Auto boat cover? Who has a good reference for best way to cover a 40'er on a lift?

scottsmith · 05-27-2007, 06:11 AM

Hi guys, I am a month away from bringing our new boat home and have a huge desire to keep the new boat looking great....ie covered when not in use. There's a company called Automatic boat lift covers out of Orlando area that makes an auto retract cover to cover the boat at push of a button. Anyone used them or saw their stuff in action? or have any advice to cover a 40' boat x 12' beam? I have a wrap around dock and she is going on a 4 post lift behind my house. Some people just canvas the back deck, helm area and motors. I want to keep the whole frigginn boat out of the Fl. sun but due to marshall law type home owners restrictions can't put a roof over my dock area.
My prior 24 Pathfinder had a full cover in 2 sections separated by a zipper. It worked great albeit at the expense of taking a while (15 min) so I found myself covering it less and less.
A p.i.a to cover big boat alone, I have no problems asking my crew to assist in the "let's all have a cover the boat celebration session" on the new ride at the end of the excursion.
My usage pattern is 3-4 times a month March-Nov and once a month in winter.
What do you suggest? Is there a "best way" to cover a boat this big?
Looking forward very much to your opinions and THANKS a bunch!
Scott

scottsmith · 05-28-2007, 07:09 AM

ANYONE?

Rod H · 05-28-2007, 07:34 AM

You say you cannot cover dock but what about the lift? This works well for me http://www.waterwayboatliftcovers.com/covers.htm

endoman · 05-28-2007, 07:35 AM

Custom made Sunbrella cover.
You'll hate putting it on the first few times, 5 years later you'll never regret it.

scottsmith · 05-28-2007, 01:04 PM

I hear ya endoman. That's what I am thinking. Do the custom cover and let it instead of the boat take the Florida sun beating. I can't put any kind of a structure over the lift or would be all over that idea!
I just wonder how many sections this cover would be made up of???? Wonder if they could make it in two sections?
Does anyone have a guess how much a sunbrella custom cover for a 40x12 boat would cost?

Mr. Demeanor · 05-28-2007, 01:19 PM

Theres a company that makes covers out of parachute material now. Very light weight and easy to work with. stows in a small bag. Ill see if I can find a link. I think they are an advertiser over at Speedwake.com

Mr. Demeanor · 05-28-2007, 01:20 PM

http://www.carriecovers.com/products.php

Mr. Demeanor · 05-28-2007, 01:24 PM

I like the idea.

http://www.carriecovers.com/gallery.php

rkatz · 05-28-2007, 02:36 PM

Just ordered a top for my 23' x 8' boat and it's going to be about $1200 out the door. I assume you could pretty much double that for your boat.

endoman · 05-28-2007, 03:29 PM

Quote:

scottsmith - 5/28/2007 1:04 PM

I hear ya endoman. That's what I am thinking. Do the custom cover and let it instead of the boat take the Florida sun beating. I can't put any kind of a structure over the lift or would be all over that idea!
I just wonder how many sections this cover would be made up of???? Wonder if they could make it in two sections?
Does anyone have a guess how much a sunbrella custom cover for a 40x12 boat would cost?

My best guess is you're looking at about 4K for a custom cover.
It will have to be two pieces in order to accomodate the T/hardtop.
The most important thing is it fits VERY tight with no sagging. Sags will pool water and the cover will be toast.
I know some will doubt me but when I took delivery of my last boat it went straight to the canvas shop for the cover.
I recently sold it (5 years old) and it still looked brand new. I got top dollar even in this lousy used market.
Hope this helps, a cover will pay for itself over and over.