Importance of Boat Shelter

[Freerider]

Does everyone build a boat shelter when doing deck work and painting? I'll be sanding down my entire boat, fibreglassing the hull/deck joint, and re-bedding all the hardware.

I want a shelter, but the damn things cost $4000, and building one will take up time that I'd like to use on the boat.

Does everyone that undertakes this project use a shelter? I've looked at canopies, but I'm afraid they'll fly away with the wind.

[rebel heart]

My boat is all wood from the hull up; if I put a canopy on it every time I opened some paint or varnish I'd never get anything accomplished. I'm sure a lot depends on your weather as well. If you can reliably have some windless, cloudy, low moisture days that will do a lot of what a canopy will do.

A friend just used a series of tarps to construct one while he repainted the fibgerglass decks on his boat this winter. Wasn't the prettiest thing to see, but he was done in a week and some change.

[cantxsailor]

I have used PVC pipe, silver tarps and bungie cords for much of the time I needed a shelter. I found my nieghbours like the idea of all that sanding dust staying inside the shelter too. There may be some environmental issues with sanding and it NOT being contained.

I haven't lived in Canada for many years but I do remember some folks who didn't like the idea of some the (semi) toxic stuff possibly blowing into their pot patch. They were not happy with me for other reasons too I'm sure, but thats another story.

For me I know if I open a can of paint the likelyhood of a bug flying into it is directly proportional to the cost of the paint. The size of the bug and it's ability to flop all over the deck is directly proportional to the difference in colour ie dark blue hull(wet paint) and cream coloured decks (dry).

Keeping bugs and errant dandilion fluff to a minimum is a shelters prime directive.....................m