Cover

Debbie T

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Other than the Bennington cover that comes with the boat, has anyone bought a easier cover to put on? My husband and I are 64 and 68. We are not spring chickens and I’m always afraid he’s going to fall in the water.
 
Other than the Bennington cover that comes with the boat, has anyone bought a easier cover to put on? My husband and I are 64 and 68. We are not spring chickens and I’m always afraid he’s going to fall in the water.
Hi Debbie welcome to the forum. I am a big proponent of covering the boat religiously. It'll benefit you in the long run! Keeping your upholstery/ seats/ flooring looking like new! But I understand if you don't like/want to put that cover on everytime if you're getting up in age. It's a PIA! Maybe you can look into individual seat covers. It'll be easier for you and your husband and he has has less chance of falling in if he's in the boat! Just a thought......
 
Hi Debbie. I'm 60 and I cover my boat easily while it sits in the water next to my dock. There is no risk of me falling in the water because I do most of it from inside the boat. The key is to roll it up the same way every time and then put it back on starting in the same place every time:

To start, I unsnap as many snaps as I can reach from my dock. Then I step on the extended rear deck of the boat and can unsnap a bunch more. Then I can enter the boat from the rear and unsnap as I move towards the front. I can reach every snap from inside the boat at this point.

When it is fully unsnapped, I pull the cover to the floor and stretch it out from bow to stern. Then I kneel in the stern and start rolling, pulling the cover towards me. When it is fully rolled, I store it and the poles in my dock box.

When it is time to recover, I carry the rolled cover to the front of the boat. The end of the roll is the front part because that was the last section that got rolled up. I always start re-snapping on the left front, get on the extended front deck and snap around the entire front, move back into the boat and snap down each each side alternating from one side to another. I exit the boat and finish snapping from the rear deck and my dock. Then I crawl in and add the 4 support poles. (Some people can't crawl easily so they add the poles as they install the cover.)

It takes me between 5 and 10 minutes to uncover or recover and I enjoy a tiny sense of pride as I am protecting my investment.
 
Not sure where to find the video on this site, but it does a great job of showing the process the sunedog describes above.
 
I am a vote for individual seat covers, but I believe I am in the minority on this forum. Unfortunately I don’t have an extended fore or aft deck and me crawling around under the playpen cover is solid gold entertainment for my adult neighbors. (It’s an R rated show for language and nudity if I’m in swim trunks) I also only have dock access to the front quarter on the port side, fortunately for me, Bennington put a gate there. Much to my wife’s displeasure we cover the individual seats and other elements almost every time we come in. We rinse everything with fresh water every time and wash with soap and water once a week. After the rinse or wash we chamois the seats before covering. Only time I let her talk me out of covering is if we are going out again the next morning. Yes, I go down the next morning when the decision changes and we don’t go. It doesn’t take long to put the covers on, probably 15 mins now. I have some type of vinyl floor which seems to standup to the elements well. I bought my Benny used so it came with the covers, so I can’t tell you anything about cost. Like everything else with a boat (bring over another thousand) I’m sure they were not cheap. They do require maintenance and yearly water repellent spraying, just as the big cover does. Hope this helps, oh and I’m in my late 50’s and I am certain one of these days I’m falling in the water either attaching lines, flushing the motor or rinsing/washing it off.
 
Some of this depends on the furniture layout - for my SSBXP with the keeper rail on the swing back, the cover has all sorts of collars that navigate the rail posts. It is most certainly a PITA. My slip also does not allow any access around the sides or back of the boat, so the cover has to be worked all from inside.

That being said, like others I have figured out a process that is efficient and have it on and off in less than 5 minutes, but I am moving very quickly. Maybe the husband can do it a different way to enhance the safety factor? The Bennington cover is a pain but it works really well. An easier cover would likely be of lighter material that won’t last as long and have fasteners that don’t hold as well. Of course I could be wrong and would also love to see if there is a better mousetrap out there.
 
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