nutshell pram cover

[Ginny Travers]

We may need to store our nutshell pram in the water this year, and as we won't be able to check on it after rainstorms, we'd like to make a cover for it. Has anyone done this? If so, do you have a pattern for a cover, or some tips on how to proceed? Ideally, we'd like to make a cover with battens in it, so that the cover would be bowed upward and shed the water.

Thanks,
Ginny

[Dave R]

Ginny, I would imagine you could get some appropriate fabric from Sailrite for this. Thin wooden battens or even tent poles could be slid into tubes sewn in the fabric. I would consider a ridge pole that runs the length of the boat and is separate from the cover. Perhaps it would run higher than the cover and the cover could be hung with hooks such as those used on many lightweight camping tents.

You could make the cover so that it is a bit wider than the boat and isn't closed down tight so that there'd be some ventilation. Loops of webbing sewn to the edges near the battens would give you points to tie on bits of line to tie to the boat.

[StevenBauer]

Seems a little too complicated to me, Dave. Bristol Bronze makes a bronze socket that mounts inside the gunwale that a wooden bow fits in to. You'd probably need two wooden bows (four sockets). I think it's their part number HM0027 "cockpit bow bracket" I have a few of them around here somewhere.


Steven

[Dave R]

Steven, I didn't know anyone made something like that. I would agree with you in that case.

I think the part number is BB1392.

[ChrisBen]

There are a couple of ways to make this, mentioned above. One is with a ridge pole simply lashed at bow and stern to a cleat, ring, u-bolt whatever. The other with the sockets mounted inside the gunnel for ash or fiberglass battens.
Taylor Made Products - Deck Mount Boat Cover Bow Sockets, Die Cast (http://www.go2marine.com/product.do?no=161226F)
to make the cover use some 6 mil poly sheeting stretched over the pole or battens as a pattern and mark the perimeter with a grease pencil/ magic marker. You can attach the cover using screw stud snaps along the outside of the gunnel.
Fasteners, Apparel Snaps, Screw Stud, Screw Stud Stainless Steel from Rochford Supply - Your Online Textile and Upholstery Superstore! (http://www.rochfordsupply.com/product_listing.asp_Q_CatID_E_411_A_SubCatId_E_452 )
Or you can make a pocket around the perimeter with some 1/8 line inside the pocket as a draw string to fit underneath the gunnel. Ventilation can be provided by cutting half circles into the cover, reinforcing the edges to prevent fraying. Don't use any of the polytarp type of materials for the cover, spend the extra money for Sunbrella.

[JimConlin]

Perko makes such a socket.
http://www.jmsonline.net/ppp/images/44997.jpg
I fear that they're chromed zinc.

[Dave R]

Here's the ones from Bristol Bronze.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v506/weekender410/CockpitBowBracket.jpg

[Thorne]

I have two of these parts, but don't want to install them, as it looks like they'd clutter up the gunwales, bang elbows and butts when sailing, and hold water against the wood.

If you had gunwales of just the right thickness and wide enough to handle the holes without weakening them, you could mount them from underneath.

If you have the storage space on the dock (or wherever), consider making a disposable wooden frame and using old fiberglass sectional tent poles to make a cover.

Take two 1x3's and clamp them (with non-metallic clamps) to the outside of the gunwales to follow the shape of the hull. Drill holes in the top edge to take the ends of the poles, and you may need to cut or remove pole sections to fit better, restringing the elastic with a stiff wire 'needle'.

Now fit a good plastic or canvas cover over the hoops, attaching it with shockcord or other fasteners to the sides of the 1x3's. If desired you could build the frame as a standalone structure, joining the 1x3's at the bow and with a crosspiece at the stern.

I just designed and built a bimini-like sunshade for my dory skiff with old tent poles, but used bronze rings siezed to the bent frames (and other attachment points) inside the hull to hole the ends of the poles -- I'm shedding sunlight, not water. With a brown canvas top it looks a bit like a funky sanpan but may save my epidermis on the upcoming SF Gunkholing trip in the Delta.

[Steve Lansdowne]

www.sailrite.com has materials and even free pdf files to guide you in making covers and such.

[Tom Robb]

Wouldn't it be easier amd less likely to cave in under a load of snow or torrential rain and wind to store it upside-down? The bottom is designed to be wet after all.

[Thorne]

Upside down in the water? Don't think they have permanent dock space for the boat...

[Todd Bradshaw]

Fabric - Sunbrella or Odyssey. Sunbrella is heavier by about 35% and acrylic. Odyssey (I think they're currently up to Odyssey III) is polyester and is less expensive, but has similar properties and is pretty good stuff. It would stow in a smaller bag if that matters and is easier to sew on a small machine. Polyester thread - the heaviest your machine will sew for a home machine or V69-V92 for an industrial machine.

Attachment - snap studs screwed to the boat (hull or outwale - outwale is usually better - the underside of the outwale is often best it the gunwale stock is wide enough) possibly combined with a hem drawstring if you have a wide enough outwale for it to catch under there. The snap studs are the smallest hardware bits that will do the job and are pretty durable. If your outwale is big enough, a hem drawstring made from 1/8" nylon parachute cord can be tied-off and still have just enough elasticity to stretch into position and pop over the gunwale with no day-to-day adjustment needed (despite first impressions, bungie cord is a royal pain in the butt on a cover that large). The combination of the snaps and drawstring is usually strong enough that you can pick up a small boat by the cover and it won't come loose. Snaps placement is usually 12"-18" apart. Other fasteners - twist locks (stick out awfully far and can get bent), Velcro (loses half it's grip when wet) are less suitable.

Support - On a simple open boat you don't need an awful lot of slope to divert rain water. I'm a big fan of basically building the cover flat (which is by far easiest) and then using as little structure as possible (or none at all) to peak it up enough to tighten it nicely and create the slope. Whenever possible, this is done with a single-point lift in the middle using either a small post pressing against a reinforced patch (about 8" diameter, with two or three extra layers of fabric) from below - or from above with a halyard connected to a reinforced, webbed-on D-ring on the outside of the patch if the boat has a mast. For sailboats, I still build a post for storage when the mast is down and the halyard lift isn't available. The typical post is a circle of plywood maybe 10" in diameter with a PVC pipe flange screwed to it, a short chunk of pipe and a cap glued to it's top so that it isn't sharp. It takes some experimentation to figure out just how long you can make the post so that it peaks up the cover snugly and still allows you to snap it down, but it's not too bad considering that you're not spending time fooling with a bunch of bows or framework. Normally, in use, you snap most of the cover on, leaving an open spot on one side, stick the post in there, stand it up and snap the final few snaps as you stretch last part of the cover into place.

This is a Sunbrella cover, basically made flat and peaked up with a single point lift.

http://webpages.charter.net/tbradshaw/nordica%202%20copy.jpg

[Tom Robb]

OOOh! In the water...damned dyslexia.
Storing a little praam in the water would never have crossed my mind.