Travel Cover

If I were looking for a travel cover for my boat - is there any place in particular that can make me one? I have a generic grey storage cover, but if you drive with it, it balloons up like a parachute and slows me down!! Is there a custom fit shop that i can buy one from that possibly doesn't involve snaps??? i also read something someone wrote about cleaning with 303...what is it?

I think most will agree that Rankin makes one of (if not) the best travel cover. You may pay a little more up front but it is well worth it. Give them a call and they should be able to help you out.

http://www.rankincovers.com/

Thanks!! Looks good. I will call them!

I am a big fan of Rankin.... Keep in mind they will scuff the front of your boat under the rub rail after LONG trips. No big deal. It buffs right out. I have had 2 of their covers now.

Digg's the reason I wanted to get on is for long trip's. But after polishing my boat out In not rely into doing it again. Can you describ the typr of rubbing you have had?

Yes do check out Rankin covers... required here in Seattle.

Grant, get a roll of packing foam from a local shipping supply store. You should be able to find it in widths wide enough to cover from the rub rail up over the top of the side of that nice shinny boat. Secure it in place with small clear pieces of packing tape… then just put you cover on carefully. Trav did this on his Pro V a few times when towing down to Shasta.

Or do like me… just don’t go crazy polishing the boat and you won’t notice the small scuffs.

You may get some scuffs from the hooks that secure the cover to the rub rail… or if your cover has stretched from getting wet for too long…. Try washing and drying it at a laundry mat to get it to shrink up a bit… then it should not rub as much.

Grant
i just got little rub scuffs in the gel coat about 3'-5' from the tip of the bow, just under the rub rail. Almost by your front tower mounts. No scuffs that you can feel. Just leaves a little black stain or scuff. Wipped out the buffer and gone in seconds, but was not able to buff by hand. I can generally run it on an hour trip with no scuffs, but it happens to be the longer trips at hwy speed. FYI they are pretty pricey too....

Does anyone happen to know what the price range is running?

We paid 7 something for our Rankin last year for our WSLSV. They had been doing some group buys for cheaper, but I don't think they will go that route again.

Ryan
Not sure where you are located, but out here in southern California we have a problem to think about.
It is the blowing sand!
I have seen a lot of boats that have been towed with covers that have ended up scratching their gel coat.
As they get towed the sand in the air gets between the cover and the gel coat. The boat ends up looking like somebody sanded a stripe down the side of it.

This is why I remove my cover before driving and then put it back on when we get to the river.

Just food for thought
David

Retail is between $795-$1295 I think, but could be way off. Have just always gotten with the boat purchase

i called yesterday and for my boat he said it would run around $850...kinda steep.

David - i'm in wyoming...i guess i baby my stuff so the reason i want a cover is mainly for sun reasons...i try to limit the damage to as little as possible...figure those extra miles to the lake with a cover would help, but maybe it's not necessary...especially for $850!!

I got quoted $700 to have a two peice snap on cover installed on my boat. $850 seems a little high when the snap on cover would be a little more useful for MY USES.

I paid about $700 for mine as well.

i know $800 sounds steep but it will be the best boat cover you have ever had. my boat here in Seattle has been sitting outside all winter and it is amazing how well it protects it from the elements. the boat is on a lift so i don't too much towing and can't comment on that aspect.

I talked with Tim W. he has a SAN with a Rankin cover and he said his Rankin cover worked pretty well. Tim W said that the back side of the Rankin cover had some sort of soft felt on the back side where the cover touched the sun pad. This soft felt was so that the cover didnt mark the vinyl. Im wondering if they could put this material on the inside of the cover where ever the cover could cause scratching. I.E the top of the window frame ect. Tim W also said that the cover seemd to flap in the wind right where the cover starts to curve up the front window. Sort of right by the front tower leg. He said a simple fix would be to add a strap the went down to the trailer so that you could snug the cover down. Do you think Rankin could or would make these mod's to a cover, I to was quoted $850 and a 6 week wait.

The Ranking Cover scuffed the hell out of our boat last summer. Luckily Rankin paid for everything and we went back to snap cover. my .02