for one winter
http://goo.gl/JnG3Y6
but the sheet needs tied down, the canoes prob need venting for equalizing moisture …off the ground…also tarped avoiding ground to air transfers
I agree with willowleaf, canvas tarps would be best to cover boats as they have low risk of building up mildew and mold. A bit expensive than the poly ones but yeah, they are better at keeping your boat at good condition.
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Last about 3 years no shade. Usually buy 6 x 20 and fold in half. 30 bucks or ten dollars a year.
No knots to tie pop on pop off just lay them out in order when removing few different lengths 5/16" bungee marine grade made in USA.
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I have no history of using tarps to protect kayaks, but plenty using corrugated sheet metal to make shelters for animals. Using T posts and coffee cans filled with concrete I have made frames from rough cut lumber and also lodge poles (cut myself) many times. It’s fast easy and cheap to make such a frame. Then by covering the frame with corrugated sheet metal I have been able to make weather shelters for animals many times in my life, and made them strong enough to withstand snow loads up to 6 feet deep and spring winds that have gone over 100 MPH. Corrugated sheet metal is probably 2X more costly then good canvas per sq ft of coverage, BUT you buy it 1 time not several times. Sure it will rust out, but if kept pained every 3-4 years it’s common for such sheds to last 50 years. Any tarp is going to be replaced far more often, so it may be worth while to make a frame and cover it with corrugated sheet metal, and for 1-2 kayaks it can be made only 30 inches high or so. If you wire hinged covers on the ends of a tunnel it’s easy to slide the kayak in from either end. If there’s no room for that I’d hinge the top to lift up like a car hood. Not pretty, but neither is a tarp.
Anyway…one more option to think about.
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Horror Fright Tools has extra heavy duty black/silver tarps. This $50 12’ by 20’ could be cut in half to cover 2 individual boats up to 18’ or 3 boats under 12’. Buyer reviews seem to agree these hold up well.
They also sell cotton canvas tarps treated to resist UV and mildew.
https://www.harborfreight.com/lawn-garden/tarps/heavy-duty-tarps/6-ft-x-8-ft-canvas-tarp-56746.html
Side bar on other HFT tarp projects. My local one had very sturdy small canvas tarps coated on one side with rubbery blue plastic for a while (not listed on line at the moment). I bought one to a few years ago to make a stretcher-like sling, originally to use on our trail-clearing volunteer days to when we often have to haul nasty bulk items (like truck tires on rims, car batteries and rusted bicycles) down hillsides. I cut a 4’ 6" by 6’ 6" piece out of the 8 x 10 tarp , then folded each of the tips of 4 corners of the 5’ by 8’ piece in on the diagonal about 4". I then folded over and stitched a 1.5" hem around all 4 sides to form a wide tunnel that was open at each of the corners. Used an upholstery needle in the sewing machine with the heavy duty Coats and Clark outdoor thread which is weather resistant and has high tensile strength. Luckily I have a vintage (1909) Singer treadle sewing machine which could stitch through a 2 by 4 (i have sewn zippers into leather jackets with it.)
Had also bought a hank of soft 1/2" kernmantel (woven sheath) diamond braid rope from HFT and threaded that through the tunnel around all 4 sides, pulling a 4" deep loop of slack out at each open corner.
At the corner where the cut ends of the rope hung out (i left them about a 8" long) I pulled back the woven sheath a few inches past the fiber core and cut the exposed core off shorter, then sealed the ends of the core strands with a lighter, also sealed the woven ends of the sheath the same way once I pulled it back down over the core so it would not unravel. Flattened the now hollow sheath ends and overlapped the two ends and stitched multiple lines across them to create a strong continuous loop of rope. This created a heavy duty stretcher-like sling that we could load up and 2 to 4 people could carry it or we could use carabiners and ropes to lower the loaded thing over a railing or down a slope. It’s served on 4 such work efforts so far.
I mention this because this contraption has also proven handy to move heavy boats. On a group trip 2 years ago we moved a 100 pound loaded canoe to and from the water with it by pulling the boat onto the sling and then 4 people could each grab one of the loops and walk alongside carrying it with ease. The thick soft rope is easy on the hands. (speaking of that, the designs of the handles on some of my older sea kayaks are torture devices.)
It occurs to me that something like this could also be useful on backcountry trips. It could be used to hoist food stashes into a tree, to share carrying gear on a portage and even as a rescue stretcher. With a couple short bungees it could cover the cockpit of a kayak with gear inside. I’ve been using it quite a bit as I do landscape clearing at the new property – great for moving large amounts of mulch or collecting leaves, pruned branches or weed debris for funneling into waste bags or hauling to the compost pile. For single person use, the loops at the 4 corners can be brought together and the sides gathered a bit to make like a purse seine that can be dragged or hoisted over a shoulder. The rubbery coating is tough and slides well over surfaces, also easy to hose off.
I’d post a photo but the con"tarp"tion is currently on loan to a friend who’s doing her own landscaping projects. But here’s a general sketch showing the white canvas corners folded in and the blue coating on the reverse side. The actual thing is rather patriotic – the blue is darker and the 1/2" rope I got happened to only come in red, white and blue plaid.
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I switched from standard tarps to used billboard vinyl to cover firewood a couple of years ago. Very heavy duty, UV resistant, waterproof, and rip resistant. Very cheap compared to industrial grade tarps. Many choices in size and weight. Some come with pipe channels on the edges. I bought a 10 x 36’, cut it in half along the long side, folded and glued the cut edges and installed brass grommets.
Works well if you don’t mind that one side has printing on it for the used vinyl. Other side usually black or white. The actual size can be a bit larger than advertised as they often don’t count the pipe channels.
I found the vinyl tarps, even when sold as “heavy duty” in hardware stores, tore and degraded rather quickly when used in the sun.
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I bought one of those and made a custom fitted cover for my Potter 19 sailboat while stored with the mast up. It lasted 4 years, and now requires replacement. They do sell the new stuff which i assume would last longer. However. the replacement will probably be made of canvas or Sunbrella which is more costly.
I have the old farmer model of the singer sewing machine with the direct drive.
These tarp clips can also be handy if you fold a trap in half or have unfinished material. Just search Amazon for tarp clips.
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My tarps in the picture have zero shade protection. Bungees start to fail before the tarp. Even then you can just pull them like a rope and tie them. Sunbrella has to be expensive and is not waterproof.
I bought a bunch of marine grade bungee cord a couple of years ago, which has UV resistant dacron rather than nylon sheath and more heat and stretch-fatigue resistant extruded latex rubber core. I ordered stuff that was too big for kayak deck rigging (1/4". what was I thinking??) so I’ll be making lashing bungees out of it. Lots of sources for it on line but Defender Marine has the best prices I’ve found (50’ of 1/4" in choice of colors for $9). They sell fittings for it too, like Delrin snap links.
https://defender.com/en_us/ri-knitting-elastic-marine-shock-cord
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