Cover support ideas for tin boats kept on a mooring

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onthewater102

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Anyone else out there tether their tinny but don't want it all full of water each time you go to use it? Float switches lead to water logged foam, and I found my boat was too small for the float switch to ever really trip on - the flat bottom evenly distributes the water along the bottom & doesn't direct run-off to the stern.

I bought a boat cover that fits but water pools on top of it & seeps through into the boat eventually. First chance I get I'd like to get my boat tied off behind the house but right now that's not an option until I can support the boat cover in a simple way that prevents the pooling but also is easy to store. Right now I'm looking at the following:
h4RbqbV.jpg

from https://www.boatcovers.com/Boat_Cover_Support_System_boat_cover_accessory.html?products_id=4651 but I'm not confident there are enough straps to prevent the pooling issue.

If I go that route I'll have the cover snapped to the side of the boat and I'll try and maximize the tension on the supports to keep the fabric taught enough to avoid pools but I'm not 100% confident this will work.
 
The only way we ever got mooring covers to work is to have a steeper pitch. The steep pitch can alleviate a lots of issues where otherwise one would need the cover to be really tight and/or supported.

But one friend, on a similar boat to yours, came up with the idea to use the cover to pool the water into the splashwell, where water in the center (a flattened portion 2' wide or so) of the cover, from about the windshield back to the stern would drain naturally in the splashwell. There he had those 1-way 'ball scuppers' that allow water out but don't let the water in. He had a slight pitch from the flat-center portion down to the rubrail.

The cover and supports were clearly custom made and it took more than a few minutes to put it up and take it down.

My biggest issue ... is where the heck to store the supports and cover when you just want to go fishing! So I make sure I have a spare battery and I swap them out every 6-weeks or so, or what I think might be needed as based upon the past or upcoming weather reports.

FWIW I use the T-H Marine 'ball scuppers' on my current tin skiff, as I fish a lot of rips and I want to avoid as much saltwater running into the boat as I can - and they work flawlessly! They even have a small SS screw one loosens and the cover turns off with a 1/4-turn, so you can clean it simply and easily.
 

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Yeah, it's the question of what to do with them when I want to use the boat. It's a really steep bank so carting stuff up and down isn't much of an option. There is no where to store PVC or a wooden frame short of lugging it back to the house. I wish I could have a proper dock, in which case I could just have a box on the dock for everything, but naturally with all the regulators looking to tax the hell out of you if you even think of such a thing .
 
Dumb idea, but that the heck! Maybe you could make a small raft/float out of 3 to 4' lengths of closed 6" PVC pipes that floats next to your mooring ball and you can throw the frame on it when you use the boat. When the boat is covered, just tether the raft off the stern.

I use (well, 'need' really ...) a 12' skiff to get out to my 16' boat that is out on the mooring, so if/when I do something for a mooring cover, or as we had in the past. then I'll just throw it in the small skiff for the day.

For a cover, I think I'd consider one big 'U'-shaped frame of PVC, taller than even a typical boat windshield, that mounts upside-down and has a simple web strap from the bow cleat to the frame and back to the stern. See picture as attached from a google search for the concept. Hopefully that center strap would eliminate the pooling in front of the motor of this one as shown ...
 

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Hmm...that has me thinking one step further out of the box...use pvc to make a free-floating canopy that the boat ties off under like a floating garage...wonder if the bureaucrats up town would consider that to be a "dock" or a "structure" and come after me for money for one of their worthless permits.
 
How about a simple "bimini" type support that would swivel down and lie flat when you are using the boat? Pvc would work.

Best wishes.
 
Mine, now on a dock, had a foot of water in it the other day. Seems that the "float" switch forgot to "float".

New bilge pump & switch, with an internal float, is on its way.

If that doesn't work, Ill go back to keeping her on the trailer just up the hill. PIA to launch and recover every time I want to go fishing for two hours, though. That is why I paid for the in-the-water slip. Bah humbug #$#%@ richg99

p.s. good comment about float switches not keeping ALL of the water out and getting your foam waterlogged. Don't know how I feel about that, now that I think of it. Guess I am glad that my new flooring is just screwed down and not riveted. rg
 
My dad has a jon that is in the water all the time in his friends back yard. It is always full of water. Bilge never works and always gets clogged up with leaves and sticks and seeds from the trees. Requires constant attention to keep that thing in order.

Only thing I could see doing is have a winch line up on shore. When your done fishing pull it up out of the water and pull the plug out. Keep it on the hill with the back of the boat toward water.
 
For a GREAT reliable bilge pump that uses no moving parts (uses field-effect technology that 'senses' water) consider the Marpac 500 bilge pump, only $56 or so. Here's one retailer:
https://www.marinesurplusinc.com/marpac-premier-600-gph-automatic-bilge-pump/

These are actually pumps made by Johnson Pump and their brand of pumps were always the top rated pumps as tested by the former "Power Boat Tests" magazine, which was a type of 'consumer reports' for offshore boating. My bother had a Johnson pump last 14-seasons in his Grady White and even then he only had to change out the pressure changing switch, not the pump assy itself.

In any boat I've ever installed a Johnson pump ... I've never had to replace it. Most of the fleet of boats at my boatclub (16 at the dock) now have Johnson pumps, and it seems like every year we change out 1 or 2 Rule pumps to be Johnson or Marpacs.
 

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OK I took Dale H's advice. I am returning my Amazon Yeamart Marine auto bilge pump and have ordered the MarPac 600.

It will cost an extra $20.00 or so, but if Dale says it is the best...that is what I want.

richg99
 
It looks like those are telescoping poles so you should be able to make the cover nice and tight. I kept one of my previous boats covered after the cheap float switch failed and it filled with muddy river water. It was a pain to take the cover off and then put it back on each time even at a floating dock. My current Lowe has a separate float switch and bilge pump and it works fine. But the water does run to the back. Sounds like you just might need a bigger engine to help the water run to the back! :mrgreen: I did run into a problem with my cover on the previous boat getting partially blown off the boat several times during heavy storms.
 
Given the many thousands (maybe millions) of small boats that are moored on docks around the world, you'd think that someone could invent an easily mounted; wind and rain resistant boat cover.

I have a dock on only one side, and that is how many, many boats are tied off. Putting a cover on and then removing it four or five times a week just isn't practical.

Must be some way to add weights all around the bottom or magnetic snaps that could make the job a breeze. I could see a self inflatable bubble in the center to keep a tent-like slope on the cover to shed rainwater.

There is a million dollars or more waiting out there for the one who comes up with a solution to this never-ending problem.

richg99
 
So far what sounds like my best option came from my father of all people, who suggested getting a length of nylon strap (tie down strap material) that could run from the bow of the boat to the stern and use fiberglass tent poles to span the boat and run them through slots sewn into the strap. They will be more flexible than the flat fiberglass bar material most cover supports use so I will get a higher arch out of them to keep the cover drawn up tight & prevent sagging, but they will fold up nicely and allow me to tuck them away in my limited compartment space on my little tinny...he suggested supporting the cover at four points staggered around the other obstructions already in the boat (trolling motor/side console etc.) and if I'm still getting pooling along the edges after I have everything tight I can always add nylon webbing in the areas I'm getting pooling to provide support between the spans.

We'll see...thanks all for your input & thought. Assuming I go this way I'll get pics up as soon as its done assuming it's a success.
 
It6BoHB.jpg


Ordered these poles thru amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001A74VMK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 They come with the metal nipple end so I should be able to simply drill a hole in the gunwales to mount them. If they're not aluminum I'll add rubber grommets or plastic inserts to the drill holes to keep them from making a mess. I already have a long section of nylon tie-down style strap material that will make the spine support. Should have it together by the weekend w/ pics 2 follow.
 
Looks like the tent poles were a home run - thank you dad!! I still need to add the snaps to the cover and the hull but I'm really liking what I'm seeing in the pole bows. They took a while to trim to size, I only cut the poles that met the gunwales, taking half the overage from each to keep them even and leave the longest poles to do the flexing. I need to order a fifth for the very front (currently there is a road cone under there on the front bench port side) but the areas supported by the bows are nice and taught with a near vertical drop along the gunwales so pooling should not be an issue. I will need to either make a strap to mount to the bow and transom with loops for the poles or sew loops into the underside of the cover to keep the poles from shifting forwards and backwards, the material I had wasn't long enough.

They certainly fold up and will fit in my yet-to-be finished side compartment with the cover so I will be able to moor this behind the house.

Some progress pictures:

jlBn90E.jpg


PwrSTDU.jpg
 
I drilled holes in the tops of the gunwales, if you see in the pictures of the poles they have nipple ferrules so that made keeping their bases situated easy, but I need to make up a nylon strap with loops to keep the tops position correctly because right now they can shift anywhere from about a 10:30 position to a 1:30 position and that concerns me that a heavy rain could apply torque to the gunwales.
 
Looks great! I like the idea of webbing w/ a loop to hold each in position.

Looks similar to the frame work for "winter covers" I've made using heat-bendable PVC pipe as the frame. There too I learned you needed to somehow support the frame staying in its up-right position.
 

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