How could I fasten a piece of plywood over my open bow?

Arminius

Arminius

Well-Known Member
Oct 30, 2019
1,061
Seattle
Boat Info
Bowrider 200 Select, 2003
Engines
5.0L MPI, 260 hp w/Alpha 1 Drive
I have a nice canvas snap on cover now. Suppose I removed the screws holding in the snaps, drilled holes, and inserted well nuts. The snaps could go back in, retained by machine screws. Longer machine screws could hold the painted piece of plywood on in the unlikely event I decided to put this lake boat into salt water. Be great to hear from someone who has actually done it.
 
You can put a bow rider in salt water. Thousands of us do it all the time.

There is no need to cover the open bow just because you are in salt water.
 
If you’re concerned about stuffing the bow in a large wave, don’t worry, a piece of plywood is not going to help any. The reason center consoles have low, or removable transoms is so water that comes in over the bow can go out the stern. You have a fixed transom. So if that happens to you, you’re toast anyways.
 
I could just get longer screws for the snaps and use those holes to screw down the plywood. I had a 18' cuddy with a 150 OB which I took into the San Juans some. I recall a wave, maybe from a ferry wake, coming over the bow and thinking that the cuddy arrangement had an advantage. I thought grandpa's center console had a removable transom so the kids could load an old couch and watch their buddies do tricks on their boards in the gargantuan V-hull wake. Clever marketing from the Whaler.
 
Its just not suited for big water / waves without risking sinking. Calm day and forecast maybe, but then you don't need the plywood. The plywood won't help much. It will just give a bow stuff wave faster track to the stern of the boat that might actually sink you faster. A small bowrider has no scuppers to get that water out. That huge weight will be on the deck until it drains to the bilge and then that little itty bitty bilge pump will have to pump it out. The problem with many lake bowriders is that the bow is too low, not that it is open. That is why the new larger bowriders coming out that are more suited for open water don't have those low bows.
 
Creekwood said:
Its just not suited for big water / waves without risking sinking. Calm day and forecast maybe, but then you don't need the plywood. The plywood won't help much. It will just give a bow stuff wave faster track to the stern of the boat that might actually sink you faster. A small bowrider has no scuppers to get that water out. That huge weight will be on the deck until it drains to the bilge and then that little itty bitty bilge pump will have to pump it out. The problem with many lake bowriders is that the bow is too low, not that it is open. That is why the new larger bowriders coming out that are more suited for open water don't have those low bows.
Click to expand...

A bit more scientific than my comment, but to simplify:
Stuff the bow in a big wave and you will most likely sink.

In all seriousness if you intend to use your bow rider in the ocean, read and understand the NOAA marine forecast for your area. Use an App like Buoy Report to get data from the buoys in your area. Over the years I’ve found the NOAA coastal marine reports to be very accurate.

For example as I write, buoy 46087 at the mouth of Strait of Juan de Fuca is reporting 5’ waves on 9 second intervals. That’s no place for a bow rider (hell that’s no place for a 45’ ocean boat on a pleasure cruise). However farther up the strait closer to Puget Sound 46088 is reporting 0.3’ with no period reported. That’s a little more bow rider friendly.
 
I would like to start cutting on a single piece of 5' x 7' stock. 1/8" or 3/16" thickness in aluminum would be good with a modified canvas center support or an external transverse rib. I've got all winter to think about and work on this idea but that would be a mighty big road sign. Used to be, when I had a project in the schematic phase, I would wander through the scrap yards across from Boeing field and find somebody else had a good start on it and I could buy it by the pound. And, I could cut the stock down to 5' with my battery Skil saw. Still, an unwieldy chunk of metal to put on the roof of my truck.
Home Depot would deliver the plywood and I could go for marine grade. It would need a splice up near the forward narrow potion as two 4x8 sheets will be needed and this material will have to be at least 1/4". This will be heavier and tougher to store. I could put a small bow in it and have the structural advantage of an arch, although I would need multiple fasteners for the lateral loads of potential waves. Plywood takes and holds paint although I just found that Wessco has self-etching spray primer for galvanized and maybe for aluminum. Those Boeing tails all used to be zinc chromate yellow. This project definitely deserves some more thought.
 
Last edited:
Henry Boyd said:
A bit more scientific than my comment, but to simplify:
Stuff the bow in a big wave and you will most likely sink.

In all seriousness if you intend to use your bow rider in the ocean, read and understand the NOAA marine forecast for your area. Use an App like Buoy Report to get data from the buoys in your area. Over the years I’ve found the NOAA coastal marine reports to be very accurate.

For example as I write, buoy 46087 at the mouth of Strait of Juan de Fuca is reporting 5’ waves on 9 second intervals. That’s no place for a bow rider (hell that’s no place for a 45’ ocean boat on a pleasure cruise). However farther up the strait closer to Puget Sound 46088 is reporting 0.3’ with no period reported. That’s a little more bow rider friendly.
Click to expand...
My biggest problem in the San Juans was fog. I would follow a ferry with all the other small boats when I just had to get home. I put one of those oversized Xmas ornament reflectors in the highest and most forward point in the cuddy hoping that it would be visible to big ship radars as I rode bow high semi-planing with the only rf reflctive portion, the O/B, deep in the hole the stern was making in the water. (Another reason to go with aluminum stock for the bow lid!) I would have welcomed a little wind. After GPS was invented, the issue of where the hell I was was resolved. I recall yelling out for directions once and being told, "You're in Canada!"
 
Metals Supermarket in Everett quoted $550.00 for 5x7; Others won't go above 4x8. Maybe I'll start with 4x8x 1/4 marine plywood with a splice. A useable prototype that could be trashed with a Skil saw.
It is amazing how many prototypes sink. A famous Swedish 74 was found a decade or so ago. Reading, "To Rule The Waves," I learn that Henry 8 built a large vessel like his Scottish Cuz's with an additional deck and gunports 16" above the water that submerged in it's first turn in battle in front of spectators. Or, all those US cruisers with aluminum superstructures that melted like wax in battle or these giant littoral trimarines with flooded propulsion packages. Or, the Gerald Ford with deck mounted rail guns instead of catapults. Definitely, a faulty prototype is more easily forgotten.
 
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I would use galvanized lag bolts so the hardware does not rust.
 
Here's another, and much simpler idea....instead of using plywood, why not just put some Harbor Freight tie down straps from one side of you bow rail to the other. Use a few straps to criss cross the bow area then put your bow cover over the straps.

No muss, no fuss, easy to dismantle and store when you don't need it.
 
I’m still missing something nd I’m sorry but why would you want to do this?
The extra weight to the bow might or will cause her to be nose heavy. Trimming the boat might be a issue, fuel consumption will increase. Personal gear, people, and such will be a issue. All of these might put the boat near its max load.
SeaRay designer's thought all these things out when they build the boat, is it wise to mess with the design of your craft?
 
My first boat was a new 200 Select bowrider. I tried running that boat around on Lake Superior a few times. I had purchased it in August '03, I ordered a different boat in September of '03.

If you just gotta....how about adding more snaps to help keep your current bow canvas on. Also modify your bow canvas if need be to accommodate a couple more canvas support poles to help hold the convex shape and shed water. With my second boat, 270 Sundeck, I found repetitive waves crashing over the bow would collapse the support pole. The canvas then became a concave surface that funneled a lot of water through the walkthru and into the boat. I learned that in a bad storm, actually opened the transom door to let the water out faster. That was the last trip with that boat.
 
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