[C320-list] Winter Cover Experience

[islgirl3 at aol.com]

I purchased a North Shore winter cover 5 years ago. It is a 3 piece cover and takes about 90 minutes to put up by myself. No additional supports needed.
I am in NYC, so far so good.
RichBarbara Rita 897

Sent from AOL on Android 
 
  On Mon, May 6, 2024 at 11:53 PM, Rich Allen via C320-list<c320-list at lists.catalina320.com> wrote:   Thank you Michael, I like the idea of the side skirts.  Our current cover
goes to the waterline, which has helped preserve the gelcoat.  This spring
I used rubbing compound to remove 29 years of oxidation, and the hull
really shines.  The customer service sounds awesome.  I likely will include
them in the companies I get quotes from.  Today I received a quote from Top
Shop (Quinte Canvas) which is located north of Lake Ontario.  Their product
includes a frame allowing for mast up or down.  Does anyone have experience
with them?  With the heavy frame, shipping gets expensive bringing the
total to about $4500, certainly on the pricier side.

On Mon, May 6, 2024 at 1:59 PM Michael Leschisin via C320-list <
c320-list at lists.catalina320.com> wrote:

>
> Hey Rich,
>
> I can second Dave’s opinion on Shipshape Canvas being the way to go.
>
> When we bought our boat, it came with a canvas, tent style cover that came
> to just inside the toe rails.  All winter the snow slid down it, melt
> inside the toe rails and then would refreeze onto the decks.  Drove me
> crazy having a hockey rink all over my boat not to mention what it was
> doing to the bedded hardware.  I ordered a Shipshape the following year and
> love it.  It’s super solidly built with Top Gun fabric and I've had no
> issue with it in the last half a dozen years.  My boat is stored on the
> border of Northern Wisconsin and Michigan so as you can imagine, we tend to
> get plenty of winter weather.  We’ve had 6-8 inches of wet snow or more at
> times and the cover handles it fine.  I live about an hour and a half from
> the boat so if we do get a large snowfall, often times I can’t get to the
> boatyard until the weekend.  Its not unusual for me to get there and find
> the cover has warmed during a sunny day and the heavy snow has completely
> slid off.
>
> One of the major pluses I found with Shipshape is that their customer
> service is amazing.  After the first season with the new cover I wanted to
> have them do some modifications. (Have them sew some patches and double the
> fabric in a few areas where I had “pointy” hardware against it, double the
> length of the vents since I had some snow blow in during a blizzard, etc.)
> Don’t quote me on it, but if I recall correctly, they didn’t charge me
> anything for the modifications and even paid for the shipping.  A couple of
> years later, while caring the cover to the basement, it slid out of my
> hands, and hit a metal picture frame cutting a slit in the cover.  I think,
> I paid to ship it to them but they did the work and shipped it back free of
> charge.  Hard to beat that.
>
> If you do go with them, I would get the “deluxe" feature on the stanchion
> wraps.  It really seals the openings well and keeps the snow and most of
> the rain out.  I also ordered side skirts for ours and would recommend it.
> They basically hang off the stanchions and are designed to keep the UV rays
> off the hull.  I’ve heard UV exposure is actually worse in the winter and
> they also help keep the hull clean.  I do a down and dirty wax job before
> putting the boat to bed in the fall and when I recommission in the spring,
> everything comes off with a quick wash.  The boat actually looks good
> enough to splash as-is if I wanted to.  I would also go with the enclosed
> stern, which goes down to the bottom of transom and seals off the back of
> the boat.  One thing I found on this, is that the heavy snow will tend to
> settle in and build up behind the stern rails and then sag the cover a
> bit.  I solved the problem by tying a couple of long 1” PVC pipes to the
> back of the boom, then threading them over the transom and tying them to
> the lowest line securing the cover to the transom.  Once I did this, the
> snow slides off and I rarely find more than a handful of snow behind the
> rails.
>
> I store the boat mast up in the yard and in addition the cost factor, I
> feel there’s a better chance of something being broke if the rig is
> constantly being disconnected then reconnected each season.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
>
> Michael Leschisin
>
> Wild Blue Yonder
> 2004 C320 #995
> Menominee, MI
>
>
> > On May 5, 2024, at 12:33 PM, Rich Allen via C320-list <
> c320-list at lists.catalina320.com> wrote:
> >
> > Thank you Dave for the strong endorsement for ShipShape.  Can you
> describe
> > yours - is it a boom tent covering the toe rail and the stern?
> > Rich Allen
> > 1995 C320 #265
> > Rochester, NY
> >
> > On Sun, May 5, 2024 at 1:10 PM Dave Hupe <hoopdtwo at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Strongly recommend look into ShipShape Products, Inc. for a winter cover
> >> https://www.shipshapecanvas.com/index.php
> >> They have been great to work with and price beat all local suppliers. I
> >> knew several other owners here that got covers from them before me and
> are
> >> very happy..  I have had mine (boat stored on my cradle with mast up
> during
> >> the winter) now for 3 years.  I recommended ShipShape to others who also
> >> are very happy with theirs. I can provide more details if desired.
> >>
> >> Dave Hupe
> >>
> >> 1994 C320 #32
> >>
> >> Holland, MI
> >>
> >>
> >> On Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 12:56:24 PM EDT, Rich Allen via C320-list <
> >> c320-list at lists.catalina320.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> We are starting to shop for a winter cover for our 1995 C320 #265.  We
> are
> >> located in Rochester, NY, which has the potential for significant
> snowfall
> >> (though very little this year) as well as wind.  Our current cover came
> >> with the boat when we bought it 2 and a half years ago.  We took
> delivery
> >> of the boat in November after it was covered.  The cover uses the mast
> >> stored horizontally on the deck as the ridge pole, and goes over the
> >> lifelines covering the hull to the waterline.  The boat was positioned
> on
> >> the east side of a boat shed, and a windy lake-effect storm dropped a
> lot
> >> of show on the boat caving in the cover and bending a couple of
> >> stanchions.  Not wanting to repeat that, I have added fir strips to form
> >> ribs, and additional fir strips on top of the ribs parallel to the
> >> mast/ridge pole.  The whole affair takes a lot of time to transport,
> >> assemble and undue in the spring.  And to top it off, the cover is old
> and
> >> it leaks, so I put a poly-tarp over top of it.
> >>
> >> I think we can do better!
> >>
> >> After some research I am finding a few options which I am hoping to hear
> >> your feedback on, or other options if you have them.
> >>
> >> North Shore (
> http://www.northshorecanvas.net/sailboat-winter-covers.html).
> >> This uses TopGun fabric and tents over the boom.  A forum post from 2013
> >> was positive.
> >>
> >> TopShop (Quinte Canvas)  (https://www.topshop.on.ca/)
> >>
> >> Fairclough (https://fairclough.com/)
> >>
> >> The Canvas Store
> >>
> >> Kinder Industries
> >>
> >> What are your thoughts?  Also I am interested to hear if you take your
> rig
> >> down every year, or store with the rig up and the pros and cons.  Our
> >> current cover uses the mast as the ridge poll, which has some negatives.
> >> Taking the mast down and putting back up costs over $500 each season,
> and
> >> adds a lot of work.  Access to the instruments and wiring is possible,
> >> though it is difficult.
> >>
> >> Rich and Nan Allen
> >> SV Destiny
> >> 1995 #265
> >>
>
>