Of Covers And Rain
 

Just acquired a '96 Shabah 180. Haven't had it on the water aside from the (wow!) test drive - snow & rain here in the Northwest. (The poor Bayliner sales guy thought he was getting rid of a pain-in-the-neck used boat until we got it on the lake - then he was trying to figure out how to backpedal and jack the price up once he got a feel for the handling.)

The Shabah has what (I assume) is the original Mariah Sunbrella cover. Awesomely well-crafted cover. However, like most bowrider covers, keeping rain from pooling in bow & cockpit is a challenge. Mine has the standard support poles & snaps.

The bow support pole seems adequate. I'm not nuts about the strain on the main cockpit fabric, though, with @50 square feet of fabric leaning on a snap-size spot.

I've tried something a bit different. I scrounged a @9' piece of lumber from the attic - almost 2x4 size, but nicely rounded on top / flat on the bottom. I've rigged it as a "spine" running from the top of the windshield back to the rear transom. This provides a high and rigid centerline - my hope is that sheds better & strains less.

Will post followup, and would appreciate hearing alternatives & suggestions.

Regards
Matthew

That sounds like a captial plan, and would probably be a popular mod. Make sure you take pictures to maybe throw up a how-to. We could use more of those around here.

I have a custom cover that came with mine as the original was pooched. We definatley need a good fix for the bowrinder cover seam at the windshield. That' the only place I have trouble with water coming in.

That's funny. My father in law does exactly the same thing only with a 1" x 3" board. :)
I still have the original Mariah cover and i use it for storage etc now. It's showing its age and my wife did some sewing etc on it a couple of years ago & i treated it with some good quality waterproofing last year. I had a new travel cover made up last year that goes right over the windshield and actually attaches to the bow cover with a zipper and a velcro strip to eliminate water getting thru. It works a treat that way but unfortunately i dont have any pics of it handy. Here's the new vs the original travel cover that i store the boat with.
http://www.mariahownersclub.com/gall...1_Mariah_2.jpg http://www.mariahownersclub.com/gall...2_DSC00013.JPG

Gidday MikeyT, Where did you get that original cover from? Thats the one on the right - correct? I would love to get one for mine. Is it good for travelling with? I keep my boat under cover anyway so it stays dry even in our wettest of weather, I use them mostly just to keep the dust and bugs and kids out, (and the odd Croc and snake of course).

Update on 'center spine' beneath cover + boat cover question...
 

Well, the board-down-the middle approach to avoiding rain pools works - sort of! We're dealing with the wettest spring in @30 years here in the Northwest, so it's a good proving ground.

What works well - rain sheds off, and -if- it starts pooling over the cockpit, the pool is only 1/2 as large.

What's challenging - keeping enough side tension on the cover. First couple of times I checked on the rig, rain had pooled (just on one side - i'd surmise the wind played a role.) Tightening up the lines that secure the cover to the trailer popped it out tight again.

I'm thinking about doing a dual-lash setup - lines (rope) to secure it, with bungees to keep it taut.

Which leads me to a question! The boat will be floating all summer (dock on lake). We still get rain - I plan on keeping the cover on. But how? (Shabah 183 doesn't have hooks on the hull for the cover.)
a) sink trailer underneath boat, tie cover to trailer :rolleyes:
b) tie off the points where there's some purchase (rear corners, bow) & ignore the rest?
c) pass longer lines under the hull? (= slimy lines that will rot out in a season)
d) ?

Any of you keeping a boat in the water, covered?

regards
MD

Hi

Is your boat the one that was advertised by Olympic boats? We were planning to have a look but as you have mentioned my wife didn't want to go out in our liquid (sometimes frozen) sunshine. Contacted dealer and said it had been sold.

Did you also check out the Mariah for sale on Craigslist in or by Freemont? Tried twice but could not make the connection.

Will hopefully have a Mariah before summer, we will look for you July 4 on Lake Wa. What lake do you call home, we are on Lake Tapps.

Tom