While the season is just beginning I’m trying to plan a head just a bit to our upcoming winter storage. I have seen a couple of pictures of box like structure that sits over the companionway. This Cradle is used in conjunction with a sawhorse on the bow to support the front of the wishbone and another sawhorse by the helm to support the rear of the wishbone.
If I were to shrink wrap around the boom and naturally down the hull would this be adequate by itself or would I need to install something to create a peak in the cover?
I would appreciate any pictures or guidance you can offer.
I’m just north of you in Toronto and get winter, etc. but YOU guys in Buffalo can get catastrophically heavy snowfalls (as if you didn’t know … ).
Yes, I would definitely design something that creates a “peaked roof” so, hopefully, the snow can’t collect on the shrinkwrap between the two boom sides. For the first winter that I had my NS22 (with a shorter distance between the boom sides than an NS26), I thought that I could get away with tarping over the boom and …
After two so-so snowfalls, the snow collected, turned to ice (solid ice weighing hundreds of pounds) that, of course, tore the tarp to smithereens and gave me a hell of set of problems, etc.
The following year (after buying a bunch of new tarps), I tarped the boat again but worked the tarp UNDER the boom. Thus, the boom was uncovered and there was no valley for the snow to collect. Sincerely, in Buffalo, you may get a MOUNTAIN of snow in this “valley” that, likely, would turn to ice. I would, without fail, design some strong peaked frame that the shrinkwrap could cover and the snow could fall off of.
The way I frame the 20x30 tarp over my 23’ Proline cuddy on a trailer in my yard is with 1-1/4 dia. black well pipe to form a covered wagon arch and support it at the apex with a 2x3 with drilled holes for a rope webbing and tie it up with 1/4 nylon cord.
Very strong and forgiving.
Brian
Boat-less in New England
I have my Nonsuch 30U shrink wrapped. The contractor installs a peak with wood strapping above and along the centreline of the wishbone If you keep the aft end of the wishbone high and install a zippered plastic door you can have easy access to the cockpit and get inside the boat. Some kind of peak is necessary to prevent snow from accumulating. The attached picture unfortunately does not show the installed door at the gate on the starboard side
Judging from your picture it looks like the boom is resting on the bowsprit and sitting on some type of a sawhorse that sits on top of the cabin. I think I see the bulge of your boom in the picture as well as bulges from your stanchions. Do you put any type of cover on the boom to keep the shrink wrap from touching the boom? Do you put any padding on the top of the stanchions?
The front of the boom sits on a piece of 2x6 that in turn rests on the bowsprit. The back end of the boom sits on an aluminum work platform similar to the following on top of the cabin
Based on your input and some guidance from others I am going the sawhorse/platform route. I am drilling a hole through the sawhorse to support a 3/4 inch conduit to serve as my peak. The peak will be about two feet over the horse.
Randolph,
Be sure to support the conduit with 1 x 3 furring strip turned to line up with the conduit.
Maybe drill a couple 1/4” holes in the furring strip at the end to tie to the pipe with twine so it doesn’t fall off.
Brian
Boat-less in New England
After a bit of rummaging around I found this picture showing the boom at rest on the cabin top. Hope it gives you a bit more detail. If the boat looks lonely it was literally the last boat in the club to get hauled that year
Here is a photo of how I use a single wooden sawhorse located in front of the dodger to lift the end of the boom above my solar panel bimini for the winter.
I allows for plenty of headroom over the cockpit too.
Hello all. This is my fourth winter storage season in Buffalo, and for the first time the yard does not want to store the wishbone with the mast, saying another’s boom was damaged by expanded freezing water. I welcome any comments, and wonder whether simply wrapping the holes in the castings (Saran wrap?) would do the trick? I would rather not keep the boom on deck & under the shrink wrap.
Hello Rick,
On the North side of Lake Ontario, I have my boom resting on two saw horses atop the cabin. On top of the boom I have ply wood boards cut to the same shape as the boom, over that goes the winter cover which forms a tenth over the whole topsides and extends down to a little below the boot top mark. The cover is securely tied down with straps girded all around. Nary a problem in twenty two years ! (of course, there’s always a first time for everything)
Hi Rick, For freezing to damage the boom there has to be quite a bit of water in the boom. This can happen through condensation if the boom is not well ventilated (see my post Heavy Boom from May 26th 2023). I expect that your boom is well ventilated and there will be no water to freeze but do check. If there is a chance that there is solid water in there, it will burst (as noted by several owners).
Hello Mike, thank you for the response. I received a few other offline comments too. I am coming off three seasons without an issue, in cold snowy Buffalo. Beginner’s luck I suppose. I am inclined to explore drilling a drain / vent hole at the low point.
Cheers!
In a message dated 10/1/2023 3:59:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time, mrchips104@gmail.com writes:
I wouldn’t. Mid boom would be a bad place for the integrity of the boom.
The problem I had was condensation building up over years. with your ventilation the condensation will evaporate, you don’t have a problem.
The tube has to be full of water. One guy had a problem because the boom was stored on its side. Either condensation or rainwater collected in the tube, it froze and cracked. I believe that the safest way to store the boom is flat and horizontal. Then the whole boom would have to be full of water for there to be a freezing problem.
The reason I was concerned about Chancy was because she stays in the water all year round with the boom in place.
Nonsuch booms are made of tough stuff. I’m the guy with the damaged boom due to freezing from storing the boom on its side for two seasons while my boat was on the hard. The damage took the form of a hairline crack at the mid point of the boom. Had I not inspected the boom carefully I would not have noticed this thin line. Upon closer inspection I discovered it was a crack that went clear through the boom tubing. It was determined that this crack was caused by freezing. I have a friend who is mechanical engineer with a good background in metallurgy who came to assess the damage. At that time I had the boom supported horizontally over two pipe horses about 15 feet apart. After inspecting the crack he said to fill the scar with thickened epoxy and call it a day. When I gave him a sarcastic look he proceeded to bounce up and down on the boom tube at the location of the crack. He then invited me to join him on the boom for a good bounce, which I did, to no ill effects on myself or the boom.
I cleaned the crack, then filled it with an appropriate epoxy. The repair still looks fine after 6 months.
Randy Gadikian
Phoenix
Nonsuch 26C #37
Buffalo, NY
