Preparing for Winter

I've made my last sail if the season, unless I decide to get hardcore and buy a dry suit. This means that It's time to wrap up the Hobie and tuck it in for a long winters nap.

I'm not lucky enough to have a huge garage to store the Getaway in, so I'm relegated to wrapping it up with a tarp. Last winter I used two small tarps to cover the trampolines, but I was disappointed in the spring to find that the hooks on the bungees had left nasty black marks in the hulls. Removing these black marks required furious scrubbing and a few Magic Erasers.

After looking online at tarp solutions I decided to make my own custom fitted tarp. I started with a 11 ft.4 in by 18 ft. 6 in. tarp from Harbor Freight. This tarp is just about the right width to cover the width of the boat, but much too long.  I got a cheap grommet kit  from amazon and perfected the art of grommeting. The end result is a custom fitted Hobie Getaway tarp that cost all of $30 and took about an hour to make.  I expect it to last about a year.

I made a few cuts in the tarp to make it fit perfectly.

I made some cuts to accommodate for the wings.

I added grommets along the edges that I cut and in the corners. If you use this punch style grommet device be sure to hammer on to solid concrete. Hammering on wood causes the grommet to bounce just enough that the waster doesn't seat correctly. I wasted several grommets learning this.

I also added grommets in the center of each trampoline for drains.

I use the bungees with a nob on the end, no hook to scratch the hull.

I wrapped up the comp tip and wing seats to protect them from UV.

I also added new grommets cut corners to secure the tarp to the trailer.