How important is it to cover your boat in the off-season?

[Brian N.]

Frank - I use duct tape to cover the potential puncture points - seems to work. On the mast a coupe of layers around the base of the spreaders (hounds?) and the fork on the bow mast support also gets a layer of tape across the points. On deck the base of the shrouds (chain plates) get a piece of foam and tape. I also built a support block of wood at the transom where the mast overhangs to keep it from shifting. The lower part of the block fits over the transom, the upper is cupped to hold the mast. Set up has worked pretty well over the years (again, except for the critters). This year the tarp is a bit more "open", shorter on the sides and a couple of inches shorter front to back, than in past years as well and not so tightly tied down. The finished size of the tarp is about 15 feet wide and 19 feet long. Seems just the right size for the P165. The width just comes down to the trailer wheels and the length a few inches past the bow.

[Brian S]

Thanks, Brian, food for thought. When I took my tarp off last season, I noticed holes that formed in a couple places that I need to figure out and fix potentially with pieces of pool noodles— fortunately for me, no stanchions to worry about.

Note that I have all sorts of things on the mast (such as the hounds, steaming light, other hardware, etc.) all wrapped with exterior carpet to pad out the tarp.

[Quantico Frank]

Thanks, guys, I think I have some leftover bunk carpet that I'll duct tape to the sharp points, and that will hopefully extend the life of my tarp. I have a 15x25' tarp which does a good job of covering the boat.

[Ida Lewis]

A couple ideas:
*If one can avoid securing straps, bungees, etc. to the bottom frame of the trailer--by tucking/wrapping the tarp against the hull and strapping it tight where needed--that reduces access to the top of the boat by crawling critters. That is to say, if one can force the critter to have to scamper up the metal only, I think fewer critters will try and fewer still will succeed before they give up. To help tension the tarp, I use gallon jugs filled with water (now ice) hanging from the grommets. Where the tarp wants to hang down near the bow, I've wrapped it tight against the hull, again to give critters less purchase.
*This is more expensive, but canvas tarps are more environmentally friendly because they do not have plastic that deteriorates and gets into the environment, mostly as microplastics. Canvas is biodegradable after it outlives its usefulness. Our large (something like 20' X 12') canvas tarp was about $220; it overlaps stern and bow on our P-18 and covers most of the almost horizontal mast, and drapes down the sides to about 1' below the waterline.

[Captain Kidd]

Just for comparative purposes. I too like to tarp my boats. Though not a Precision, I always cover my Hunter 18.5. I made a ridge pole with 2x4's and set it on stands. It may be a little taller than needed, but it allows me access to the boat while still under cover. I can tarp my smaller, homebuilt, wooden boat, the Calendar Islands Yawl 16, with a tarp using the mast as a ridge pole supported on short stands.

The protection for the wooden boat is obvious. For the Hunter, keeping the sun off protects the gelcoat and finish. It still gets dirty, but a quick power wash does the trick.

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