Christmas wrapping

Wrapped up for the winter, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

The boat wrapping season is well under way at the marina, with a selection of cruisers of all sizes and shapes being mummified in billowing sheets of blue polytarp.
As the wind funnelled around the pontoons this afternoon the noise of flapping tarpaulin and quivering guy ropes filled the air, and I was reminded of how much I don't want to cover Henry up in a blue plastic overcoat for the next four months.
The problem with covers is not so much the giant rainwater puddles that gather in any concave area, or the way they can break free from even the most comprehensive lashings, but the extent to which they prevent air from circulating around the boat.
When I was young and fit, and I owned yachts, I used to cover them up every winter. But I had the double advantage of the boat being out of the water, so I could lash the cover underneath the hull, and the mast being supported on crutches, horizontally, above the cabin roof and cockpit to support the tarpaulins and provide a gap for air at the bow and stern.
My only concern with boats like my Debutante and the rather sleek Pandora that I kept in Brightlingsea in the 1990's was chafing from the cover. To avoid the cover rubbing and damaging the boat I used yards of pipe insulation and taped foam wherever it touched a vulnerable surface.
The only way a cabin cruiser can be covered while it is in the water is to wrap it up like a gift under a Christmas tree, with no air space around it, and a web of ropes stretched hopefully across the cabin roof. As the cover flaps in the wind, and strains for the freedom it will inevitably achieve, it can do untold damage to old gelcoat, and it can strip brightwork like Nitromors. The boat 'sweats', the canopy is worn thin and a weekend check visit turns into a wrestling match between the owner and 50 kilograms of wet blue polyethylene.
So, Henry will be spending this winter out in the open. The rain will fall on her, the wind will blow around her and the odd leaf may land on her unprotected decks. But at least I know that the air can get to her, no matter how cold it is.

I should also like to take this opportunity to point out that there are in fact 20 Freeman 26's in the marina. I counted them today. For some reason I am relieved that I forgot two boats when I was writing my previous post. It makes me feel so much more cool.