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Playpen Cover Tricks and Tips?

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plattkj18

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We took ownership of our new 2275 GSW a few weeks ago and we are really thrilled with it!    However, we are not thrilled with the playpen cover as it is taking us up to an hour to put it on.    Today I went out to take it off and found a very large amount of water laying in the cover.

Our boat is on a lift here in Florida so it is tricky to get to the sides and when all of the snaps and hooks are attached, we have to crawl back inside to place the poles and lift them.

If any of you have tips for how to speed up this process we would greatly appreciate hearing them!

- Kathy Platt
 
1. Are you using the nylon strap that connects to the two buckles on the rear and goes up over bimini frame (when it's closed)? That is used to keep rear of cover up to prevent pooling.

see it in this pic



2. to uncover start from one side, remove poles, unsnap front to rear and fold lengthwise as you unsnap, then when finished unsnapping and it's folded lengthwise, roll from front to rear. When ready to cover, unroll from rear to front, snap one long side, work your way around, insert poles ...wala..all done. I can uncover in 5 and cover in 10 minutes or less.
 
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Our boat sits on a lift and it takes me about 10-15 minutes to put the cover on. And I climb in at the end and install the poles. I'm surprized that Bennington did away with the "S" shaped pole for the rear because it worked so well for me.
 
Kathy,

Congratulations on your new boat. I would like to use your post to ask another playpen cover question.

We have a 2275 RCW that will be moored in the water all summer. The cover on my other boat covers the swim platform completely. 

The RCW cover stops just past the loungers. Leaving the platform exposed. The boats in the marina with exposed platforms end up covered in duck poop.

I was wondering if anyone has had their cover altered and how it turned out. Or any other ideas.
 
Welcome Plattkj.  Like all things it will get easier after doing it for awhile.  When taking the cover off be consistent in the way you remove and fold it so that when you lay it out to recover you are not spending time wondering which way is the front.  I lay it out down the center and first drape it over the captains chair and snap the one in front of the first bimini bracket and a few behind that first bimini bracket.  I then snug up the cowing on that bracket.  Leaning over I then snap the rest working my way back but stop at the corner.  I then fasten the bimini strap that SemperFi mentions

Next I crawl under the cover and exit onto the aft deck where I reach out and drape the cover into position across the back and the port side bimini brackets.  I snap all the back ones and then lay on my sundeck and do the snaps to the front of the bimini struts and then tighten the cowls around the struts.  I come back in under the cover and pop out and drape the cover into position over the side of the boat from which the wind is blowing [if any] and then go out to my walkway [yes they are on both sides of the boat] and snap that side up to the corner.  I then throw the cover over the other side and snap that side to the corner as well.

With only the front undone I crawl underneath and place my mooring cover poles from back to front.  [The front one you will experiment with getting the right height so that you can still snap the fore snaps].  I then exit and do the front snaps

This next part is the most important; this has to be done with a Zen like attitude.  This is not a chore, not a rush; you are protecting your baby.  I will stop, dangle my feet in the water while outside sitting on the side doing the snaps.  Take a look around enjoying the end of a great day or perhaps stop to take a few sips of my beer. 
 
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8 Grand said:
Kathy,

Congratulations on your new boat. I would like to use your post to ask another playpen cover question.

We have a 2275 RCW that will be moored in the water all summer. The cover on my other boat covers the swim platform completely.

The RCW cover stops just past the loungers. Leaving the platform exposed. The boats in the marina with exposed platforms end up covered in duck poop.

I was wondering if anyone has had their cover altered and how it turned out. Or any other ideas.
Click to expand...
Uh oh ..... You popped the can of worms now .... Lol !!!!

Derrick in 3 ........ 2 ........ 1 ....... BOOM !!!!
 
Thanks for the responses.     The problem with the pooling water was in the front and I don't see any other good way to keep that from happening.      We do have the strap for the stern but we are waiting for a replacement because the clip was broken when we got it.

We will try the ideas that were posted and hopefully improve our performance time!!
 
Seriously Derricks been trying to figure out a solution for that (along with sealing the tower location)

My thought is have an extension made that would snap under but onto the existing cover, and install bottom edge with snaps on rub rail like the front. The top edge would have a female snap under/male on top then your existing cover would snap onto the male side.

I can envision it being fairly easy to do, and shouldn't cost a ton of money. Other option is get a couple of those things with arms on them that jeep birds away and sit back there. May look cheesy but better than poop.
 
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Quick, can one of the moderators delete 8 grands post before Bulldog comes back :D
 
plattkj18 said:
Thanks for the responses. The problem with the pooling water was in the front and I don't see any other good way to keep that from happening. We do have the strap for the stern but we are waiting for a replacement because the clip was broken when we got it.

We will try the ideas that were posted and hopefully improve our performance time!!
Click to expand...
Do you have a pole couple feet from bow door?

Never saw a pooling problem in the front???
 
SEMPERFI8387 said:
Seriously Derricks been trying to figure out a solution for that (along with sealing the tower location)

My thought is have an extension made that would snap under but onto the existing cover, and install bottom edge with snaps on rub rail like the front. The top edge would have a female snap under/male on top then your existing cover would snap onto the male side.

I can envision it being fairly easy to do, and shouldn't cost a ton of money. Other option is get a couple of those things with arms on them that jeep birds away and sit back there. May look cheesy but better than poop.
Click to expand...
Sound like a good idea. Guess I should have looked at older posts. Sounds like a hot topic. I see JoeR  was getting that done, Guess I'll wait for his pic's.

Other than that it sounds like no one has resolved the problem
 
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WE START AT THE FRONT AND SNAP BOTH SIDES HALF WAY THEN PUT UP THE TWO POLES IN FRONT,THEN WE FINISH THE SNAPS PUT UP REAR POLE THEN RAISE THE FRONT AGAIN UNTIL TIGHT.THAT BEING SAID WE HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH WATER POOLING, FRONT RIGHT USUALLY BUT WE FINALLY FOUND THAT THE HIGHT OF THE POLE SLIPS DOWN WHEN THE WEIGHT OF WET COVER SO WE RAISE IT TIGHT NOW AND PUT A CLAMP ON POLE SO IT DOES NOT SLIP DOWN,PROBLEM SOLVED.........
 
A week or so someone ( sorry I forgot who) was having their covered altered ,If I remember that correctly it was in the  $500 neighborhood for the alterations 
 
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 and I'm calm. Hehe, jerks :)
 
Now that's not very nice ....... If I had feelings, I'd be hurt ..... LOL !!!!
 
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Jerk in Canadian translates to awesome dudes in American.
 
I've figured out how to cover my boat in just a few minutes. It stays completely dry inside and does not leak aroung the bimini and the rear deck is also completely covered.

I just back it into the shop....... :lol:

However, I would like to have the issue you guys have that are lucky enough to have your boat in a slip.
 
Our slip is not covered ,there some available .However with our short season in Northern Michigan I can't justify the extra 1k a year for the less than 10 minutes of work a day .My wife and I have a great system to cover and uncover .
 
My cover didn't come with that rear strap and I was told it's too thin to sew one in.  What I've been doing is placing a seperate pole in the back near the engine (I/O) that comes up over the sundeck area (I'm able to shove one in between the engine cover and the seating).  I also have another one placed in the bow area, forward of the 1st pole for the cover itself.....just to the right where the other area of water had been pooling.  Both work perfectly (in conjunction with the 4 poles that are directly used with the cover itself) to prevent any pooling of water anywhere.  The poles can be purchased from Overtons and I'm sure many local marine dealers for a pretty cheap price.

I also have all of my poles labled.  I use a black perm marker and label 1-4 on the main poles and then bow and stern on those respective poles.  The reason I do that is because all 6 poles have seperate height requirements for where they are at.  Having them labeled makes the entire process of covering the boat go that much quicker.
 
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