Trailering With Your Boat Covered

[Magic]

We tow with the cover off... I was wondering if any of you have ever had any friction rub issues on the Gel-coat while towing with the cover on? We will be heading to Powell later this year and might stay he night in Flagstaff and want to secure the contents (relatively) .....

 

[itsdgm]

I have not had any issues with the cover itself chaffing the hull. I did get a small scratch or two from the buckles that go around the tower the first time I used it. But that issue was solved with the seat belt covers pictured on the original post. But as always....results may vary.

 

[KXCam22]

I always tow with the poles in - a personal preference. I have tried both and prefer how it rides with the poles in. Mine has the suction vent on each side which seems to work very well. My boat was towed from Arizona to Kamloops with the poles in. No hull wear or cover fraying that I could find. The only wear has been on the rear seat tops where the cover touches them. I now place some thin blue camping foamies on the seat tops to pad them. Towels would work as well. I also put some cheap seatbelt pads over the pole straps where they touch the hull by the rear cleats. I had to eventually sew them to the straps to keep them in the right spot. I like the pool noodle on the windshield idea although my cover doesn't show any wear in that area but it may at some time. Cam.

ps The dealer I bought my boat from was shocked that I demanded the cover be on for the shipping. Their philosophy was that no boat gets towed with a cover on. They believed that an 1800 mile tow in blowing snow and winter road grime was less damaging that leaving the cover on. I am glad I made them keep the cover on as I got NO road grime and no cover caused damage. I couldn't imaging having 1800 miles of dirt and melted road salt inside my boat.

 

[Geiger41]

A lot of pole swinging on this thread.

 

[itsdgm]

I always tow with the poles in - a personal preference. I have tried both and prefer how it rides with the poles in. Mine has the suction vent on each side which seems to work very well. My boat was towed from Arizona to Kamloops with the poles in. No hull wear or cover fraying that I could find. The only wear has been on the rear seat tops where the cover touches them. I now place some thin blue camping foamies on the seat tops to pad them. Towels would work as well. I also put some cheap seatbelt pads over the pole straps where they touch the hull by the rear cleats. I had to eventually sew them to the straps to keep them in the right spot. I like the pool noodle on the windshield idea although my cover doesn't show any wear in that area but it may at some time. Cam.

ps The dealer I bought my boat from was shocked that I demanded the cover be on for the shipping. Their philosophy was that no boat gets towed with a cover on. They believed that an 1800 mile tow in blowing snow and winter road grime was less damaging that leaving the cover on. I am glad I made them keep the cover on as I got NO road grime and no cover caused damage. I couldn't imaging having 1800 miles of dirt and melted road salt inside my boat.

I agree with you on this one. I'd put the poles in too if the boat was going to be shipped without me being present to monitor the weather conditions. Most shippers would probably just pick up the boat and deliver it without being concerned overnight if it rained or snowed.

 

[Williamsone46]

@RobA @txav8r, I think the procedure changed once they came out with the deluxe premium mooring covers.

It makes sense to tow with the poles in to keep the bow of the cover from caving in and catching a lot of air. That is as long as the poles don't come through the cover.

As for me I only tow with the shipping cover w/ the poles in. For two reasons 1. To extend the life of premium cover and 2. The shipping cover is lined to prevent chafing.

 

[txav8r]

@Williamsone46 Just learning that they made a big change is good, can we find out when that cover hit the market, and if new covers ordered it older boats have this recommendation?

 

[Williamsone46]

The deluxe premium mooring cover came out in 2012 I believe. I will check into where they offer the deluxe cover for older model's.

 

[Candace]

Hi I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction. We keep our boat in the driveway and have been using the shipping cover that it came with. The anti pooling poles both broke because too much water built up on the sides of each pole. Looking at getting another cover that would do better, hopefully something that is tighter that won't pool water as bad. Any recommendations?

 

[justason]

Hi I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction. We keep our boat in the driveway and have been using the shipping cover that it came with. The anti pooling poles both broke because too much water built up on the sides of each pole. Looking at getting another cover that would do better, hopefully something that is tighter that won't pool water as bad. Any recommendations?

Have you considered a mooring cover ? I think they run $600 or so bucks. Also check out @JetBoatPilot at jetboatpilot.com. Will has made a new cover design as well. I believe he has a youtube vid on it ......i'll search for it

 

[itsdgm]

Welcome @Candace. A lot of guys buy from yamahasportsplaza.com Your cover must've been a bit stretched out. I use shipping covers for storage with the poles in too and don't get any water pooling. Then I use a mooring cover for towing and slip use. Not sure where you're located, I'm in sunny California so we don't get the snow that can sit on a cover and stretch it out. That seems to lead to polling and early cover failure. Anyway, glad to have you on the site.

 

[luckie_529]

I tow with my shipping cover and poles in. My straps to the poles have left rub marks behind my rear seats. We now place towels over the seats and in this area for protection. I can tell that my front pole has stressed the cover a lot but has not pushed through. I have towed the boat this year about 3000 miles with this cover on. The cover is also used while the boat is stored between uses.

The deluxe mooring cover is nice and we use it only while in the slip over night. The buckles now have covers over them to protect the boat.

 

[firecap797]

I put some white gorilla tape on the top and bottom of the shipping cover to reduce any friction between the top of the poles and the cover. Seems to have held up well so far with about 500 miles on the cover.

 

[McMark]

If just a short tow to the river or lake, I leave the poles in. On a long tow, no poles and I use the shipping cover instead. Another option instead of poles is to put an inflatable in the bow to hold the cover up. Maybe an inexpensive large beach ball for the guys that are shipping.

 

[yammiman]

Any ideas on covering the tower?...we trailer a minimum of an hour to any of the lakes we like and by time we get there the tower is covered with bugs and I spend an hour or more cleaning them off....I plan on adding a couple more speakers and a sound bar and shudder at the thought of having to clean them after every trip also...a large cover similar to the zippered cover on the Bimini top would be ideal, but I have not seen where anyone makes one

 

[zipper]

Find a good local canvas shop and have a boot made for your tower that zippers on and off. I know your tower is different than mine, and yours might take a cover nicely. We just had custom bow, cockpit and bimini done locally. Very happy with the final product.