Frank R
Well-known member
I hate my brand new boat cover. I have had it on for a week and it has rained twice. I have had to tug on the canvas in a few spots because it accumulates a little bit of water here and there.
I put the cover on because I have maple trees and the little helicopters were filling the boat and turning into wet mulch. Took me an hour to dig it out and hand scrub it all clean. I also want to be able to leave some stuff in the boat between fishing trips instead of transferring it all between the trunk and the garage.
I guess I will have to install more bows to prevent pooling. All that hardware has to be moved/disassembled/stored when I launch the boat and then re-installed when I trailer it home.
So I got to thinking: why not have a flat cover made out of plywood, kind of like a solid tonneau cover on a pickup? It could be hinged in the middle with a piano hinge. It could be reinforced with a few ribs underneath. I would make it from 1/4" to 1/2" plywood that has been sealed with epoxy (I have a gallon left over from building a boat).
My boat is a 14 foot Tracker Tadpole that is 53 inches at its widest beam. It is like a jon boat with a straight gunwale.
If I cut carefully and build it right I could use only two sheets of plywood. I am thinking I could use some kind of aluminum channel around the perimeter to secure it below the gunwale. It would unlock in the front, fold over toward the back, and then be removed off to the side. It would stored on the trailer after launch.
Upside is that it would be fast to remove/install and not pool water, as long as I keep the trailer jack a little high. Probably last a lot longer than a fabric cover.
Downside is the weight and cost.
What do you think? Should I just invest in more bows. How do you handle this situation?
I put the cover on because I have maple trees and the little helicopters were filling the boat and turning into wet mulch. Took me an hour to dig it out and hand scrub it all clean. I also want to be able to leave some stuff in the boat between fishing trips instead of transferring it all between the trunk and the garage.
I guess I will have to install more bows to prevent pooling. All that hardware has to be moved/disassembled/stored when I launch the boat and then re-installed when I trailer it home.
So I got to thinking: why not have a flat cover made out of plywood, kind of like a solid tonneau cover on a pickup? It could be hinged in the middle with a piano hinge. It could be reinforced with a few ribs underneath. I would make it from 1/4" to 1/2" plywood that has been sealed with epoxy (I have a gallon left over from building a boat).
My boat is a 14 foot Tracker Tadpole that is 53 inches at its widest beam. It is like a jon boat with a straight gunwale.
If I cut carefully and build it right I could use only two sheets of plywood. I am thinking I could use some kind of aluminum channel around the perimeter to secure it below the gunwale. It would unlock in the front, fold over toward the back, and then be removed off to the side. It would stored on the trailer after launch.
Upside is that it would be fast to remove/install and not pool water, as long as I keep the trailer jack a little high. Probably last a lot longer than a fabric cover.
Downside is the weight and cost.
What do you think? Should I just invest in more bows. How do you handle this situation?