# remove stanchions when winterizing boat (tarp)?



## Vagab0nd (Oct 1, 2017)

Do you think it's necessary to remove the stanchions if you're going to tarp your boat for the winter? Are they likely to shred a good tarp?


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## mikel1 (Oct 19, 2008)

I put some foam padding over mine as ripping through was an issue . . . . Sections of pipe insulation or in my case the thick round padding from old exercise equipment , slit and put over the stanchion tops worked great . . .


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## sidney777 (Jul 14, 2001)

Snow, water & ice collect in places when you have stanchion intact. (Years in Chicago experience) . People put bows port to starboard holding up tarp, or other crazy & good ideas. *BUT, maybe if you take screws out of stanchions ice, water, snow will seep in and Expand & foul up a lot of things. ---You can make a frame to hold up tarp & some people save it year to year.


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## sidney777 (Jul 14, 2001)

The next thing about tarps is making a way to get thru the tarp to get in your boat. Zippers. Zipper doorways are sold at maybe Home depot. Visiting your tarp will become a regular trip. Quality & thickness make a big difference because cheap thin tarps won't last a winter. Tarps are a pain in the arise.


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## Tanski (May 28, 2015)

I remove mine as well as the bow and stern rail.
Made up an A frame contraption over the cockpit out of 1.5" ABS pipe.
If you are using tarps you will need to do lots of creative cross tying and what not to make sure the tarps don't billow and flap in the wind.
Done right I find tarps to be a great alternative to a fitted cover. My boat stays bone dry, I use black tarps so solar energy keeps the snow melted. They are tight enough that water runs off, doesn't pool anywhere.
My boat is maybe 40 feet from the shore of Lake Ontario. Never had any wind issues.
On my 3rd season with the current tarps. I use 2, stern one goes on first, bow one next overlapping.
Also make sure my bow faces the prevailing wind.


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## misfits (Dec 9, 2011)

I remove the stanchions/lifelines on my boat. 
Figure it's better than putting the stress on the bases which leads to leaks.


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## MikeOReilly (Apr 12, 2010)

Vagab0nd said:


> Do you think it's necessary to remove the stanchions if you're going to tarp your boat for the winter? Are they likely to shred a good tarp?


If the stanchions come in contact with the tarp, it will likely produce chafe which will cause damage. So it depends on how your tarp is fitted.

On my previous boat I removed the stanchions. On my current boat I don't. All depends on how the frame is built.


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

My frame is made of 3/4-inch PVC pipe and formed like the frame over a Conestoga wagon. No need to remove the stanchions because there is no pressure on them at all. Also never have any snow accumulation on the plastic tarp with this type of frame. PVC bends quite easily and still retains its strength.


Gary


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## MikeOReilly (Apr 12, 2010)

travlin-easy said:


> My frame is made of 3/4-inch PVC pipe and formed like the frame over a Conestoga wagon. No need to remove the stanchions because there is no pressure on them at all. Also never have any snow accumulation on the plastic tarp with this type of frame. PVC bends quite easily and still retains its strength.


+1 on this approach.

To expand on my previous post, I used to remove the stanchions on that boat until I discovered Gary's approach. Using PVC conduit, I was able to build a frame that encompassed my stanchions, ensuring they would never come in contract with the tarp. Even though my boat was stored in a place that got serious snow (north of Lake Superior), I never had any accumulation. As Gary says, the conduit bends and flexes, but remains strong.

My current boat has a custom made canvas tarp and aluminum frame, but if (when) this dies I'll go back to the conduit approach.


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## sailingfool (Apr 17, 2000)

Vagab0nd said:


> Do you think it's necessary to remove the stanchions if you're going to tarp your boat for the winter? Are they likely to shred a good tarp?


In any case you get a much better winter cover if the stanchions can be and are removed. The basic reason is that the cover then has a greater pitch/slope and is likely to shed a lot more snow than otherwise. Consider why the classic snow chalet has an A-frame roof...

Covering over the stanchions means your cover will collect more snow, and related weight, so you then need a very robust frame. Even many professional shrinkwrappers dont build a robust frame, instead just wrapping over the stanchions. If you get a really good snowfall, the end result is you run the risk of both bending some stanchions in addition to the cover ripping. At least that is what happened to my boat.

So yes, if you put a cover over the stanchions, in addition to thoroughly padding the stanchions, you need to construct a solid frame for the cover

Removing the stanchions is a best practice. I replaced the OEM fixed-base stanchions on my Pearson for this reason, having someone cut the old stanchions off the original bases so I could re-use the stanchions.


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## JimsCAL (May 23, 2007)

I have been using the same tarps and PVC conduit frame for 8 winters now. They are the heavy duty silver tarps and much more durable than the lightweight blue ones. The PVC electrical conduit is flexible and springy and easily bent into curves to form the frame. I also use pipe insulation at the stanchions to prevent chafe. Key to avoiding water collection is enough pitch in the tarps to the sides and keeping them tight.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

If the stanchions come out of bases that remain installed then I think this is a much easier decision - in many cases getting to the inner areas of one-piece stanchions is touch-and-go, never mind the holes left in the deck.


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## sailingfool (Apr 17, 2000)

What has been missing from this thread is a focus on the pitch of any cover. 

What destroys a cover and damages stanchions, is not snowfall, but the ice build up that occurs when snowfall creates a depression in a cover and then melts and freezes to begin an ice ball. If you have two or three cycles of snowfall and melt, the resulting ice ball is going to win out. So it's essential that a cover have adequate pitch so the water melting from the inevitable snow accumulation runs off the cover.

So the question of putting a cover over the stanchions needs to work with that of the frame that supports the cover. If you install a frame that is several feet or more above boom height, you can run the cover over your stanchions, and the resulting pitch will get you through the season without any drama, as long as everything is well padded and secured. 

However if you use the boom itself as the support for a cover that you run over the stanchions, unless you include a robust subframe to ensure no cover sagging, you will be very much at the mercy of what the weather does - given a few snow dumps and thaws, you are likely to have either the cover fail, or the stanchions come down or some combination of both. Generally if you don't build a tent frame but just use your boom to hold your cover, then you should remove your stanchions.

This insight came to me when I noticed that in the local full-service boatyards, the yard shrink wrappers covering boats with the stanchions in place always build a tent frame above the boom. In my current DIY yard the new travelling vendor has shrink wrapped a number of sailboats without building a tent frame, covering from boom directly to the stanchions, so we'll see how that works out.


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