Cover for 2005 Tracker Pro Guide V-16 SC?

[rws77]

Can anyone recommend a good cover for a 2005 Tracker Pro Guide V-16 Single Console? I just bought this boat used and need a good travel cover for it. ( didn't come with a cover ) I store it in the garage when not in use, but would like to get a good travel cover for it that i can also throw over it when it's docked in case of rain for overnights at the cabin and what not. I recently upgraded from an older bowrider that had a custom cover for and that worked great. Since that had a walk through windshield on it, it was capable of supporting the cover. To be honest, i'm not even sure how the mechanics of a cover for a boat like this one work... Are there support poles that keep it up off of the windshield? It has a bow mounted trolling motor on it as well. Searching online it seems like all the covers i find are generic and advertise for multiple models, and I have a hard time believing that any of them would be a good fit, especially for towing with it on. Also, any example pictures that i see while searching online, although says it fits this model, the pictures are not my boat. Any recommendations anyone has are appreciated.

[Supercrew]

Sounds like a custom cover job, I had one modified for my Alumacraft after adding a bowmount motor. That was done by Hoigards, St. Louis Park, there was another one in Savage, but if you search boat covers you'll find several in town, one in Crystal, MN was at the show and looked like a nice product. Good Luck !

[Nick Kuhn]

We cover ours with a generic cover from Fleet Farm. Takes a support pole and some strategic chair positioning to keep water from pooling in it, but it works.

[SkunkedAgain]

rws77 - why do you want the cover? I read your reasons above but what do you gain from having one? Do you store this boat outdoors?

I say this because of my experiences. I used to have a generic travel cover from Gander on my old tiller boat. I thought that it would keep things dry during trips to and from up north. Really all that it did was make more work for me to load and unload the boat. Water always pooled on the cover if it rained, no matter how tight I got it. The only thing I liked about a cover was that it kept folks from grabbing things from inside my boat when I parked it outside my house. I could see a cover being nice if the boat sits outside a lot, because it protects the finishes from the sun/fading. Otherwise, it seems like a lot of work for nothing.

I bought a new boat last year and it came with a custom non-trailering cover. I only used it over the winter for storage. Otherwise, my boat sits in the garage all summer. When I trailer the boat up north, most of my gear is in big water-tight bags and the rest is in my truck bed. No need to keep the boat dry. Plus now I don't have to deal with a wet cover, or trying to support it in the middle. If it rains over night, I flip on the bilge in the morning. Problem solved.

The point of my reply is to get you to think about whether you really need to spend the money on a cover. If you get an incremental gain but more hassle, then it doesn't seem worth it to me.

If you are dead set on a cover, there are canvas places in the Cities that will make a custom travel cover for you.

[rws77]

Yeah, you bring up a good point. I guess i was just used to having one on the other boat, so i didn't really stop to think about the reason. My old bowrider had the storage in the floor, and if water got in the boat, everything got wet. This one has the storage front back and sides, but not down in the bottom of the floor, so things should stay dry. I like your idea with using dry bags as well. Maybe i'll rethink my approach. Thanks!

[SkunkedAgain]

My cabin is water-access only, so once a buddy gave me a giant dry-bag with straps on it, we've just thrown that in the boat for the ride up. I also keep all of my ropes and papers (maps, manuals, etc) in either plastic or dry bags in my storage hatches and I'm very content.

I giggle a bit now when I see the boats flying down the highway with covers flapping all over the place. To make the generic cover fit on my old tiller, I built a wooden "horse" that provided a ridgeline. That was a pain even with folding legs, and had to go in the truck bed when I put in at the lake.

The final reason that I'll give for liking the non-cover trailering option is that in the fall, all of the pine needs fly out of the boat carpet by the time I get home. With a cover, they stayed in place until I pulled out the vacuum and then went through picking them out by hand. The flip side, is that you have to make sure that you don't leave anything loose in your boat that can fly out. My tacklebox, big dry bag, and other things have sufficient weight to stay in the boat.

Good luck in whatever decision you make...and remember, I have nothing against covers but just make sure that you have a good reason for spending the money.