Shrink Wrap DIY Advise

[Coastal Confessions]

Ok, if you saw my last post you know I need to recover my boat (for the rest of winter) as a bad wind storm tore my 100 dollar tarp to hell and twisted up my 50 dollar wood A-frame.
A friend of ours shrink wraps his own boat every year. He uses a "weed burner torch that he smashed the end of into an oval shape. He said its not perfect but it works. So here are my questions

1) I understand the more air you can circulate the less chance of mildew, but do vents really make a difference. And if so how many do I need. (my boat is a 268 Sundancer)

2) Any advise on where to go to get it? I found a 17'X100' roll for $122.

3) Can the plastic twine be bought at Lowes or Home Depot, or is there an alternative?

4) Will an electric heat gun work. Like the kind used to remove decals?

I'm open to any advise or suggestions to make this an economical and as painless as possible DIY project.

Thanks everyone.:thumbsup:

 

[Molson]

Ok, if you saw my last post you know I need to recover my boat (for the rest of winter) as a bad wind storm tore my 100 dollar tarp to hell and twisted up my 50 dollar wood A-frame.
A friend of ours shrink wraps his own boat every year. He uses a "weed burner torch that he smashed the end of into an oval shape. He said its not perfect but it works. So here are my questions

1) I understand the more air you can circulate the less chance of mildew, but do vents really make a difference. And if so how many do I need. (my boat is a 268 Sundancer)

2) Any advise on where to go to get it? I found a 17'X100' roll for $122.

3) Can the plastic twine be bought at Lowes or Home Depot, or is there an alternative?

4) Will an electric heat gun work. Like the kind used to remove decals?

I'm open to any advise or suggestions to make this an economical and as painless as possible DIY project.

Thanks everyone.:thumbsup:

I shrunk my Sea Ray this year, was quite easy actually. Don't just just plain twine. Get the proper shrink wrap line, you'll be glad you did. I bought a bag of the buckles to tighten the twine, but didn't use them, I just looped it and pulled it through and tight.

Use more bracing from the frame to the cleats/bow rail than you think you need. Make sure the frame is TIGHT, if you think "hey, I can hang from this", its tight enough. If it is allowed to move, it will chafe the wrap, and eventually fail.

Get your belly line as tight as you possibly can.

The weed burner will work fine. That is what I used. The elec heat gun will not.

Get a roll of shrink tape, you'll need it. You will burn holes that will need to be covered. Also, put tape on the hard edges. (Windshield corners, cleats, etc)

4 vents would be fine.

Add a door. Its only 25 bucks and you can reuse it. In nicer weather, you can open it to allow some air circulation.

Take your time when shrinking it.

Watch the videos on utube. It helped me.

 

[hottoddie]

I don't shrink my boat but one thing you should do is cover the fuel tank vents when using the torch. Leave them accessible so you can remove the tape when done.