Winter cover with mast down

[Roland Gendreau]

We will be taking delivery of our 1992 C34 next week and it will be stored up here in MA this winter with the mast down. Future winters, it will be store mast up and I will plan to shrink wrap her.

For this winter with the mast down, I would like to cover her with a tarp of something primarily to protect the nice bright work which was recently re-done.

When I owned a C30, I constructed a cover frame out of PVC piping, with the uprights clamped to the stanchions.

Is this an appropriate way to build a cover support frame on the C34? Does anyone have any cover support plans they can point me to?

Thanks in advance

Roland Gendreau
"Gratitude" #1083

[Ron Hill]

Roland : Be careful on how you attach the PVC pipe to the stanchions.  The vented stanchions are particularly "tender" and prone to leaks.  

I have a PVC frame on the inside of those stanchions, but any weight from snow/ice on the tarp is on the PVC pipe.  The stanchion only holds the PVC pipe vertically in place.  The base of the pipe sets on the inside "V" brace of the stanchion base.   At mid stanchion there is a piece of wood that is grooved out with a semi-circle on each end, so the stanchion on one side and the PVC pipe set in those groves (2 different sizes).  I hold that in place with a long hose clamp that goes around the outside of the stanchion and the outside of the PVC pipe with that wooden "spacer" in between them.   You can move the spacer up or down to achieve the necessary angle on the PVC pipe.  
Clear as mud?

Our problem here in Virginia is freezing rain, which really raises hell with any cover.  In the aft portion of the boat I use the Bimini bows to help support the cover.    

[Richard Bain]

I covered my C34 this year, for the first time with the mast down, due to repairs. I used the PVC over the stanchions, then tied them all together with 4 2x2's....
I then used 2x4's to support the structure between the deck and 2x2's. at three points....front hatch area, companion way area and cockpit..
This seems to be working well, with lots of Lake Huron snow on it...

Good luck!
Richie

[Paul Bosquet]

Rolland,
I made myself a frame less cover for mast up and so far it has held up good but will see at the end of the winter. The boat is up in the lake Champlain area so we have plenty of snow. I went to the boat yesterday to make a final fit for my mahogany cockpit floor and noticed snow banks on each side of the boat telling me that snow falls off nicely from the cover.
If you are interested, I took some pics that I can Email you, let me know
Paul Bousquet
Eliosso C34