Generators and Rain - Covers?

[farotherside]

Hey folks,

I'm on a big trimaran with a lot of deck space. All summer I've been using my Honda EU2000i just leaving it on deck, padlocked to a chainplate, throwing a garbage bag over it when it rains.

Now it's October, and in Vancouver that means it's about to start raining and not stop until May. I need to come up with a better solution for protecting my little Honda from the elements!

I was thinking of fabricating a little quonset hut from bent PVC tubing and a glued/welded tarp, plugging the ends of the tubing with a dowel and a big exposed screw, then using some of those boarding ladder mounting bits to secure the rig to the deck in a way that it could be easily removed for sailing.

Currently I do need to use my genny every day, for several hours. Hopefully eventually I'll have my system upgrade enough to get my juice from photovoltaic or wind, but for now it's still gasoline. This does mean I have to run it in the pouring rain though, and will need to start and stop it in the same.

What are you folks using? I'd consider putting the generator in one of the side-hulls, but the manual specifically says not to extend the exhaust on the EU2000i...

[zeehag]

is a good idea to cover it--mine only lasted 5 yrs.....a tent type device would probably be adequate---like what you described......