Cover Question. Please Help

[Cunningb]

My brother and I recently purchased a 1990 Ski Nautique. We have always wanted a Nautique since we were kids. Anyway, the cover we received with the boat is quite a hassle. It seems to have straps that have to go under the boat. The straps we have, which have locking pieces, don't even seem to reach the whole way under.

We we have a lake place in northern Indiana and during the summer season the boat will be kept on a lift (Shore Station). We hope to simply get a canopy, but that probably won't happen until next year. Are there any alternatives for the time being? The current cover takes quite a bit of time to put on and requires someone to be in the water. Are different types of covers available. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

[Donald80SN]

Cunningb,

Four weeks ago, I ordered a Tower Fit Cover from WWW.Coversports.Net in Washington State. Brett Flemming runs a small company that has all of the Nautique patterns. He makes are very nice custom fit cover that requires no poles. I found that it is best to pick up the phone and call him. He is not very e-mail efficient. He quoted me 4-6 weeks to build and I am now at the four week mark. Brett seems to come highly recommended by the folks on this site. There is another Washington State Company titled Evolution that seems to me to build covers for Malibu Boats. Both companies came from another company that is no longer in business titled Rankin. I had a Rankin on my 1980 Ski Nautique and I loved that cover. This is why I am working with Brett on this new cover for a 2002 Sport Nautique with Factory Tower. You can also contact www.skiboatcovers.com and there is Angola Canvas in Indiana that many on Correct Craft Fan love very much. Those seem to offer a draw string that use poles, and I wanted to use a ratchet with no poles. Coversports is limited when it comes to side skits and platform covers where as www.skiboatcovers.com can do all of that stuff very well.

Also, you can have a local mobile canvas guy come and build a cover in your driveway. Also, White Lake Marine or Nautique Parts can hook you up with a Carver Cover which are made in South Carolina. Most folks seem to prefer the Sunbrella Material over canvas if out in the weather. It is more expensive, but has a ten year warranty. My cover looked great after seven years. Then I sold it back to CYPRESS GARDENS / Lego Land in Florida.

I hope this helps,

Donald

[swatguy]

I second Brent at coversports, Just put an order in for mine there as well. Being in Northern Illinois and also keeping my boat on a lift this cover is much easier to put in than any cover out there and is very high quality. I tried the exact fit covers from Nautiqueparts.com which is essentially a similar product to the skiboatcovers.com style and for my needs with the boat being on an uncovered lift for small periods of time I was severely disappointed. I have yet to take delivery of the new covered in Brent at coversports, but I have owned 2 of his covers for previous boats. His covers price wise are only a couple hundred more for what I believe is a much superior product. He does everything by phone and email, so the website is pretty low key. Don't let that fool you though the product is top notch

Www.coversports.net

Kris

[TRBenj]

I love my rankin (Coversports copied the design) that I have for my '90 but it is NOT the cover of choice if you're looking for an easy-to-install cover, especially in the water, on a lift.

Unfortunately, you're most likely going to be getting wet either way you go. The trailerable rankin/Coversports takes 10-15 min to install, there is no half-arsing it if you just want a dew cover overnight. It's a precise, tight fit and it it takes a bit of jockeying to get it on and snugged down.

My boat is lift kept and prior to the addition of my canopy, I found that regular mooring covers (non-trailerable) to be MUCH easier to install. I would ditch the straps and use bungees instead. If your lift allows, you may be able to attach to it rather than going under the boat. Otherwise, you're getting wet.

[s_kelley2000]

I love my rankin (Coversports copied the design) that I have for my '90 but it is NOT the cover of choice if you're looking for an easy-to-install cover, especially in the water, on a lift.

Unfortunately, you're most likely going to be getting wet either way you go. The trailerable rankin/Coversports takes 10-15 min to install, there is no half-arsing it if you just want a dew cover overnight. It's a precise, tight fit and it it takes a bit of jockeying to get it on and snugged down.

My boat is lift kept and prior to the addition of my canopy, I found that regular mooring covers (non-trailerable) to be MUCH easier to install. I would ditch the straps and use bungees instead. If your lift allows, you may be able to attach to it rather than going under the boat. Otherwise, you're getting wet.

While I agree that the Cover Sports/Rankin takes more time to put on correctly than a typical mooring cover it is definitely not a 10-15 minute job on my Super Sport with an ND tower. Maybe the design on the 90 Ski is a lot different but even with my fractured tibia I am doing it in just over 5 minutes on my boat in the water and a little bit quicker on the trailer. The hardest thing to do while the boat is in the water is the ratchet strap that goes under the platform but after a little practice it's not bad. Although undoing the ratchet strap without getting wet is not nearly as easy when you are taking the cover off. Think kneeling on platform with arm in the water up to your shoulder to reach the release. If there is no rain in the forecast I usually don't bother with that strap. Getting the 4 buckles through the transom lift rings takes a little practice as well. It is definitely not the quickest cover to put on but when everything is on correctly it is an amazing cover that will not pool water no mater how hard it rains without the use of support poles. It is also trailerable if that is important to you.

[shag]

Cheapest thing would be to fabricate (maybe a small/long piece of aluminum) something, that you can put a bend in, that way you can just hook the latch to that piece and pass it under the boat so you can go around and grab it from the other side. (not sure if you have a dock to walk around the boat...)

[s_kelley2000]

Good idea Shag but with the way mine is set up the spring loaded cinch (I misspoke when I said ratchet earlier) ends up exactly in the middle of the transom under the platform when everything is tight. Because of the hook and loop closures that tighten around tower legs I don't think I have enough play to move the cinch to one side or the other without pulling either the hook or loop for the tower legs out of alignment. Sorry if I am not explaining that well. If my boat slept in the water more than 5-10 nights a season I would go through the trouble of modifying it so the cinch ends up on the side but it works pretty well for me as is.

[Quinner]

A new high quality cover can get quite spendy, maybe 1/3-1/2 of what the new canopy will cost., if you can swing the cost of the canopy now all you need is a "dust" cover or something that won't blow off and keep the dirt out, which sounds like your existing cover can do. In the meantime as Tim suggested, ditch the rope for some bungee's to the lift carriage.