I was looking for a better way of covering my P23 over winter. With just a tarp over the braced mast, snow load was not always shed as well as I would wish, and holes were being worn in the tarp by stanchions etc. Also it was not easy to get into the boat for dreaming/planning purposes.

I had a boat cover made up out of heavy duty weather-resistant plasticized fabric. It has a zipping door for access during winter, has strong tape loops around the circumference for lashing down, and mounts on a frame I made out of plastic pipe in the following manner.

First: disconnected the lifelines. The frame base is of 1 1/2 in. ABS plumbing pipe. It sits over the stanchions and the fore/aft top sections of the pushpit and pulpit. (It has slots cut in it to fit at each end, holes for the stanchions, and narrow slots fore and aft of each stanchion hole to allow the slack lifeline to be left in place without being pinched). There is one angle connector (15 degrees) and one straight connector used per side to connect the 3 lengths required. I then used 1/2 in. poly pipe to form "hoops" (like a covered wagon), inserting the ends of these in holes cut in the ABS base frame, and securing all joins etc. with that stalwart Canadian standby, hockey tape.

In spring just roll off the cover, remove tape, and pull all apart.

Results for the first winter were excellent, with very effective snow-shedding properties. For next year I may, however, go up to 5 "hoops" for even more stability.

John Clement

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