Cover On Towing

[FPCC]

Has anyone tried putting a few layers of Saran Wrap all the way around your boat where the cover touches and often rubs? Good idea? Bad idea?

[bturner]

Saran Wrap? Haven't heard that one in 20 years.... I know people tried that way back when but zero success and high cost. I have heard of people using shipping wrap which would be the same concept but with more of an industrial version with success. Most times I hear of people going to this length is when they're doing a one off or cross country vacation trip.....

[FPCC]

Haha yes shipping wrap is what i was thinking. We are going from northern Utah to Powell. We carry a bit of stuff in the boat so we like to have the cover on to keep things from blowing out, but we have had some rubbing issues. Any one have any other advise?

[NautiqueJeff]

I tow my boat with the cover on all the time. Just today, I completed a ten-hour drive from North Carolina to Lake Erie with the cover on. Ran through a couple of rain storms. No damage at all from the cover.

[FMSki 'n Surf]

Boat OCD knows no bounds. Why is that a thing? I know lots of dudes freakin' out. For something that is on water, sun, banging against docks, etc ... yikes.
Not like a green lambo garage queen, controlled environment, OCD stands a chance.

Any cover rub would be easy to polish out. Having said that a boat is a lot of surface area, cleats and snaps, I hate working on them vs a car

[SatherG230]

I use the shipping wrap like posted above. Works great! Got sick of having to polish the rub marks out of black gelcoat. If it were white or a lighter color, I would probably not...

[SANonTellico]

My Nautique dealer recommended Anti-Chafe tape and it works incredibly well.
It’s a tacky tape that only takes a few minutes to put on your boat and comes off easily without leaving any film or residue.
Most importantly, it does a great job of protecting your boat.

If you do a search for 6″ x 600′ Anti-Chafe Tape you’ll see a number of retailers selling it, including Amazon.

[CHassmann]

Jeff, I see you took the Nautique instead of the Chris Craft. Where on Lake Erie are you?

[Scooter G]

Boat OCD knows no bounds. Why is that a thing?
Not like a green lambo garage queen, controlled environment, OCD stands a chance.

Too funny!
I tend to put the worry of until end off Season, or I freak out about every little minor bruise. We do a full restoration when it's all over. It's a boat full of love and fun, let's go, but nothing wrong with a little preventative prep. We've done a lot of hauling with your circa boat, cover on, tower up, stuffed with gear. Some very minor chaffing, pretty much what you would have by the end of season anyway. What bugged me the most were the bugs, on the tower and speakers, always a mess. Figure out how to get the tower wrapped in "Saran Wrap" and not loose it in the 1st 50 miles, you are on to something.
Upgraded on the new rig to a custom tower down cover, problem solved. I say that, the 1st real test is next week on a little 360 mile haul.

[FMSki 'n Surf]

This boat showed up late last night all saran-wrapped to the nines. bungie cords ends were electrical taped, cover clasp wrapped in neoprene. Guy did a good job covering it for the 6 hour trip from the BC interior. It's a nice cover but not as fitted as my Nautique branded I had on my 200. Now we are the benefits of someone's OCD because this TSC3 is pretty much cosmetically mint, only few items need tuning up. I don't think it was detailed/polished otherwise some (miniscule) sun baking would not be visible.

.

On OCD: the effort required to keep something from looking well-used is I would say intrusive to fun. For example, someone just had their Nautique for a kid's day and the carpet is now muddy, we are hearing about it . Or the time I witnessed a Nautique owner screaming at a kid for picking a janky weathered decal on his boat. Or the time I took a call from dude in meltdown that discovered blisters on hull his after leaving it in the water for a week. Had to talk him off the edge . This is toxic male psychosis in full bloom. Understand the underlying factors, practice emotional regulation, self talk....

Yeah Scooter, put a pin in it until pre or post season, and some talent in detailing can restore any witness marks from fun. I love black,or nice deep metallic chocolate brown, as per the G's I've seen. Looks really lux. Below is the 200 which was a club boat, nicks and all sorts of flaws but I was able to bring it back to pretty sweet shape:

[charlesml3]

You're going to get all kinds of responses saying how it's perfectly fine to tow with the cover on. And it is.... all the way up until it isn't.

I was a White Lake Marine a few years ago when a G23 came in. They'd been towing with the cover on and the rachet strap at the stern came loose and they didn't see it for hours. It beat the back of that boat to death... Ruined all of the seadek on the platform. Gouged the fiberglass all across the back of the boat.

I just don't see how it's worth the risk. Yes, you'll be cleaning when you get there but you were probably going to do that anyway.

-Charles

[bturner]

I'm with Charles on this one. I always tow without the cover unless it's going to rain and I never tow in the rain unless I absolutely have to.

Keeping up on a boat is always a balancing act between keeping it looking as new as possible and actually using it. I raised two kids on our boats and had some general rules about what we brought for snacks and drinks on the boat. Also used to talk to guests and parents of my kid's friends as to what to bring and approved snacks. I also always presented the boat as ours, not mine and tried to involve my kids in getting the boat ready and cleaning up afterwards. The idea was to get them engaged in the process and instill a sense of pride in our boat. By the time they were in their early teens we had a process down and everyone helped cleaning and putting the boat away at the end of the day.

Past that the idea is to have fun and let everyone enjoy the boat and lake. If you lose sight of that you'll lose any hope of having your kids actually wanting to go out. Once that happens there's no sense of having the boat, at least to me.

As long as you stay away from foods/drinks that stain or new towels with dyes that will transfer to the vinyl most anything will clean up. Minor scratches rub out and if stuff happens, which it will, it can be fixed. Life is short and your kids are young even shorter. Never let a material item ruin your time with them.

[Scooter G]

Just got back from a weeklong 700-mile round trip, and this is why we cover. Moving blankets for protection, 4 wake boards, a couple extra surf boards, 2 inflatable stand-up paddle boards, 2 3-man tubes, an inflatable slide, and a plethora of misc items. I wish I'd had taken a picture of all the carnage in the yard after we unloaded. No chafing from cover, did have a little strap burn on the rear straps, hit it with little compound with the buffer, 5 minutes later good as new. This was the first test run with a new cover, looks like I'm going to have to order some strap covers, that should solve that little problem.

[SilentSeven]

lol on the gear pile...yeah...you should have taken a picture! We have a similar situation when we tow. Not enough room in the SUV for all the gear so we pile it into the boat and cinch down the cover. Sports gear, camping gear, you name it. My recurring nightmare is the cover releasing somehow at highway speed and all our loose gear billowing out onto the freeway.

Our longest one way tow is about 220 miles. I've never had an issue with the cover chaffing on the boat.

[Scooter G]

I'll definitely get a pic on the next rodeo here in a few weeks SilentSeven . 3 boats ago I lost a cover on the freeway of no return, no where to turn around, no where to stop. I watched it go poof in the mirror like a big balloon in the mirror, and over the side into the valley of Oregon forest. Slowed down and finally got to a stopping point. Got creative with some rope for the rest of the journey, just a little redneck