It has been almost 5 years sine Hurricane Sally tried to wipe out the Armada down in Florida, but we finally got around to repairing the boat cover that saved our 1982 Sunfish MADISON. All of our boats were covered and tied down for what was forecast to be a Cat I storm with landfall over in Mississippi. Instead we got the dirty side of a Cat III that came ashore about 60 miles west of Navarre. We had a surge of near 9 feet with cresting waves in the backyard and the only thing that kept the boats from washing away was the luck that we had looped the lines through the cover straps.
Here's a screenshot of the Armada afloat in about 5 feet of water...
The boats were stored similar to this photo.
MADISON's cover needed a few patches and buckle parts, and we had spare fabric from WAVE's old cover, which was mostly shredded. WAVE was the boat nearest the Bay, the surge tore her foredeck off and she began to float away, which spurred us into rescue mode.
Here is the old and new buckle bit, which SLO Sail and Canvas sent us for free after we shared our hurricane story. SLO also sent WAVE a brand new cover, we appreciate their generosity and customer care.
Here's the new buckle tip installed, with the original buckle housing still in good shape. As soon as this buckle clipped together, I felt that all was well in our Sunfish cover world, and we were many more steps past Hurricane Sally.
Here is MADISON's cover, it is a "Spars On Deck/Mast Up" cover with strap/buckle option. There is an extra cut of fabric on the bow and over the gunwales to allow the booms and sail to fit under the cover We have had the cover close to 10 years and it is still in great shape, hurricane tested.
The next adventure was to replace the thread spool spindles on Skipper's Janome, which required the removal of about 15 screws of various shape and size in order to remove the entire back.
I am convinced that sewing machines are derived from alien technology....How does all this work together to interlace a spool and bobbin of thread?
We like or Sunbrella covers from SLO Sail and Canvas, and most times we leave them on if we are taking the boat on and off the Dynamic Dolly to use the dolly for another boat. The only issue is this midships buckle can snag on the dolly strap or upright as we slide the boat off, creating Sailor Words to come forth. I emailed SLO and suggested they move the webbing back 2 inches, and got a nice reply. Their pattern is set for now and they have an instructional video to go along with a kit, so they're not going to change the pattern. BUT, they did mention that when I order another cover I could ask them to put the strap wherever I wanted it. That's excellent customer service, and good to know info.
WAVE received a wonderful gift from SLO Sail and Canvas, a new Sunmaster Polyester Spars On Deck cover made in Charcoal Gray. We told them how WAVE's cover was damaged during the hurricane, but played a hand in protecting her, and they sent her a gift replacement.
Pouch for spars.
Standard web loops for tie downs. Straps and buckles are also available.
Optional bow handle cutout, handy for trailering.
Normally we'd leave just the mast on the deck and store the sail and booms inside, the mast makes a nice ridgepole. When we add some tiedown lines and pull everything snug, the rain runs right off. We use mostly Sunbrella here in hot humid Florida because it breathes better, no mildew, but when we get to Virginia the polyester cover will be better to shed rain.
Almost forgot to mention, WAVE's bottom coat of paint is hardened up, we waited a few days before we turned he over to try out her new cover.
When we restored WAVE we sanded off all of the old paint and found gelcoat shadows where her Hawaii registration had been. We thought it would be a tribute to put the numbers back on, but in stealth mode.
We like to cover our boats when they are outside, it protects them from dust, tree sap, bird poop, pine tree needles and many other things. It also keeps critters from nesting in the boats, chewing on the sails or storing nuts in various places like a new Sunfish sail, not that that ever happened to us.... So when it is time to go sailing we can go sailing, not spend time getting the boat clean enough to use or wonder how much an new sail is going to cost.
On our Sunfish we experimented with a few different types of covers from SLO Sail and Canvas;, a Hull cover, a Spars On Deck cover and a Mast Up cover. We also experimented with a few of the different fabrics and the one we like is Sunbrella, it is not totally waterproof but it allows the boat and gear to breathe. The waterproof cover developed mildew, fast. We bought some with straps, some without. At the end of our test period, what we like the most is the Spars On deck Cover with straps, we can leave the spars on top of the boat during the sailing season. The Mast Up cover might work for some, but we like to roll our boats under a shed and the mast was too tall, you also have to untie the halyard, either on the gaff or take down the mast, which defeats the purpose. Both the Spars On Deck and Mast Up cover have pockets on the stern for the spars to fit in.
Hull cover.
Spars On Deck cover, in this picture just the mast is stored underneath, it fits nice and snug when sail and spars are on deck. It is cut a little fuller towards the bow.
Mast Up cover. Can also be used with the mast down, but there may be small leaks around the mast collar. This cover would be great if you have a week at the beach and want to leave your Sunfish down on the shore for a few days.
We incorporated several of the ideas that we liked and made a cover for our Penboscot 14. We use the sprit underneath the cover as a ridgepole and it has held up great under heavy rain and our gusty bayfront winds.
