There's a story behind this ridiculous venture. When I was shopping for an I/O runabout for my present to myself on my 70th b-day "midlife" crisis, everyone told me I had to get it out of the water or the I/O would corrode to heck in no time in the warm Florida waters. I had no idea, and thought about it for a month before coming to a Eureka moment. I realized that I already had the makings of a lift at my dock. The one my dad built in the 70's was still there and the poles were like new in strength although the rest was history. So I tore it down and rebuilt it myself. No mean feat for an old f*rt. Mission accomplished;-) The lesson there is that you can't let anyone tell you that you can't do/have something, because there is always a way.
Details: I finally put a roof on my simple boathouse. Now the boat and lift hardware are a little more protected from the elements. I used galvanized corrugated metal panels painted with a white elastomeric roof coating to keep things cooler and minimize the rain noise. To provide runoff, I created a slight dome of about 2 inches in the middle that matches the normal flex of the panels' weight at the ends. Three sets of four 2" x 6" pine cross braces support the panels.
