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You Get What You Pay For...

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    You Get What You Pay For...

    I few years ago, I won what I thought might be a decent boat cover from VS Marine off eBay. Mine was the original sharkskin cover, and it had a small tear developing over the rear locker. The cover I won fit perfectly, and it was only $100. Downside was it was the bottom of the line cotton/poly cover. I wasn't concerned...how bad could California weather be? And this is in no way a swipe at VS Marine. I've heard nothing but good things about them.

    Fast forward to today. I finally had a chance to get to the storage facility and wake her up from her off-season slumber. I had made a couple of PVC pipe supports for the back of the boat cover to keep the water from pooling when it rained. Well, even with smooth curved edges supporting the cover, it was apparently too much for the cheap @$$ fabric and it tore itself to shreds during our weird winter weather. I know...stupid me for not going over occasionally to check on it. Over the course of the winter, water had basically gushed in with each storm and soaked the interior of the boat. The ONLY saving grace was I had taken the plugs out when I stored her, so the water just ran out the drain holes and didn't accumulate.

    Long story short, I spent the better part of the day cleaning mold, dirt, leaves and other crap out of my boat to get her ready for the lake. I checked the engine from top to bottom and there was no damage whatsoever. She fired right up on the fake-a-lake after inspecting it carefully. *pfew*

    Lesson learned. Either that or I need to get an indoor storage space! And, a new Sunbrella boat cover.

    -Mike (<----dumbass of the day)
    Ambivalent? Yes. Or Not.

    #2
    We all learn this stuff the hard way. Welcome to boat ownership.

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      #3
      Boat covers are something I will never skimp on again. Cheap boat covers are just that "cheap". Don't fit right, don't last long, leak, etc.

      As for the winter protection, shrinkwrap is the way to go. You can wrap it and forget it over the winter. I only check on ours after a deep, heavy, and wet snow. Otherwise a good shrinkwrap job will fend off any winter weather. The only time we've had an issue was back in 8-9 years ago when we had a spring snowfall that was over 36" deep within a couple of days and it collapsed many commercial buildings in the area. And guess what it also collapsed? Our Bayliner (and many other) boat shrinkwraps. A month later went to pull the boat out of storage and found 1/2" of mold lining the entire carpeted floor. A day later and a chlorox bleach mix, the boat was as good as new again.

      Moral of the story, shrinkwrap in winter, check on it periodically, and buy a nice cover for the summer.

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