Who prefers to tow long distance with shipping cover versus the premium cover?

[Seoul76]

Who prefers to tow long distance with shipping cover versus the premium cover?

 

[Bluewater272]

For Long Distance (>3 hours each way), I'll put the shipping cover on. Premium covers are expensive, I'd rather not stress it with the wind load if unnecessary. Less than an hour and I don't use a cover at all unless there may be inclement weather.

 

[2kwik4u]

I used the shipping cover exclusively for the first two seasons. Would've bought another one if they were available.

The bead water better than the mooring cover, and had a soft felt lining. I would've paid more for it too.

 

[JBehrens]

Whenever towing more than from my house to the ocean ramp (~10min) it's the shipping cover no question. Weekend trips to the river ~4 hours will always have the shipping cover on, no tent poles, pool noodles around the windshield frame and a tube in the bow.

 

[jdkaeser]

I towed 11 hours each way to Wisconsin with the shipping cover. It started to delaminate on the way home. Hot Tip, take some white duct tape with you. I use mine just for winter storage in the garage now. In the future I will probably tow with no cover and just use the premium cover for parking or mooring at night. These boats drain water pretty well so a little rain water while towing shouldn’t be an issue.

 

[itsdgm]

I have had two shipping covers since I bought the boat. I store the boat with the shipping cover and only tow with the mooring cover. However, we tow at least 5 hours each way when we travel.

 

[Seoul76]

I wish the premium moorning covers came down as far as the shipping covers, yeah its a pain to install but i don't worry about it scratching the side of my black boat.

 

[Ronnie]

Like Dennis @itsdgm , I store with the shipping cover and tow with the mooring cover. The mooring covers are more expensive but you can’t buy new shipping covers from Yamaha, only used ones online. The shipping cover sheds rain water a lot better and my mooring covers don’t see that much road time in any given year. May be 30 trips total there and back at 2 hours per.

 

[Stan M]

I was going to say, my dealer suggested towing with no cover and was happy to see in this post that a number of others do that! I have 2 questions: 1) what are major concerns of doing this, and 2) is the shipping cover used with tower folded down?

 

[PeterB]

I always tow with a cover- and remove the Bimini and stow under the cover if traveling at highway speeds. It avoids any loss of something that was not as secure as we thought. We did lose a life jacket towing a different boat uncovered so covering became our routine. The Yamaha is more secure but the front bow cushions are loose and our dealer told us several customers have lost them towing. We have approximately 14,000 miles of towing over 4 years with the mooring cover and there are no signs of wear. During winter the boat is stored indoors so that helps a lot. Two seasons the boat has been at a marina in a covered slip where we always cover the boat- I do rinse the bird droppings off weekly to keep the cover from being damaged by that. The shipping cover is being saved if we need to store outdoors during a winter.

 

[PBear]

I always tow with a cover- and remove the Bimini and stow under the cover if traveling at highway speeds. It avoids any loss of something that was not as secure as we thought. We did lose a life jacket towing a different boat uncovered so covering became our routine. The Yamaha is more secure but the front bow cushions are loose and our dealer told us several customers have lost them towing. We have approximately 14,000 miles of towing over 4 years with the mooring cover and there are no signs of wear. During winter the boat is stored indoors so that helps a lot. Two seasons the boat has been at a marina in a covered slip where we always cover the boat- I do rinse the bird droppings off weekly to keep the cover from being damaged by that. The shipping cover is being saved if we need to store outdoors during a winter.

This is true for me as well for our 2020 212X. We towed from NC to NH and back this summer. Used the mooring cover and poles/pool noodles and that worked great. No issues and no scratching seen. We always leave the mooring cover on unless we're in the water. We store indoors with it on, and tow to/from the lakes. When we bought the boat, we didn't have the mooring cover. Similar to @PeterB, on our very first trip to the lake, on the highway, a back cushion lifted (strap was not snapped in place), and an orange life jacked was lost. A lady came up next to us to let us know! Immediately bought the cover and now we always use it.

 

[Betik]

I was going to say, my dealer suggested towing with no cover and was happy to see in this post that a number of others do that! I have 2 questions: 1) what are major concerns of doing this, and 2) is the shipping cover used with tower folded down?

1 things might fly off the boat and the j editor will get dirty or damaged. You won’t believe how much crap diesel trucks emit that gets stuck on your bit. Also your boat is less aerodynamic so mpg will suffer ( not not greatly).
2. Not sure about that, I have only seen them use with tower up, it not sure on the newer ones. If any of them are meant with tower down make sure you have proper support. You cannot just lower lower the tower and take it for a 1,000 trip.

 

[AZMark]

I never tow with a cover. I just stow the 3 removable cushions. Bugs on the windshield, tower, and fiberglass below the rear seat seem to be the only downside.

I bought my boat with 12 hours on it and the windshield frame already had a surprising amount of damage to the finish from the PO towing with the mooring cover.

I don’t have a shipping cover but I might use pool noodles and the mooring cover if I was going 5+ hours away. I’d still worry that if it hurts the windshield that much it can’t be great for the gel coat. That’s why the shipping cover is lined.