[abillmann]

Good morning all,

As the proud new owner of a 1900 ZS, I recently found out that I'm going to need a decent mooring cover. The boat has a travel cover (with eyelets for tiedowns), but I don't think that will work very well when the boat is being stored in an in-water slip.

So... being relatively new to this, what's the right way to go in terms of a mooring cover?

1. Something form-fitted (with elastic edges?) for this specific model?

2. Something custom-made, with snaps placed along the hull?

The area where the boat is stored is generally protected from wind, but the boat would definitely be exposed to rain.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated! My goal is to make sure the boat is protected, but also have something that won't be a 20-minute ordeal every time.

[Kitto]

Nicely done on the new purchase. I just purchased a new snap on cover for the bow and cockpit. The snaps were already on the boat so it was fairly simple to have a new one made. Mine covers the windshield as well and it is about a 10 minute job, but it looks good and covers everything nicely. Not only that it stows in the boat well if I choose to. It also helps when trailering as it is a little more aerodynamic. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[abillmann]

Unfortunately, I don't have snaps on the hull. So it would be a brand-new custom job, probably involving at least one trailer trip of about 30 miles to a local place that does custom boat covers. And then probably at least two or three weeks to have the job completed.

I've found a few places that do semi-custom covers that have a shockline in the hem (for a fairly snug fit), and the hem comes down to about 4" below the rubrail. The boat is totally stock, so the fit would probably be OK. And compared to the price of custom, with snaps, well... less than half.

Am I asking for trouble if I went this route? For longer periods of storage (up to a week) or when particularly bad weather is expected, I was thinking of hanging some weights on each side (not glamorous, but effective.)

Acceptable? Or bad idea?

[Kitto]

To use a bad cliche that would be uncharted waters for me. You will probably get some other advice from guys who the full boat covers and they would definately have more experience than I. My cover was a bit pricey as well, but mine came with a full boat cover as well. Sorry I'm not much of a help.

[abillmann]

I appreciate the insight -- thank you!

I'm trying to find a nice balance between price and practicality -- the boat's only worth $5000. I don't want to overbuy and spend the better part of $1000 on a custom-snap cover, but I also don't want to ruin the thing!

[indykoch]

Most of the "semi-custom" fit covers I've had experience with or seen, don't exactly work all that well. If not properly supported underneath, they pool water, get ripped if too much water, and generally never seem to stay on in the wind. If you found a good way to support it, then the issue is keeping it tight, which a shock cord usually can't do by itself. You'll get pooling of rain water which will eventually overcome the resistance of the shock cord and act like an upside down umbrella inside your boat.

The cockpit and bow covers like Kitto has are great. The only thing I don't like about them is the water coming down the windshield will sometimes run under the cover for the bow. They also don't provide as much protection from the sun between the rubrail and cover. I haven't found these to be very cheap, either.

I personally love my factory cover (which is now partially retired due to a small rip and less water resistance) which is a full mooring cover and goes over the rubrail and snaps down. That would obviously be an expensive option (which is why I haven't bought a new one yet), but the easiest and best protection.

Budget wise, I think you could get by with a good, semi-custom cover. But the support system and keeping it tied down tight is extremely important. This is what I have now, but mine is on a lift and I can strap it down tight to the lift itself. For boats moored in the water, I've seen some people "fabricate" a pulley system under the boat so they can pull a rope on one side and it pulls the cover tight on both sides. Pretty neat idea and seems to work well, but I don't know the details of it.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!