Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

[bruceb58]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

Glastron,<br /><br />Looks like you need more snaps on the corners.

 

[jeff_nicholas]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

Curious...<br />Why tow with a cover on?<br /><br />'Have to take it off when you get to the ramp.<br />And take it off again when you get home to wash her down and unload?<br /><br />We towed 14,000 miles from SC to Alaska and back -- there wasn't enough dirt inside the boat to mention. <br /><br />Is it the sun or rain that is the concern?<br /><br />

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

Originally posted by Nick in Spartanburg, SC:<br /> Curious...<br />Is it the sun or rain that is the concern?<br />

Yes

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

towing from Daytona to Jacksonville, last week. have $1500 worth of Sunbrella bow and cockpit covers. just by luck the were still hanging on bearly. had to stop on the interstate and stow them.

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

Somone asked why cover? <br /><br />For short local jaunts in nice weather, I don't cover either. But for long cross country trips and vacations, you're protecting from sun, rain, wind blowing stuff out of the boat, slightly discouraging opportunistic thieves, and plus you're getting better gas mileage (assuming no flap...a flapping cover will actually drink MORE gas). I can't imagine taking a long trip without covering a boat. A lot of these pics show very nicely what you're striving for. A very TIGHT fit.

 

[am_dew]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

Like craze1cars, I don't cover for local trips, just for long trips in order to protect from the weather and to discourage theft of anything I may stow in the boat.

 

[Pony]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

Originally posted by Nick in Spartanburg, SC:<br /> Curious...<br />Why tow with a cover on?<br /><br />'Have to take it off when you get to the ramp.<br />And take it off again when you get home to wash her down and unload?<br /><br />We towed 14,000 miles from SC to Alaska and back -- there wasn't enough dirt inside the boat to mention. <br />

I cover all the time for a couple of reasons. For one most of my fishing trips are over an hour travel each way, and I like to save whatever gas I can. While you might find it a pain to have to take the cover off at the launch etc, I find it more of a pain to put everything in the boat that would've blown out otherwise.(Life jackets, rods, tackleboxes, coolers, bucket of rags etc) Plus I have had the mooring ropes come lose and get damaged from flapping in the air. <br /><br />My cover is set up for easy removal, plus my boat is incredibly easy to cover. I have eyehooks bolted all over the trailer. I precut the straps to fit the trailer, so when I get to the launch I literaly only need to undo 4 or 5 clasps and the cover goes in the truck.<br /><br />If I have a bad day on the water where saw dust or crap from the bait containers and other stuff gets all over I will put the stuff that can fly away in the truck and seceure other stuff and drive home uncoverd to air out. Otherwise my boat is covered 100% of the time. I open the corners a few times a week to air it out in summer.<br /><br />Part of why I cover:<br /> <br /><br />The cover:<br />

 

[anyfishlldo]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

Why the cover?<br /><br /><br />Well for the "day trip" lake I usually go to I wouldn't worry, but if I am going far, especially to Powell which is a waaaay dusty drive I have so much more crap to transfer from truck to boat and i don't want dust everywhere (nor rain, but that's not too much of a concern out here).<br /><br /><br />But mainly so I won't have dust in everything, don't have to worry about poles, tackle etc on stops, another concern is that I think the dust was what killed my CD player. Plus, better mileage is never a bad thing.

 

[Pony]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

Do Any of you realize that trailer tires are only rated to 65MPH, and that is only if inflated to the Max reccommented PSI (usually 50PSI). I hope that the ones that regularly exceed that Max rated speed carry spares. I gave my last one away last week. Yes, the boater returned a brand spanking new to me a few days later.

Sure do Bert, I realize that and take note.......................but I think that is assuming that you are at the Max load as well. I don;t know about everyone else, but I could carry 2x the boat on the tires I have.

 

[ftcav]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

I just towed my 1997 Four Winns Horizon 180 1200 miles from Colorado to Kentucky Lake. I went without a cover because I had been warned about the flapping and possible damage to my gel coat. I drove 65-70 mph most of the trip. The one bad thing that happened is that the screws holding the rear bench seat in place all backed out or ripped out of the floor and back panel. Half way across Kansas I had to stop and dismantle the seat and secure it for the rest of the trip. I think the wind just got under the seat and the seat became a wing - it really wanted to take off and eventually did. Next time I'll try it with a cover, which leads to my question.

I have a custom fit heavy canvas cover with all the reinforcement in the right places. The cover uses bungee cords to hold it to the trailer. I've noticed the covers in the catalogs use straps to attach to the trailers. Does anyone know if my bungee cords are sufficient or should I convert to straps?

I know the best test will be to take the boat to the highway and run it at 65 mph and see what happens- just curious what you all think.

By the way, Kentucky Lake was awesome,

 

[scottykrug]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

First post for me- here it goes-be gentle.....

We have a cover made by a friend who builds cargo covers for semis. We took our old thin cover to him and had him copy it with a material that is extremely thick (imagine sunbrella coated with rubber). This stuff is almost indestructable but on the downside, does not breathe. We have had it for 5 years and it is going strong. We travel at 65 mph without any problem.

Regarding the bimini, we drove to the lake from town one day without the cover (about 10 miles) with a stiff headwind. The bimini boot worked a small tear in it even though it was laid flat. We never tow without the cover now.

As for people that do not use a cover, I am all for it. So far, I have yet to purchase an orange life vest, I just collect them off of the median on the highway around memorial and labor day. Have found everything from fishing poles to expensive ski jackets. Lots of coolers of course, but they usually don't survive the impact with concrete at 55+ mph.

Scooter

 

[Pony]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

ftcav-

Most covers that are designed to be trailerable have straps. Mine has three straps are sewn into the cover on the top, and when its gets to the edge it has a buckle that attaches to the strap the goes either under the boat or to the trailer.

They do sell kits that will have a strap that goes over the top of the cover. I would recommend doing that or something similar to that if you are going to trailer with the cover. FWIW my coer has a cord sewn into the bottom that holds the cover tight on the hull......I haent seen any flapping issues if I keep the cover tight enough

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

If one is simply going from home to a nearby lake there is no real need for the cover except to keep things from flying out of the boat. Road trips are another story. A cover increases fuel economy and at todays fuel prices that can be significant on a several hundred mile trip. As pointed out earlier, most mooring covers are not trailerable. On covers with snaps, the leading edge should have some way of preventing air from getting under it. The nose bra on my boat does that (see earlier post).

 

[ftcav]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

ftcav-

Most covers that are designed to be trailerable have straps. Mine has three straps are sewn into the cover on the top, and when its gets to the edge it has a buckle that attaches to the strap the goes either under the boat or to the trailer.

They do sell kits that will have a strap that goes over the top of the cover. I would recommend doing that or something similar to that if you are going to trailer with the cover. FWIW my coer has a cord sewn into the bottom that holds the cover tight on the hull......I haent seen any flapping issues if I keep the cover tight enough

 

[ftcav]

Re: Traveling with or without canvas and max speed.

Pony -
Thanks for the reply. I did see the kit with the straps at WalMart. I have a cord sewn into the cover so I can pull the cover tight to the hull. I'll probably take the thing out on the highway before I put it away for the winter and experiment with the bungee cords and straps. I'm probably pretty close to having something that works. If it improves my gas mileage, I'll love it (11 mpg on my trip to and from Kentucky).