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Mooring Cover

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ginrunner

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what is the best/easiest method to reinstall the mooring cover on a 2575RCW when the boat is in dock which is only accessable from one side?
 
It starts with taking the cover off.

Divide the boat into two halves, Starboard & Port.

Unsnap the cover completely from the half you have the access to, pull out the support rods and stow them.

Then you fold the cover completely over the other side so that you end up with the "fold" itself running down the centerline of the boat and both halves over one side.

Now you fold it over itself again, so that the first fold runs along the entire side of the boat with the original fold touching your bimini struts and running along the seat back from stem to stern. You may have to loosen a few more snaps to do this, but be cautious bout taking off ALL your snaps at this point, especially if it's a windy day.

Now you start at either the front or the back of the boat, whichever seems more convenient, and you reach over the fencing, seat-backs and sundeck to unsnap the cover from the remaining snaps, folding that portion of the cover over the folded material you already have lying in the seats. As you fold over, pull inboard slightly so that the material is lying on the cushions, not the seat-backs.

When you are done, you should have everything unsnapped and the entire cover folded into a long pile that is the entire length of the boat but only 1/4 of the beam.

Now fold lengthwise from the back of the boat towards the front, making each fold about the same length as the width of the cover, until you get to the middle of the boat. It doesn't have to be exact center. Most folks stop when the reach the forward-most portion of the couch that's across from the captains chair. Now go to the front and do the same, folding towards the rear and ending when you fold over the first pile of folded material.

At this point you should have a roughly square pile of folded playpen cover that you can pick up and stow under any of the seats.

When you want to put the cover back on, just reverse the procedure.

Place the folded cover in the same spot and with same orientation as you ended with at the beginning of your day, then unfold towards the front and rear of the boat.

Once you are completely unfolded front to rear, unfold the topmost layer and snap it into place along the entire length of the boat, and then some. You want to fasten as many snaps as you can until you have as close as possible to half the cover snapped down.

Pull the cover towards the opposite side, set the support poles in place allowing the weight to the cover to hold them in position. (tilt them very slightly away from the already snapped side.)

If you can now snap a few more fasteners closed at the front and especially at the rear of the boat, FROM the inside, DO SO NOW. You want to leave, to the maximum extent possible, only those snaps that you can reach from the dock.

Stand in the center of your boat, grab the cover and pull it towards you as you exit. Fasten down the cover in the middle of the boat first.

Now pull the rest of the cover into into place, first draping it in place, then moving out from the center area, snapping it down.

There MIGHT be some snaps that are difficult to get to, or you might have a layout that makes it necessary to modify my instructions. Don't worry. What I gave you is a concept that you can adapt to your needs. Also, if a few snaps here and there don't get closed, but the cover is still basically in place, don't sweat it.
 
I start in the rear corner of the boat dock side work all the way around the back and down the side away from the dock, around the front and than I do dock side from the dock than I clime in an put up the poles. I found if i put the poles in first it make the snaps dificult.
 
Wow, I like that very organized approach. I am going to try that next time. I normally climb around like a monkey randomly snapping what I can reach. THANKS for that! :)
 
You're welcome.

Ohh... Don't forget to buy a couple of tubes of Snap-Stik to keep on the boat.

That link goes to Amazon, but your local marina will certainly carry it.

It makes it WAY easier to get your cover on and off by keeping the snaps lubed and mostly uncorroded.
 
And you can buy Chapstick anywhere.....

ericscher said:
You're welcome.

Ohh... Don't forget to buy a couple of tubes of Snap-Stik to keep on the boat.

That link goes to Amazon, but your local marina will certainly carry it.

It makes it WAY easier to get your cover on and off by keeping the snaps lubed and mostly uncorroded.
Click to expand...
 
My two sons and I spent about 5 minutes trying to figure out how to put the cover back on after our 1st voyage. Do you think I watched the dealer take it off? Of course not. We were too exited to get out on the water. Thanks guys.
 
Gastonguy said:
My two sons and I spent about 5 minutes trying to figure out how to put the cover back on after our 1st voyage. Do you think I watched the dealer take it off? Of course not. We were too exited to get out on the water. Thanks guys.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the cover strategy. We almost did it like that, since the Dealer did go over it with us. You provided some details we missed yesterday. Two tubes of chap stick are going on the next trip. That way we will sooner of later catch all the snaps.

On a water resistant note, we were pleasantly surprised yesterday following a substantial rain that everything was relatively dry, even at the top cuffs. The Dealer provided a tube of seam sealer. won't need it this year perhaps?

Did anyone else use the seam sealer or is this something that is needed down the road?
 
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ericscher said:
You're welcome.

Ohh... Don't forget to buy a couple of tubes of Snap-Stik to keep on the boat.

That link goes to Amazon, but your local marina will certainly carry it.

It makes it WAY easier to get your cover on and off by keeping the snaps lubed and mostly uncorroded.
Click to expand...
A big thanks from me too for your cover stowage and deployment strategy. I spent about 40 minutes struggling in the dark with trying to get the cover on my new to me 2275RL. The next day I came here searching for mooring cover, and found your method of installing the playpen cover. Works great and I now have it down to the point of feeling like a nice comfortable OCD-like behavior. Here's a couple of additions for others that follow: 1) Number your poles - I went bow to stern. 2) using a sharpie or electrical tape mark the correct pole height once found for each pole - this helps quickly identify the correct height, sometimes the clamp loosens and the extension collapses, or kids play with them. Last, for small tears, fraying seams, or areas where the thread unravels Seal All vinyl repair works wonders for those that don't sew.

Now all I need to do is figure out what's going on with the area near the ladder at the stern - the cover is not taught, and collects water.
 
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Geoffrey & Brenda said:
Smoky, use 303 fabric guard on your cover, and 303 protectant for the seats. Those seem to be the products of choice ;)
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+1 on the 303. Just did our new cover this morning with the fabric protectant.
 
You MUST snap the cover first onto the side that DOES NOT face the dock. If you start on the dock side first, there is no where to stand in the boat while you try and pull over the cover and snap to the other side. You want to snap the dockside last because you don't need to be on the boat to do so.
 
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Since we don't dock, we trailer and store, we start at the front and roll it up as we walk from the front of the boat to the back. The "dockside" gate is about 5 feet off the ground when the boat is on the trailer! So, we use the trailer ladder at the front. If I'm at home or in the boat garage, and not taking the boat out on the lake, I just wrap the posts up into the cover as I go, then when we put it back on, the poles pop out at just the right time.

If we're taking it off and taking it on the lake, we don't wrap the poles up with it since it will go under the seat. We just make a big roll from front to back, then at the end we have a big tarp log the length of the beam of the boat, then we fold that in half and stick it under a seat. Putting it back on is just the reverse.
 
I pretty much just roll it into a big ball. I start unraveling it all until I see the velcro that goes around the bimini struts, then just start snapping! Your guy's way sounds very neat and professional, my way just gets it done. Haha :)
 
Mooring covers are Satan's contribution to pontoon boats. After I bought the boat, I struggled with the monster canvas one time and quickly decided either have individual seat/helm covers made or sell the boat. I chose the former and it's the best $1,200 I ever spent. Easy to manage and they look great.
 
Mine does not have the strap. Water would collect in that port rear corner until I figured out a use for the removable cup holders that came with the boat. (Never used them as cup holders, so am glad to finally have a use for them.) I place both cup holders on their side in that corner, and then snap the cover on, no more water pooling on the cover.
 
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