat and cruising. Try to envision how it would hold up.

If you're worried about removing the whole thing , then just remove the sides and back. Leave the bimini up.

But there is now way I'd drive at highway speeds with the full enclosure up....even with just the bimini I wouldn't do it. Those are like hurricane force winds hitting it from multiple angles. The bimini should be able to be rolled up/depressed without removing it. You can then lay it on it's side or even keep it vertical if you can brace it somehow. You'll need some bungees.

As far as storing it, it depends what type of "plastic" they used. But ideally I'd unzip each panel and lay it flat in the v berth with a bed sheet or tee shirts in between each panel.

You CAN also roll them...But be careful that the metal zips don't bind or go in awkward directions. I would just lay them flat. EASY AND DONE.
 
I never would tow with it assembled. It will not hold
together. On our 23' Venture we seldom used the sides and
back.
We share the bunk with them.

However, we do roll and zipper case the bimi part and put it forward and strap to base of radar tower. However demending
on time of year can pu lots of bugs.

WE also never tow with Zodiak inflated. lots of strain and
wind resistance.

Be safe not sorry.

BAXTER II
 
I've towed reefmadness from California to Bellingham a number of times.
We take the sides and back off, roll the top around the supports put a cover on it and strap it to the rod holders/rocket launchers. Never had a problem but, the cover is custom made for that purpose. We also have quick release mounts for the supports, slide the lever and supports come out so the only thing in the wind is the tied together supports and a rolled up covered top.
I have some photos of it in my album link below.

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _album.php

Gene
 
My wife made a bag to hold our camperback sections. We put beach towels or a blanket between each section (to protect the eisenglass), then rolled that stack and put it in the tube-shaped bag. The bimini folded back against the cabin with the fabric rolled around the frame. There was a boot made for the rolled up bimini, and we used bungee chords to keep that in place and to keep air from getting in the ends of the roll. It rode fine that way, over thousands of miles of trailering.
 
JamesTXSD":3mgtlcvn said:
My wife made a bag to hold our camperback sections. We put beach towels or a blanket between each section (to protect the eisenglass), then rolled that stack and put it in the tube-shaped bag. The bimini folded back against the cabin with the fabric rolled around the frame. There was a boot made for the rolled up bimini, and we used bungee chords to keep that in place and to keep air from getting in the ends of the roll. It rode fine that way, over thousands of miles of trailering.
Click to expand...

Same here... it works nicely.
 
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