Boat Cover

Hey Guys: Getting my LUND REBEL in a couple of weeks and I plan on keeping it for most of the season in a lake nearby, in a slip. Any suggestions on what would be the best type of cover to use while boat is not being used. Snap cover? I realize I can’t tie it underneath (boat in water) . Any risk in making the holes for snap cover? Also, do you fellows all have a back-up bilge pump? And lastly, what is the best on-board battery charger to use? I know this is a lot. Thanks very much for helping out. Best regards from Jersey, where the lakes are few the the people are too many. Jack T.

Jack, if the boat is going to be sitting on the water a snap on cover would be the best. I do not have experience installing the snap kit, so I will let someone else answer that. I have 2 bilge pumps, one manual and one automatic. Since your boat will be unattended on the water at times you may want to have an automatic pump installed. There is also a kit you can buy to convert a manual into an automatic. For onboard chargers the Guest model 2620 gets my vote. I am on my 6th year using them and no fail yet. When the boat is not in use, I leave the chargers plugged in all the time. Have fun with the new boat.

Jack,

I left my Lund 1650 explorer tied to my in-laws dock last season. I covered it with the standard tie-down, elastic “waistband” canvas cover, and to my surprise, it worked rather well. I found that if I secured the cover by running several bungies under the bow (which was possible since the first few tie-downs on the cover were forward on the bow) and then at each corner on the stern the cover would stay in place. Securing at the stern corners was possible by attaching one end of a bungie to a tie-down on the outside of the hull, and then running the bungie under the boat to one of the other tie downs near the motor on the stern. Hard to describe (hard for me at least) but effective. Having said that, my in-laws had a snap on cover for their 22′ pontoon boat. They found that cover to be HIGHLY convenient. Now that I’ve seen one option and done the other, I’d recomment the snap on cover. In fact, I just traded my Lund in for a larger crestliner, and that boat has a snap-on cover. Good luck!

Thanks Jason. I think I will try it for a bit and then get the snap on if needed. Appreciate the info. Jack.

Thanks Don. Thnking maybe I should get the snap on now, guess I will try the other for a short while, having trouble finding someone in Jersey that can do it. Appreciate your help. Jack.

Jack,

one thing to keep in mind with a snap on cover if you want to use it as a morning cover when the boat is in the water and tied to the dock, will the snaps be on the outside of the gunnels or on the top of the gunnels. This will depend on what year and model your boat is,(ask your dealer) if the snaps go on the outside of the gunnels (outside of the boat) you will not want to use the cover as a morning cover because you could tear the cover on the dock. Don’t get me wrong I like a snap on cover I am getting one for my current boat, and mine will be on the outside of the gunnels so I will not be able to dock the boat with the cover on I will just have to trailer it, not a big deal to me. I mainly like the snap on cover for a travel cover when I take long trips and when I store the boat for the winter. Also unless you feel very comfortable doing this your self I would recommend having a canvas shop do it for you, spendy but worth having it done right. Hope this helps.

Jack,

Here’s a link to recent discussions about battery chargers.

Click here…

Good thought Steve. I didn’t even consider that. I sure would love to get the snaps but I’m going to wait until I put the boat in the water and just see how the regular cover works, and then perhaps the snap. Thanks. Jack.

Thanks Wade. Good ideas. Jack.