The cheapest boat cover – In this video, we will show you how to make an effective boat cover with a simple and affordable material – UV resistant polyvinyl.
With this process, you can protect your boat from all weather conditions for less than 20 euros. This affordable solution is ideal for those looking for a practical way to protect their boat from rain, snow and sun.
The cheapest boat cover, The cheapest boat cover, The cheapest boat cover,
Impact of fallen foliage
Autumn has come to the country. Falling leaves from the trees and from the fence also started to collect on Ariki.
Leaves on a boat first acts as a natural protection against weather influences such as rain, snow and ice. Thus, the overlay helps to preserve the color underneath.
But this leaves will begin to decay over time due to the effects of weather, moisture and microorganisms. Decomposition of organic material causes a change in Ph and consequently affects the color. After all, if the leaves decomposes, it stains the surface underneath. However, such stains often cannot be cleaned.
Therefore, it is necessary to regularly remove leaves from the boat. To sweep and clean the boat every day? No, no, it really doesn’t work that way.
The cheapest boat cover
The ideal solution to this problem is a boat cover. Ariki measures 8 m in length. The width of both of its hulls is 2.5 m. In order to cover and protect such a surface, you need a cover, tarpaulin or whatever it is called.This sheet must therefore be 9 m long and 4 m wide. So this is 36 m2. But that can’t be cheap.
We asked the sailor who has a workshop in the neighboring village. The price with a hefty friendly discount would still be close to 1,000 euros. It was too much for our empty pocket. It was necessary to find a different way.
The cheapest boat cover, The cheapest boat cover, The cheapest boat cover,
Polyvinyl instead of tarpaulin
The solution is polyvinyl. But not the usual, ordinary one that is sold by all technical and construction stores. Such polyvinyl is not UV resistant and begins to disintegrate after the first year of exposure to the sun and weather.
You need to go to a garden or farm store to buy that kind of polyvinyl. There they sell one that is UV resistant and is intended for covering greenhouses. Such polyvinyl lasts 6 years outdoors. This is guaranteed by the manufacturer. In our home garden, however, it turned out that it can last another year or two.
The process of making the cover is simple: you only need a long piece of UV-resistant polyvinyl, which you attach to the boat with the help of a rope. Proper tying at the corners and sides will ensure even distribution and secure attachment of the overlay.
The price of 9 m long and 4 m wide polyvinyl was 18 euros at the time of purchase.
All we need beside that is 6 short ropes. There are more than enough of such old ropes with a thickness of 5 and 6 mm on Ariki.
Knotting at the corners
Polyvinyl is tied on all four corners and in the middle of both sides.
First, make a loop around a sufficiently long corner of the polyvinyl and tighten it tightly,…
Then we fold the end of the polyvin back and tightly wrap everything together a few times with a rope and tie it.
So, the first knot is done.
Let’s go again, if you didn’t see everything with the previous knot, I hope the next clip will clarify something else.
First, just make a tightening loop around the end of the polyvinyl and tighten it well.
Then we bend the end of the polyvinyl back and tightly wrap everything together with a rope. We make a sliding tightening knot and tighten it strongly. Watch the video!
Side knotting
We do the same on the sides as on the ends. We simply take the edge of the polyvinyl in the middle of the edge of the side and crumple it. We tie and connect it in the same way as at the corners. In this way, the sides are shortened, and the boat cover gets a shape that fits the boat well.
The cheapest boat cover, The cheapest boat cover, The cheapest boat cover,
Covering and tying
Polyvinyl is a light material, so it is easy and light to pull over the boat. Then it is necessary to arrange everything together. The polyvinyl should be leveled and aligned so that both sides of the boat, as well as the front and back, are covered evenly.
Tie the ropes from the sides together under the hulls.
We connect the back and front corners together. Due to the knots that shortened the sides, a bulging tarpaulin was formed, which covers the boat almost perfectly.
Warm shaft and air pocket
Yes, it’s true, sometime in the future it will be necessary to make a simple wooden structure that will allow the water not to lag anywhere on the boat and not to press the polyvinyl on the boat. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to make an air pocket between the hulls of the boat and the boat covers made of any material.
If polyvinyl is stuck to a boat or other material for a long time, the moisture that accumulates between the polyvinyl and the surface of the object underneath will cause oxidation. This leaves stains on the surface. Due to the additional influence of the sun, it is quite possible that the paint will crack on tightly covered surfaces. Under the transparent polyvinyl there is a real warm bed on sunny days.
