Monterey 214 sports boat shrink wrap

We carried out the shrink wrapping of a Monterey 214 Sports Boat for protection during outside winter storage, with excellent results.

The boat was shrink wrapped in the normal way. First a perimeter band of woven cord strapping was placed around the boat just below and level with the waterline. Towing eyes at the bow and stern helped support the perimeter band until the shrink wrap was placed over the boat.

Because the Monterery 214 has quite a large cockpit area which is relatively flat, the woven cord strapping was also placed along the centre line of the boat from bow to stern with an upright support placed under the strapping just behind the windscreen. The support helps with tensioning of this fore and aft band, keeps any cover pressure off the windscreen and gives the shrink wrap cover extra support. This also gives a nice angle for rain and snow to slide off.

The 5m wide shrink wrap was sufficient to go over the boat and down each side, before it was tucked back around the perimeter band and heat welded back on to itself. For this size of boat, a 180 micron thickness shrink wrap was perfect.

Once the cover had been welded around the perimeter band all around the boat, the top of the shrink wrap cover was shrunk using the gas heat gun. One person completed this task in around 20 minutes. Only a stepladder was necessary and the extension to the gas heat gun was not used. The result was a drum tight cover that looked extremely professional and will keep this boat protected until the Spring – whatever the weather.