In article k.net,
Courtney Thomas wrote:

Harlan Lachman wrote:
In article ,
Peggie Hall wrote:


Harlan Lachman wrote:

Courtney, the joys of shrink wrapping a boat are that almost always it
is done by a yard (one less cold weather project), it holds up great,
looks good, and keeps rain, ice, snow, debris and everything else off
one's boat. OTOH, at $20+ a foot it can be expensive and poly is not
good for the environment.

A couple more downsides to shrink wrap: there's no ventilation in a
shrink-wrapped boat..it traps and holds humidity, resulting in moldy
musty interiors next spring. You can't go aboard on any of those
occasional amazing days in the middle of winter to open it up to let it
air out, or check on anything--like finding out whether any critters
have decided to homestead your cabin--or do any of those little projects
you should do this fall, but didn't and COULD do if you could go aboard
for a day.

IMO, you're a lot better off giving your hull and deck a heavy coat of
wax to protect the fiberglass...and then cover it instead of
shrinkwrapping it.


Actually Peggy, up here in Vermont, they now build in vents for the
boats, usually one at each end or one on the stern and one on either
side by the mast.

Years ago, as one of the people in charge of VT's energy efficiency
programs, I had to learn a lot about ventilation. My guess is most of
the vents in most of the boat covers don't work real well.

Effective ventilation requires low intakes and high exhausts and a lot
more free vent area than anyone is going to put on a boat. Some say
canvas is porous enough to allow moisture to migrate.

My guess it is best to keep boats in climates where covers are
unnecessary.

harlan
Apparently, there are many who regard covers as unnecessary, which is
the main idea I'm probing with this query. That is, I see quite a few
boats in the New England area, and north, that do not use a cover at
all. I can certainly see that if you're storing in an area with
significant air pollution that a cover would possibly be wise but if
that's not the case, why cover, other than maybe something like a boom
tent to shed the snow should the snow load become excessive.

When is the snow load excessive ? Is it due to melt/freeze cycle that
results in possible ice damage, or what ?

Thanks again,

Courtney

Courtney, no one up here worries about too much snow. The weight is not
going to cause a problem.

It is the ability of water to penetrate and expand through seams and
around hardware that is chilling (sorry about the pun) and the freezing
and thawing action that is so common especially on those cold days when
the sun comes out and then the temp drops way below zero on cool nites.

Some of the new boats at our yard remain uncovered so they can be shown
all year. I doubt this is a good thing, at least some years where the
freezing and thawing cycles are worser. The poor workers get to shovel
them off.

harlan