Make sure your winter cover is STRONG

erikgreen · Nov 23, 2008

I went out to take the boat out today... yeah, it's late season, especially for minnesota, but we were going to sneak in one more dive before the water got all solid and hard to swim through. We use dry suits.

I hitched the boat to the truck, pulled it forward a bit, and proceeded to climb up to pull the cover and reattach the engine hoses. There was a light skim of ice on the canvas.

Or so I thought. We hadn't had any significant precipitation in a month. No snow enough to pile up at all, or even cover the boat. A little rain, a little ice, but not much of either. I figured since I couldn't see anything from the ground all was ok, since it always drained before.

Then I noticed the cover was sagging....

That's a large size McDonald's cup in the middle of it. Just judging from what I can lift comfortably for weight, I estimate the total was about 500 pounds, or about 8 cubic feet. It had stretched the top down and was sitting on the doghouse, which fortunately could take the weight and protected the engine.

It had let the occasional drip into the boat, which built up like stalagmites... there was an inch of ice on the deck. I think it didn't drain out because it was near freezing... as soon as the liquid drip hit the decking, it froze again.

So today I'm putting the electric heater in the boat and thawing it

Then later on I'm going to go buy a full size boat cover and support piping (PVC) and finish my winterizing.

Don't let your boat go all winter without a check... you might have a nasty surprise come spring

ERik

a70eliminator · Nov 23, 2008

Re: Make sure your winter cover is STRONG

I feel your pain, had that happen once too many times here in Ohio, yep gotta keep checking up those sorta things. I'm surprised your not up to your but in snow, 30" came down here in Ohio's snowbelt, where I live only about 10" but I did get out there and clear it off my boat cover.

tnduc · Nov 23, 2008

Re: Make sure your winter cover is STRONG

I know what you mean. It dropped down to a balmy 50 degrees yesterday morning and I had to wear a jacket while taking the cover off my boat before I headed out to the bay....

erikgreen · Nov 23, 2008

Re: Make sure your winter cover is STRONG

Pfft. We have an advantage here in MN (and Canada) that Texas can never touch... we can keep ANY amount of beer icy cold, all at the same time

ziggy · Nov 23, 2008

Re: Make sure your winter cover is STRONG

guess i should consider myself lucky. i get to store the boat in the driveway, right next to my house in the open, under a giant tree.

while we've not had any solid precipitation here, yet. it'll come...
i check on my boat all winter long. if ice is forecast. i go so far as to put a slightly ripped extra cover i have over the regular one. after the storm, i remove that cover back to the cleaner dry one. i also sweep snow off it during and/or after a snow, depending on how much it snows... a little maintenance goes a long way to having summarization go well....
just looked under my cover today. all clean, dry, and good. just like i left it....

tnduc · Nov 23, 2008