how does everyone feel about traveling about 800 miles wih nothing......no cockpit cover, or shirinkwrap..... I was told this is the best way to move them.......

If you hit bad weather your inside is trashed from all the road junk sprayed up inside...BAD IDEA

I almost always tow with the cockpit cover on.
AZ to VA.
VA to Chicago and back.
And I towed from VA to FL in January in rain, sleet, and snow. With no issues.

Snap all snaps.
Run several widths of 4" wide shrink wrap tape shingled UP the cover, starting on the boat first. This will deflect the wind/rain up over the cover, and not allow it to get under the tape and decrease the adhesion. Then I run down the forward third of the cover on the sides with shrink wrap tape.

I've had a couple snaps come loose, but never any damage because of it.

Most important thing I do is I have some foam pipe insulation (Hope Depot) that I tape in place over the windscreen on my boat, to prevent the cover from stressing/scratching the windscreen.

[QUOTE=Sydwayz;

Most important thing I do is I have some of foam pipe insulation (Hope Depot) that I tape in place over the windscreen on my boat, to prevent the cover from stressing/scratching the windscreen.[/QUOTE]



Thats a good idea!

Does the anti-chaffing film has any particular name?

Michael

Well its called just that but different distributors call it different names like Protective Film or Tape. Scratch Guard or Hull Preservation Plus film are a few others. Whoever wraps your boat can easily get the material from the shrink wrap distributor. The stuff is expensive and tricky to work with but it is well worth the effort and extra money.

I did find "preservation tape" on the web. Is this what you are talking about?

http://www.shrinkit-inc.com/Shrink-wrap-heat-tape.htm

http://mrshrinkwrap.com/preservation-tape/index.html

These tapes are only a few inches wide. Do you just do the corners and edges with this, or is there another wider material that covers the entire hull before putting the outer layer on?

Thanks,

Michael

No those are hull side tapes. There is regular shrink wrap tape to patch or repair a hole or to tape in a door or vent. Hull preservation tape has a different glue compound that does not interact with paint, clear coat or gelcoat and leaves no glue residue when removed. That is not the material.

Here more like this ............ http://surfacearmor.us/Application-Automotive.asp

or this http://www.maintape.com/automotive.php

OK, I see now! Thank you!

Say, why not just use this protective adhesive film, and forget the shrink wrap altogether, similar to what the car manufacturers do?

Michael