How to Put Wood Bows in for Your Boat Cover
Part of laying up your boat for the off-season is putting a proper cover over the boat. Using wood bows under a boat cover helps your boat in three ways. The bows raise the center of the boat cover so the boat cover sheds precipitation, whether rain or snow. The bows also keep the boat cover--and the boat cockpit--free from the leaves and twigs that invariably accumulate on a boat. Finally, the bows allow air to circulate under the cover.
Installing bows beneath your boat cover may add a bit of effort to the process of putting your boat cover on, but pays dividends in the form of extended cover life and a better-kept boat.
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Instructions
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Install the mounting brackets by clipping them over the rails (temporary mounts), or by permanently attaching them to the gunwales (the uppermost edge of the hull) with screws by drilling a pilot hole in the top of the gunwale with a power drill, then setting the screws provided with the brackets through the holes in the mounting brackets with a screwdriver. The mounting brackets are paired so that a bracket on the port (left) side of the cockpit is directly across from a bracket on the starboard (right) side of the cockpit.
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2
Insert one end of a bow into the the mounting bracket on the port side of your boat nearest the center of the cockpit. The ends of the bow slip into sockets on the mounting brackets.
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Insert the remaining end of the bow into the mounting bracket on the starboard side of your boat opposite the mounting bracket on the port side, so that the bow fits across the cockpit. The bow is longer than the width of the cockpit, so you will have to bend the bow slightly to make the bow fit into the socket..
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Install the bows forward and aft of the center in the same manner until you have placed the desired number of bows over your cockpit.
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Cover the cockpit with your boat cover by fastening the port side of the cover first, then stretching the cover over the bows to the fasteners on the starboard side of the boat. Tighten and secure the center of the starboard side of the boat cover first, then secure the front and rear of the boat cover.
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