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We keep our boat year-round in a storage facility that stores boats on racks. Despite being in a building, our boat gets really dirty in only a week or two of storage, and is absolutely nasty when stored several months over the winter.



It is normal for the marina guys to get all the boats pulled after a weekend only to leave all the boats parked outside overnight, finally getting them put away in the building the following day. To make matters worse, the buildings doors are often left open during the day. This facility is located in the California Delta and is completely surrounded by farmland, and so the dust is just out of hand. Since the doors are left open, birds are able to get inside and do what birds do.



I only have the snap-in bow and cockpit covers that came with the boat in 2007. They certainly help keep the boat cleaner than being uncovered, but we are still faced with a dirty boat whenever we arrive at the marina. I’ve finally gotten sick of having to wash the boat before using it.

Would a mooring cover be a solution to my dirty boat problem, or is there a less expensive alternative? The mooring cover would never be out in the rain. The mooring cover would also never be used for towing as we have had great luck using the snap-in covers for towing.

I’ve been looking at Westland mooring covers over at Bald Mike’s. Given my use conditions (no rain and no towing), would the Sharkskin Plus cover be adequate? Would I want any of the accessories such as the Quick Cinch or the Vented Support Poles?

https://www.baldmikes.com


For some reason Westland and Bald Mike’s do not show a cover for my 2007 boat, but they do list 2002-2006 240’s?

Or maybe Krob’s inexpensive cover would work for my situation?

viewtopic.php?t=5597&start=18

Just call Mike. He can get you the info. I would do a mooring cover for what you want it to do. I have a old crownline canvas cover I throw over mine in the garage for the 12 months out of the year it sits there

Thanks BBP.

Do you think Sharkskin Plus would work? I sure hope so because the Sunbrella is more than twice the cost. I’ll call Mike tomorrow and see what he recommends.

You don’t think Krob’s space blanket would be an option?

You cover your boat in your garage? If your garage is like mine, it is literally twenty times cleaner than my marina rack building. And no birds in our garages.

Yes sharkskin is fine. It's actually a really nice cover and many use it to tow with. Tell Mike, Chad sent you.
Yes I keep my boat courgettes all the time so it doesn't fade. Lol
No we live next to a quarry so we get quarry dust if the wind blows towards my house.

“Courgettes”. Is that a Corvette for cougars?

Woohoo on the Sharkskin. $532 sounds WAY better than friggen $1136.

Maybe your garage isn’t as clean as mine after all. Quarry dust sounds bad.

Titaniumboy wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 9:53 pm “Courgettes”. Is that a Corvette for cougars?

Woohoo on the Sharkskin. $532 sounds WAY better than friggen $1136.

Maybe your garage isn’t as clean as mine after all. Quarry dust sounds bad.

No cougars in my boats! They look younger than they really are because they are garage queens!

The one I bought, and we're still using only cost $145 from Walmart.com. They only have them for 24' and below boats.
It covers boat but I would not use it like I do if I didn't have covered boat slip. It does not fit perfectly around the arch, so rain could get in.
We now only use the Colbalt supplied Armor mooring cover in the winter.
My thought is that my solution will save wear and tear on the expensive cover.

I decided to go the Krob route for now and bought the cheapest cover I could find. I can always call Bald Mike’s later for a fitted Westland cover if this experiment doesn’t work out. This el cheap cover is literally 1/5 the cost of the lowest priced Sharkskin cover from Westland.

Empire Covers had a 15% sale and so the price ended up being only $101.99 (plus tax) with free shipping. Bald Mike’s would have cost $532 for the Sharkskin Plus cover.

The cover I bought is part number B150X8. It shows on the Empire Covers website as fitting a 22’-25’ boat, but the exact same part number on Amazon shows as fitting a 24’-26’ foot boat. I called Empire Covers and they verified that it is sized for 24’-26’. Kinda weird that the Amazon listing is more accurate than Empire Covers own website?!?

My boat is listed by the factory as 23’-9” long, but is 25’-11” with the extended swim platform, so the question of whether the cover would max out at 25’ or 26’ was important.

Not sure yet whether I’m going to put this new cover on over the tonneau covers or use the new cover by itself.

https://www.empirecovers.com/details/46 ... cover/bt-8

See how it fits in sure you won't have to put it over your other covers.

Thanks! That will be easier for sure and also save wear and tear on the tonneau covers. I had to tighten one snap on the cockpit canvas and replace another one today.

Unlike others that are here to spend your money, I'd rather see you save some. LOL.
When we first got into boating, I'd talk to everyone I'd see on the docks at our marina. I got a lot of useful information.
The guy who told me it was better to buy cheap covers and replace them every 3-4 years also used a trick I liked. The place where the cover has straps to secure it to the trailer frame: he had used half gallon plastic milk bottles filled with sand to weigh it down. I bought the wrap around ankle weights with velcro straps to hold it down. We would get on the back of the boat, roll the cover up to the front, and just hang in over the dock hand rails. Easy on and off.

If I were inside, or covered like in a covered slip, I would go with a cheaper cover too for sure. As I don't have that option yet, I think I'm going with the Sharkskin cover from BaldMike as mentioned above. My only problem is my model year isn't listed on his site...

As this is a $100 experiment, I may yet end up with a Sharkskin cover also. Perhaps you could call Bald Mike’s and see what your options are. I’m interested ito see what cover you end up with.

Titaniumboy wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:57 pm As this is a $100 experiment, I may yet end up with a Sharkskin cover also. Perhaps you could call Bald Mike’s and see what your options are. I’m interested ito see what cover you end up with.

Did you get the cover? How did it fit? I'm looking at the same cover for my R6, but I think my boat is a little longer than yours. I'm hoping I can fold the arch down and put this cover over the whole thing.

drtbar wrote: Wed Sep 28, 2022 7:52 am

Titaniumboy wrote: Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:57 pm As this is a $100 experiment, I may yet end up with a Sharkskin cover also. Perhaps you could call Bald Mike’s and see what your options are. I’m interested ito see what cover you end up with.

Did you get the cover? How did it fit? I'm looking at the same cover for my R6, but I think my boat is a little longer than yours. I'm hoping I can fold the arch down and put this cover over the whole thing.

When I was looking, I didn't see cheap covers over 24 feet.