Canvas on or off for highway?

Weave

Weave

New Member
Jun 1, 2007
1,410
Western, MA
Boat Info
200 Sundeck 2005
Engines
4.3 MPI Alpha I Gen II
I will be towing our new baby home tomorrow over about a 90 min drive from Boston headed west.
I have heard mixed reports of towing with canvas on or off.
What do you guys normally do? Is the canvas on or off?
 
I have a mooring cover that goes over the windshield and the entire cockpit area. I always trail the boat with that on.

It may be different for a bowrider/sundeck.

Congratulations on the new addition!!
 
Do you mean bow/cockpit covers?

I never tow with the bimini up at highway speeeds. Just take a look at it when you going that fast and you will see why.

I do tow with the bow cover on but whenever I leave the cockpit cover on when towing the wind always gets under it and begins to take it off.
 
Interesting.....I assume your boats are set up similar to mine with the bow cover that covers the windshield and then connects to the bow cover.......
If its nice out any negatives to towing with it off? I would imagine that it would cause stress on the canvas since most of the 90-120 min drive will be at highway speed
 
We did both with our bow rider. Canvas (bow and cockpit) on and off. We decided that off was best. We also found that we had to tie down the sunpad or the wind would get under and lift it up. Our bow rider wasn't a Sea Ray, so I don't know if you'd have that issue or not.
 
While we don't trailer our present boat, our previous boats were trailerables. I always took the covers off, even on long trips up to Maine. I guess I have seen too many cars go by in the past with boat covers being whipped to shreds....

Henry
 
Yeah I almost ripped the sunpad off of our 180 before....Wasn't a pretty site at ALL!!!
I'll have to keep an eye out for that.
 
Covers off at highway speeds. Also take the Bimini down. I usually wrap some towels around the poles and secure it to the cleats. It will bounce around if you don't secure it

Jack
 
jacktm said:
Covers off at highway speeds. Also take the Bimini down. I usually wrap some towels around the poles and secure it to the cleats. It will bounce around if you don't secure it

Jack
Click to expand...

I have a cover that zips over my bimini. Going to the coast, I will usually leave it up, but pulled back and covered since it is close and not at high speeds. Highway speed, its is all the way down and bungied to the cleats.
 
I have them on at all times. Towed over a thousand miles this year . No problems what so ever. Make sure to check snaps at each stop.
 
I towed my 270 Sundeck from Rochester to Westchester, NY (5.5 hours non-stop) with the bow and cockpit cover on. I have the cockpit cover that attaches with velcro to the bow cover and covers the entire windshield. I removed the bimini frame as covered with its canvas on it and put it inside the cockpit on the floor. Make sure to wrap the ends with towels or old sweatshirts.

For the entire 322 mile trip, never a ruffle or a flutter. The covers were on with their normal retention poles (the three poles that prop up the cover to create pitch for water drainage) in place.

I vote to travel with the covers ON at all times.
 
Hauled with covers on.......No probs what so ever.
Thanks guys :)
 
take the bimini down...i learned the hard way.....just bought mine 2weeks ago and had to drive 70 miles and bent the bimini bar.....canvas was on and no problem but can't believe i bent the bar from the wind.......make me sick every time i look at it now......but that's what a newbe does....haven't priced it to fix it but i'm sure it isn't cheap...........
good luck on your new boat
 
I have a 2007 Sundeck... you might be interested in this, one of my previous posts - http://www.clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4762

FYI, the replacement covers that I recd are a little different than the originals (and the boat was less than a yr. old!) On my original covers, there were no snaps that attatched the two covers together, just velcro. On my replacement covers there are two (four?)double-sided snaps that attach the two covers together near the velcro.

Seems like Sea Ray knows something about this problem.

Also, the Sea Ray mechanic said you can tow w/ the covers on but to NOT have the pole in place on the cockpit cover.

Reading these responses, it really seems hit-or-miss whether you have problems or not.
 
Sorry! In case things weren't adding up... I only had a problem w/ my cockpit cover, not my bow cover. I left my boat at the dealer with both covers (the intact bow cover and the "defective" cockpit over). When I went to pick up the boat and brought it home it was then I noticed they repalced both covers. Not sure why.
 
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