Covers while car topping

lasersailor184544

lasersailor184544

Member
I have been having troubles with my covers lately. I put the top one on first., crank on the straps, and then I put the top one on, crank on the straps, and then pull the draw string until it is extremely tight. No matter what I do the covers still fill with air and flap around. Would it be Ok to put the top cover on followed by the bottom cover? any other suggestions?
 
Stop putting two top covers on :D

W/O knowing which brand of covers you have, it's hard to say if you can get them to stop billowing, but most people I know only put on the bottom cover when putting the boat on top of the car. I you really want to put on the top cover, then put it on first, and then the bottom cover (but don't be surprised if the bottom cover starts filling up...


FWIW, it seems like covers made from Top Gun material are really good at not billowing, the covers made from the lighter nylon and even Sunbrella don't not seem as dimensionally stable and can stretch enough to let air fill them up
 
lasersailor184544 said:
I have been having troubles with my covers lately. I put the top one on first., crank on the straps, and then I put the top one on, crank on the straps, and then pull the draw string until it is extremely tight. No matter what I do the covers still fill with air and flap around. Would it be Ok to put the top cover on followed by the bottom cover? any other suggestions?
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If you are car topping always put the top/deck cover on first then the bottom cover. That way when the boat is upside down it won't fill with water if driving in the rain. The straps from the bottom cover will reducing flapping a little but you will still get it.
 
As long as we're on the subject, I have a cover question (hijack??)

I have a Colie top cover and a Kitty Hawk trailer. (It's behind a wagon and the back does billow up at speed - I put a rear tie down through the rudder gudgens) I would like to put a bottom cover on to keep the boat clean on long trips.

I often read here of bubbling and the danger of wet straps or carpet against the hull finish. You know water is going to get into the bottom cover somehow, and will be against the hull unless it can breath or vent.

What about this? Seems like the Colie was advertized as breathable fabric..??
 
Colie uses Top Gun. The material will trap moisture against the hull until it can evaporate out. On a trailering trip, this is not long enough time to worry about blisters IMHO.

If it were me, I would put on the bottom cover while it's moving down the road on the trailer.
 
I have a north sails bottom cover, I think that it is also called a storm. I also have a Colie top cover. No matter what I do they fill up with ALOT of air
 
49208 said:
Stop putting two top covers on :D
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I cartopped my boat without the top cover on, and I got black stains on the deck from the padding on the bars. The stains were really hard to get out. I eventually used acetone.

49208 said:
If it were me, I would put on the bottom cover while it's moving down the road on the trailer.
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You are one talented guy.
 
lasersailor184544 said:
I have a north sails bottom cover, I think that it is also called a storm. I also have a Colie top cover. No matter what I do they fill up with ALOT of air
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The Storm material is not as dimensionally stable as Top Gun, which is the main reason it billows.

I haven't looked at the Colie covers in a while, but my recollection was that the top covers were made oversize to allow for spars etc to be stored underneath - so, cranking on the straps will take out some that material, but if there are only 3 straps, there's an awful lot of space in between them that will not be tight.

I had user 48111 make me a bottom cover from Top Gun, and asked for 4 or 5 tie points on each side and one in the back and one on the bow. I can put any top cover on first and then the bottom cover - instead of tying across, I zig zag starting from the stern loop (much like shoe lacing) to the bow - This keeps the bottom cover nice and tight and does not allow much room anywhere for the top cover to billow.. I was really happy with this setup on the most recent 3000 mile trip.

So, if your covers are billowing and you would like it to stop, consider adding more tie points on the sides. Any canvas shop, sailmaker, or someone with a half decent sewing machine can sew on a few webbing loops. You could even hand stitch them on.
 
Covers serve a few purposes while cartopping:

1. They increase windage and spend money that could have been spent on food or equipment
2. They wear out faster on the road and need to be replaced sooner and spend money that could have been spent on food or equipment
3. They make the boat harder to lift and heavier and cause more hernias and spend money that could have been spent on food or equipment
4. They take time to put on and time to take off and spend time that could have been spent sleeping or sailing or eating
5. They collect a lot of road dirt and cause the uesrs to get filthy hands which needs to be washed off and of course that takes trime and money.
6. They rattle and shift while being dragged through the wind and wear off gelcoat and generally harm the hulls and decks which then need to be repaired and spend money that could have been spent on food or equipment
7. They must be removed before any long term exposure to water or they will cause blistering on the entire hull and deck. ( this either talkes a little time after each trip or takes lots of time to earn enough money to replace the screwed up finish.

The finish on cars is no where near as durable as the finish on boats yet people don't seem to feel a need to cover their cars while driving down the road.

We do cover the down side of the bottom boat when we use our double deck trailer and I have a screen in front of the keel on my J-22 and J-24 trailer. Gravel does occasionally get lifted by the pulling vehicle.

When I see somebody carefully installing a hull and deck cover and then lifting the package onto the top of a Suburban, I know the owner is trying to "take care of the boat" and I know the opposite is usually the case.
 
I'm all for easy
I'm all for more time and money for eating and drinking!!

Besides I wrecked a cover on my last trip down to Stuart FL
 
knot_moving said:
I'll just ask the easter bunny to help clean my boat when i come to the easter regatta :)
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The last guy who tried dipping Mr E. Bunny's fluffy tail in a soapy bucket was.....

well ...


raisins.jpg


don't worry, these actually are dried grapes....

But you probably get the idea...
 
More seriously...

about road tar and road dirt and all those evil nasties....

My truck has about 45,000 miles on it and no road tar yet. I just don't see much reason to spend hundreds of dollars on covers to prevent something that rarely happens and can be easily washed off if it did happen.

If I stocked bottom covers, I would not sell many as I would be forever telling my customers I think bottom covers are a waste of money..
I do keep my boat covered while it sits on the dock.

I have occasionally traveled with my cover on the deck, becuase the boat is a convenient place to store the cover and my five boat trailer holds the cover against the deck and allows very little windage that flaps covers against decks.

I have a really nice botom cover that came with a boat I bought in early 1996. It is in great condition because I don't use it.

To each his / her own
 
Are people still talking about bottom covers when car topping. I trail and always use a bottom cover (even for 15 mins down the road). Not so much against dirt but to afford some protection from stones hitting the hull (the occasional ones that get flung upwards - you only have to look closely at my car bonnet to see that it does happen and is not exceptional).


Ian
 
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