Shrink wrap

[Washopay]

Well hello boys and girls. I've thrown my neck out and and am sitting at the hospital waiting to be seen. Free Healthcare is awfully nice but it's not fast!
I wonder if you guys might weigh in on this. Every winter I wrap my demanding mistress - a 1990 3807. Why do we do this? She sits in the water every summer exposed to the elements rain and hail aand scorching sun. If I were to remove all canvas and cushion then just protect the helm what issues am I introducing? Thanks all!

[RGrew176]

I guess a lot of it could depend where you live. I am in Michigan and I would not want snow sitting on my boat for long periods of time. The snow, sleet, rain and other stuff you get during the wintertime along with the freeze thaw cycles probably would not be a good thing to expose your boat to.

My last 3 boats were rack stored meaning they were inside stored 100% of the time with the exception of when they were being used. My current boat is the 2nd boat I have owned that sits in the water all the time during the season so when fall came an I put her up on the hard I paid to have her shrinkwrapped to keep the elements off the boat.

I still have the option of paying for inside storage for the winter season and I could always utilize that option.

That's my take.

[Ramsport47]

Honestly...keeping the elements off the boat is the only reason to wrap. Freezing and thawing still takes place. If the sun is out, it becomes a sauna inside the wrap (especially if it's blue wrap). That being said....I would wrap (if I didn't store inside heated) just to keep the sun and dirt off the boat. We have a few boats where I work that don't wrap, and boy are they a mess in spring!

[RGrew176]

I went with a company that uses white wrap so hopefully its not so saunalike underneath. I did not get the wrap until November and hope to have it off early in April. Launch is early May as the marina I am at does not open until May 1st.

[SplashyLady]

What did we do before shrink-wrap? Most folks up North used to put a tarp over their boats in the winter to keep the snow, ice, leaves, bird poop, etc. off the boat until spring. We don't do that here in the south because we use our boats year-round (today!). That's also why boats from Florida or Texas often have such bad gel-coat - they get UV exposure every day of the year.

[Viper]

Along with all the reasons noted above, consider that just one cubic foot of snow can weigh about 20 lbs very quickly and that increases as it gets wetter, compact, etc. Now consider that by winter's end, you could have 3 feet or more all over the boat, more if the wind is right and you get drifting snow. That's a lot of extra weight.

[Grafunkus]

Source of the post What did we do before shrink-wrap? Most folks up North used to put a tarp over their boats in the winter to keep the snow, ice, leaves, bird poop, etc. off the boat until spring. We don't do that here in the south because we use our boats year-round (today!). That's also why boats from Florida or Texas often have such bad gel-coat - they get UV exposure every day of the year.

So, shrink wrap vs tarp? Isn't a tarp more environmentally friendly and economical in the long run? What would be the drawbacks to using tarp?

[Viper]

Source of the post So, shrink wrap vs tarp? Isn't a tarp more environmentally friendly and economical in the long run? What would be the drawbacks to using tarp?

Actually, shrink wrap is recyclable. Some marinas have a recycling campaign where the product gets picked up by a recycler, and others simply put the used wrap folded up by the side of the road. You’d be amazed at how fast the stuff disappears as folks find all kinds of uses for it from covering smaller fishing boats and dinghies, to snowmobiles, PWCs and general purpose use around the house and property.

Shrink wrap gets stretched tight and when put on properly, most of the snow slides off leaving little snow load and chance of structural collapse to worry about. If done right, it won’t get caught by the wind and damage gel. Because you can tightly wrap without leaving any openings, it also keeps the critters out. An optional zippered door is great for inside access while still maintaining a tight fit.

When one speaks of a tarp, one must compare apples to apples. If it’s a cheap off the shelf blue plastic tarp, it’ll be good for one winter up my way if it survives at all. For a good sized vessel, you’d be hard pressed to find one that will cover the vessel completely. It’s impossible to get really tight so some pockets of snow will accumulate over time and increase the chance of collapse. Because it doesn’t stretch out, there will be folds and openings that the wind will catch. Wind is your enemy, once the tarp starts blowing and flapping around, it’s just a matter of time before it flies apart. There would be nothing worse than you having to redo it during one of your cold Manitoba winters. While it’s blowing around, it’s slapping your gel. I’ve never seen serious damage from this, but it could get bad enough to rub the gel such that you’re left with a cloudy surface requiring a polish in those areas. This type of tarp is the least expensive option though for the DIYer but it does end up in the landfill.

The other type of tarp is one usually made of a canvas product that is custom fabricated for your vessel. It’s pricey but typically lasts several years. They can be fitted tighter than the tarp above but not as tight as the shrink wrap, and if it is to shed snow, the framing must be the exact same layout and dimensions every year or you won’t get the intended fit. I’ve never done a cost analysis on this vs shrink wrap over a given time frame as the longevity of a custom tarp really depends on the material used and environmental factors.

Also consider that if the shrink wrap fails in the middle of winter, it's the marina's or provider's resposibility to repair it at their expense. If you put up your own tarp and it fails, you're resposible for the fix and if it blows away in pieces, and ends up on someone's property or in the water, you're resposible for the clean up.

Hope that helps, and no I do not own shares in the shrink wrap industry