Boats exposed to the weather?

[Kismet]

Found this thread by doing a search.

It's that time of year again.

I got a surprise, this year's 'project boat'--on which I did no work this year--is an F-7 Alumacraft. Last year's project was an Alumacraft Model A. Over the winter, I just pulled the A boat and trailer in a garage stall at an angle next to the "good" boat, the model F. Fine and dandy, and I used the center space for the car in the winter.

Turns out, the F-7 and trailer are wider than the A boat and trailer were. So the car goes in nicely enough, but I can't open the doors once I'm in there. #-o :? #-o

Grrr.

Right now I've got a rubberized canvas cloth on it, from a torn flat-bed semi trailer, but it doesn't quite reach. Under the canvas I put a sheet of that cheap blue plastic tarp, and underneath all of that, a 30 gallon drum to raise the level so the rain/snow will run off.

I'm just wondering if I should just pull the darn thing out behind the shed, and take the F-7 off the trailer, and flip it onto a couple of blocks of wood. I'm old, so "flipping" is not as casual a decision as it once was, and truly, since I didn't work on the F-7 this year, there's not much rain and snow can do to it, but it just rankles to let it sit out exposed in the elements, you know?


Any other innovative Tin boat storers?

Thanks.

 

[Bob E]

Simple and light makes storage easy.

 

[juggernot]

here's how I store mine, 2"pvc and a cheap tarp.

 

[BigTerp]

The above is pretty much what I do. But I use 2 old sawhorses, a bucket I had lying around and a 2x4 for my tarp support. The tarp is an extra heavy duty with UV protection I bought of ebay for $30. Has held up well. Unless my boat is soaking wet after fishing or hunting, it gets covered the instant it is cleaned up until next trip. If it is really wet, I usually let it sit uncovered with the hatches open to give everything a chance to dry out before it gets covered up. Being that my tarp provides UV protection I'm able to leave my seats, decoys and other gear in the boat without worry of things fading or getting beat up by the sun.

I spent WAY to much time and effort modifying/fixing up my boat to let her sit in the elements with no protection.

 

[Kismet]

Thank you, Folks, nice work.

Since I didn't do any work on the F-7, and haven't installed seats, I'm going to use the tarps as described, and just because Wisconsin occasionally throws a foot or more of heavy snow, I'm going to top the tarps off with barnyard tin, 4x8 sheets of metal used to cover pole shed roofs. That should distribute any weight and still let the rain and such sheet off with the tongue of the trailer elevated.

I was hoping for some miraculous solution. I don't think I'm going to keep on doing a project boat each summer, but were I to do so, I believe the easiest way to use the one "boat bay" in the shed would be to put together a scaffolding and get the neighbor to bring his skid-steer over and lift the second boat over the top of the first.

Enjoy Winter, as you can.

:mrgreen:

 

[juggernot]

My bad, I used cheaper 1.5" not 2" pvc for my frame and only the T's on the floor are glued. The top Ts and 90s are just slip fitted so I can pull it apart and toss it in the yard when I take her out. I tried to make it tall enough to sorta clear the side console windshield and help rain and snow slide off. When snow/ice has built up on my setup I just slap it w my hand and it all slides/falls off. I imagine if it was taller-steeper pitch and the tarp pulled tight all around some snow would slide off by itself. I get about 3 years out of the cheap silver/uv safe tarps. I leave the front/back slightly open so air can circulate under the tarp.