Chrysler Sailors Forum

Hi all,
Been lurking for a while, and its time to put Dia Dulce to bed for the winter. I would like to do a better job protecting her cockpit and cabin entry from the rain and snow of New England. Would any of you have gone down the path of making your own cabin tarp before? I have tried several 'frame work with generic tarp stretched over them', and none have really done a good job. Usually they are eventually defeated by the snow. So, I was looking at something that sat close over the cockpit, perhaps stretching over the entryway, and was held tight in some fashion.


Chris

Chris...check out my video on my method of covering the boat...it has stood up to two seasons of Wisconsin winter with no failures as of yet...here is the framework that I have used...crude but effective...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU-NQ6UNKeI&feature=plcp

For the overall coverage watch the cover tour video also on my YouTube channel...astrorad2000

Thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for. You wouldn't know the length of those 2x4's off the top of you head, would you?

We get a bit of snow here in WI too. I tarp mine with old-fashioned canvas tarp, supported by the mast and 4' 1x4's. I got some seat belts from a junkyard, and use a 6" piece to connect 2 1x4's end-to-end with about a 4" gap. They are draped over the mast to form an inverted V resting on the gunwhales, and any protruding ends are trimmed with a Skilsaw. You can number them from bow to stern, and they form a neat little bundle for summer storage. Larry

Oops...forgot to mention that I always support the horizontal mast at the mast step so it doesn't bow under the weight of the snow. Fenders work great for this. This may not be a problem on the C22 mast, but I do it for my Sovereign 17, American Fiberglass 17 2+2, and Guppy13.