a cool G23 cover for boat lifts or anything with a canopy.

[northwestwater]

hi! someone told me about this cover a couple months ago on this site. so I bought it for my G and decided to post what it looks like under my boat lift. i love it!!! it pulls around your boat like a shower curtain. it is designed to go over my swim step but, it's hard for me to walk it around with out risking getting wet so i just wrap it around the transom. it literally takes me about 1 minute to put it on. i drive my boat into it like entering a womb... keeps spiders out, protects gel coat, and i put a pic of the view from a distance so you can see it is not too obstructive. it's made by marine concepts. took me about 2 months to get because he had to scan the actual G23 into his computer. but, he's got it now so i would think the turnaround would be faster. We put it up in about 3 hours with two friends and a little wine and BBQ. cheers!

[imoveteeth]

What kind of cost if you don't mind me asking?

[northwestwater]

i think it was about $3,000. if i remember right, he charges by the linear foot. i bought it back in may so my memory is a little foggy as that was several beers ago...

[AirTool]

I like it.

[TX-Foilhead]

Why not get someone local to put a velcro flap (door) on one side of the platform? That way you could pull it around from inside the boat or climb on the platform when you got back there.

[Pjoachim]

Looks pretty cool. What type of boat lift do you have?

[northwestwater]

Foilhead, love that idea! i think i will try and see if i can get a seamstress to do it. thanks so much for the suggestion. i really would like to cover whole boat since i am north facing south and sun beats on my transom all day long.

Pjoachim, my lift is a basta marine hydraulic lift made for a 19 foot boat. I bought it 10 years ago when i built my house because i waterskied and never thought i would ever like wakeboarding (that was for the crazy kids on the lake). i have had the hydraulics/frame upgraded and put a much larger canopy on it last year. i looked at the covers that go around the canopies but, the one i liked was powered and they would not retrofit on my canopy. since i just purchased the canopy last year (upgrading from a shorter canopy), i just didn't want to throw the new canopy away.

i am happy with marine concepts and if anyone has a G23, he already has that boat scanned in his computer now, so it should go much faster!

[scottb7]

Last year I had a tarp around the lift but it took a beating from the wind and nothing ever got dry inside the boat. So this year I got this mesh tarp. Stops 70% of sunlight but allows wind thru. Much better. About $80 bucks. And the bonus is it still stops all but worst driving rain.

[AirTool]

Foilhead, love that idea! i think i will try and see if i can get a seamstress to do it.

Maybe try a canvas or upholstery shop. I've found the "seamstress" shops don't have the horsepower or needles to go through the heavy fabrics.

[Pjoachim]

Scottb where did you get the mesh from?

[scottb7]

http://www.tarpsplus.com/blue-mesh-tarps.html

I got 2 of the 8 x 20 and just cut it down the middle so I ended up with a qty of 4 that measured about 4 x 20. That way in a couple of spots it is overlapped to stop even more sun/rain. So it was $47.85 x 2.

It is wearing really great. Very pleased with it.

[johnboyy7]

man i was excited til i saw it cost 3k. ouch.

[Pjoachim]

http://www.tarpsplus.com/blue-mesh-tarps.html

I got 2 of the 8 x 20 and just cut it down the middle so I ended up with a qty of 4 that measured about 4 x 20. That way in a couple of spots it is overlapped to stop even more sun/rain. So it was $47.85 x 2.

It is wearing really great. Very pleased with it.

Scott thanks for the tip. For around a 100 bucks I can set up my lift. I was thinking of using conduit for the bottom rod to give it some structure instead of rope. Did you try that at all?

[northwestwater]

yea, i think scott has it figured out. gosh darn, i was so proud of my purchase but, Scott wins!!! i have seen something similar to scotts done with conduit sewed in on the bottom to help it stabilize in the wind. this one had a 6 foot section that would roll up so you could get in the boat and the back would roll up as well so you could drive your boat off the lift. i like scottB's system! nice.

[scottb7]

I don't know about "winning". I am just cheap and like to tinker. Necessity is the mother of invention. I did not want to spend $3k. Also, I am not that bright. Last year I used same idea but regular tarps and the wind tore it up. You are right for about $100 you are all set. What I did is i added grommets myself with a simple grommet kit. I forget what size. But the kit looks like this. http://www.amazon.com/12PC-1-2-Gromm...ds=grommet+kit

You can try sewing in the conduit. But I would not want to spend the time doing any sewing and the rope works good and gives some flex to get under. Unless it is really really really strong wind the rope along the bottom is fantastic. But you guys can play with it and improve the system.

Oh, the back to get on and off is pretty neat. I just use a few bungee cords to secure it across the top instead of tying rope thur the grommets to the lift canopy. So like 3 bungees and 2 minutes and I can swing in the whole 10 foot section that goes across the back of the lift. So just unhook bungees swing in, temp bungee to side of canopy and go!

What has been great is leaving the tower up all the time. that beast is crazy heavy...can't even comfortable do it with 2 grown men. and i just leave the bimini up all the time july and august. stays nice and dry.