Plywood cover for open bow

[Arminus]

I was thinking I might take my 20' Searay Bowrider into the San Juans in 2021 so I built a removable bow cover out of 3/8" MDO plywood. I've posted a number of projects in the Searay blog but the response to this one was generally unfavorable. Curious as to what you might think as this project has been suggested in this forum before.
Here are photos at the rough out stage. I did not put it back on the boat after finish work and painting.

 

[GA_Boater]

Howdy. Where was it suggested in this forum?

 

[mr 88]

What is the purpose of it ? Casting deck , rain protection ,wave protection ? You have a lot of sharp corners on your metal brackets which should of been rounded off at the very least. Exposed bolt heads vs acorn nuts that stop on the head of the bolt is also a good idea. If for fishing platform I would of just put the plywood on top of the bow seats for a lower center of gravity and would look a whole lot better than what now looks like a cob job between the brackets and the overall fit of the plywood.

 

[Scott Danforth]

not sure why you would add something that ugly to the bow of your searay. the standard bow seating cover suffices in keeping water out of the bow area if you take a wave over the bow in 7 foot rollers.... BTDT and have the tee shirt. it will however slide the water up and over the windshield and you still get wet.

plus the standard sunbrella snap on cover folds up and can fit in your pocket.

 

[Arminus]

Howdy. Where was it suggested in this forum?

I researched the subject before building my own. All seemed to conclude that there were good and sufficient reasons not to embark on an innovative project. Anyway, here's a thread in this forum:

Fiberglass Bow Cover for Bow Rider

Good Morning Thinking about having a reinforced fiberglass bow cover made for our 2008 Bayliner 195 Discovery. The cover would be perimetered with a tough rubber seal and fit snugly (and precisely) inside the bow just below the rail. It would be secured--from popping off--by bungi corded...

forums.iboats.com

The discussion here was fairly reasonable. The upscale tenor in Searay seems to be that, having paid enough already, there was no need to pay anymore. Their boats are sacrosanct and mods have to be approved by the factory. Searay owners also seem to be managerial and incapable of manual labor. My favorite was from an obvious office worker who suggested I put the tonneau back on and reinforce it by wrapping the bow with strapping tape.

 

[Arminus]

What is the purpose of it ? Casting deck , rain protection ,wave protection ? You have a lot of sharp corners on your metal brackets which should of been rounded off at the very least. Exposed bolt heads vs acorn nuts that stop on the head of the bolt is also a good idea. If for fishing platform I would of just put the plywood on top of the bow seats for a lower center of gravity and would look a whole lot better than what now looks like a cob job between the brackets and the overall fit of the plywood.

Had a good boating season this year and dreaming about 2021. Used to take a 18' Seaswirl Cuddy with a 150 Johnson up to Suchia Island State Park with its protected harbor warm enough to ski in. Biggest problem is fog getting home. Once I found myself in a train of small boats in the safe wake of a ferry going back to the terminal alongside the ramp at WA Park. So, I'm slow, semi-planing and wandering and at the edge of that large wake. Water came over the bow and up the tallish cuddy enclosure. The thought stuck with me for decades that having a closed bow was a good idea.
I finished the edges of my plywood and painted it with oil. It is now stored under my home's deck. Maybe I will use it and maybe I will just armchair away. The double angles below the windshield are solid. The Metals Supermarket in Everett quoted $500 for a 5'x8'x 1/8" sheet of 6061 aluminum. With the fence post legs underneath, that would be very strong.

 

[Scott Danforth]

you still have not answers why you need it.

as I stated, with the sunbrella bow cover on you can literally plow into a 7 foot wave at 20mph and the wave will wash over the canvas, up the windshield and land on your head. This was done with my SeaRay 190 often

at slower speeds the water will wash off the sides with minimal water in the cockpit.

according to your posts i guess I am incapable of manual labor. I guess I never knew that.


so what is the point of 3/8" plywood that is too thin to stand on an you must drill extra holes to secure with cheap aluminum angle that will corrode into a white fuzzy mess in a little over a month?

 

[JimS123]

If I were to ever post an odd idea on a forum, and were to get lambasted up and down 100% by everyone on the forum, I would then either take the sage advice, or go ahead and do it anyway.....quietly. To post on another forum to try and get validity from a different group of people fits the great Doctor Einstein's definition.....doing it over and expecting a different result.

The other forum was not nearly as respectful as this one. They even suggested the term "troll". In any event, this just reinforced my conclusion that this is the best forum (and moderators) on the net.

 

[GA_Boater]

If I were to ever post an odd idea on a forum, and were to get lambasted up and down 100% by everyone on the forum, I would then either take the sage advice, or go ahead and do it anyway.....quietly. To post on another forum to try and get validity from a different group of people fits the great Doctor Einstein's definition.....doing it over and expecting a different result.

The other forum was not nearly as respectful as this one. They even suggested the term "troll". In any event, this just reinforced my conclusion that this is the best forum (and moderators) on the net.

Took the words right outta my mouth, Jim. Thanks so I didn't have to take the hit. LOL

 

[sphelps]

Wow Scott ! If I had realized a complete re-gellcoat of a really big boat was just a managerial job with no manual labor involved I would have re-gell coated all my boats ... You should have told us !

 

[mr 88]

Water came over the bow and up the tallish cuddy enclosure. The thought stuck with me for decades that having a closed bow was a good idea.

Why in the world did you not listen to yourself and buy a boat with a closed bow ? If you had that thought bouncing around in your head for decades some simple research would of told you ,yes , closed bows are the way to go considering the type of water I am boating in.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Wow Scott ! If I had realized a complete re-gellcoat of a really big boat was just a managerial job with no manual labor involved I would have re-gell coated all my boats ... You should have told us !

exactly, not to mention hand-building a custom engine and now a custom carb......

 

[Lou C]

I had this same thought but realized plywood would never look the way I wanted it to look and also thought of a cover made of a foam core covered with ‘glass but also realized I’d have to pay a professional since I don’t have the ‘glass skills to make it look good. I also thought you still need access to the bow for anchoring and mooring so any cover you’d make still has to be strong enough to walk/stand on like a cuddy/walk around or fold up so you can access the bow.

So instead I reinforced the support for my sunbrella bow cover and leave it on whenever it gets windy or rough out. That and added an emergency back up 2000 gph bilge pump!

BTW very few companies make closed bow boats any longer at least in the smaller 17-20 foot size range here in the States but they are common in other parts of the world like Northern Europe and Australia...

 

[Arminus]

I had the idea that many of the members here were Navy or Coast Guard, active, retired, or reserve. Figured you guys were blue water sailors who might be familiar with my concerns. I guess I was mistaken and your stated ranks are honorifics. Oh well, I'm happy with this little project undertaken before the boat was put away and glad to share.

 

[Arminus]

I had this same thought but realized plywood would never look the way I wanted it to look and also thought of a cover made of a foam core covered with ‘glass but also realized I’d have to pay a professional since I don’t have the ‘glass skills to make it look good. I also thought you still need access to the bow for anchoring and mooring so any cover you’d make still has to be strong enough to walk/stand on like a cuddy/walk around or fold up so you can access the bow.

So instead I reinforced the support for my sunbrella bow cover and leave it on whenever it gets windy or rough out. That and added an emergency back up 2000 gph bilge pump!

BTW very few companies make closed bow boats any longer at least in the smaller 17-20 foot size range here in the States but they are common in other parts of the world like Northern Europe and Australia...

When you say "Sunbrella bow cover," I take it you mean a snap on canvas tonneau cover. How did you reinforce it? My boat is primarily for lake use but I wanted the option of putting it in Puget Sound ("blue water"). My cover is temporary and only to be installed prior to an expedition to the San Juans. I only used existing snap holes and #8 screws with the same pitch as the snaps and made no modifications to the boat. Anchoring or beaching overnight in salt water presents a whole different set of issues although I have a locker forward of the cover. The bowrider design may have less freeboard forward than a closed bow. I think those dual outboard offshore fishing boats have sailboat style valved transom drains so you can stand it up going on the plane and all the water drains out.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I had the idea that many of the members here were Navy or Coast Guard, active, retired, or reserve. Figured you guys were blue water sailors who might be familiar with my concerns. I guess I was mistaken and your stated ranks are honorifics. Oh well, I'm happy with this little project undertaken before the boat was put away and glad to share.

The ‘rank’ assigned members reflect number of post made, nothing more.

My guess is that your idea might be even less well received by Navy/Coast Guard types....

 

[Lou C]

When you say "Sunbrella bow cover," I take it you mean a snap on canvas tonneau cover. How did you reinforce it? My boat is primarily for lake use but I wanted the option of putting it in Puget Sound ("blue water"). My cover is temporary and only to be installed prior to an expedition to the San Juans. I only used existing snap holes and #8 screws with the same pitch as the snaps and made no modifications to the boat. Anchoring or beaching overnight in salt water presents a whole different set of issues although I have a locker forward of the cover. The bowrider design may have less freeboard forward than a closed bow. I think those dual outboard offshore fishing boats have sailboat style valved transom drains so you can stand it up going on the plane and all the water drains out.

Yes it’s the standard bow cover that would come with the boat and I took a triangular support plastic piece that is used for a full cover support system with straps and adapted it to fit a support pole that holds it up in the center. This supports it without damaging the fabric. There are other ways to do the same thing such as 2 transverse bows that go across underneath and fit into brackets you can buy at marine supply places. I use those for my winter cover support system.

PS
Thanks to Scott for “testing” the bow cover in all the years I’ve boated I haven’t taken a big one over the bow.
This brings up a real inadequacy of mass market consumer boats...a pitiful 500 gph single bilge pump. Upgrade this to a pair of 1100 gph units. I have a 2000 gph pump hooked up to long leads with alligator clips and a hose that I can drop in the bilge if something bad happens. I did this after a hose from the transom mount to the P/S cooler popped off and the impeller in the Cobra drive filled the bilge with salt water and of course the engine overheated leading to my top end overhaul a few years later.
Future boat requirements:
No open bows, has to be cuddy, walk around or pilot house
Self bailing hull
No more sterndrives outboard power only

Note to I/O owners: check all those hoses even the ones behind the engine you can hardly reach. I have since then every year!

first pic shows the transverse bows (fiberglass) I use to support my winter canvas cover instead of shrink wrap. The support system takes about 30 min to set up and holds up to snow & ice pretty well. These could be used to support a bow cover as well. I just use the big triangular plastic piece with a pole, for both the bow and cockpit covers. On the mooring even when it rains hard the boat hardly gets wet inside.

 

[Scott Danforth]

the factory sunbrella cover comes with a pole in the middle to hold it up.

snap it on, with the pole and voila...... all you need. No additional reinforcing needed.

if it handles 30 miles of 7-8 foot rollers on Lake Michigan going from Deaths Door to Egg Harbor with a wave coming over the bow every 30 seconds or so, it will handle your little jaunt to San Juan islands.

 

[Grub54891]

Been on lake superior with my 17.5 Larson. Perfect calm day, left my bowcover home. Not a good idea, the wind kicked up about ten miles from home. I was taking water over the bow every other wave. Filled the ski locker full all the way to the bow under the floor. Considered beaching it but got it drained out, luckily the engine bilge stayed dry, left the pump on steady. The canvass cover would have prevented this mess.

 

[Outlw36]

Years ago while stationed at Whidbey Island, I had a buddy who used to head out the straits to fish. I always turned him down on going along. I preferred to fish the lakes. Besides I wasn't about to head out in that little 12 footer he had. One morning he tied off in Anacortes and went in to buy some beer. When he returned the authorities were busy writing him a ticket. As he approached he could see his gas tank and some other items floating and the bow of his boat barely sticking out of the water. Seems he forgot to put the plug in the boat.

Jim Allen