If you store your boat outdoors for the off season, there are a number of ways to protect it. Some people will just cover their boat with a boat cover or a tarp, but this is not an ideal way to keep it safe from damage, particularly in an area that gets heavy winter weather. The ice and snow will just ruin your boat cover and then continue on to damage your boat. So why should you shrink-wrap your boat, and what are some common boat shrink-wrapping applications?
Why You Should Shrink-Wrap Your Boat
Boat shrink wrapping is a low-cost way to cover boats of all sizes. The benefits of protecting boats during delivery or storage are clear. People often use tarps or custom covers, with varying degrees of success, but tarps usually will not hold up over long distances or long periods of time. A tarp will often flap around and destroy itself or damage the item it’s supposed to protect.
Compared to boat covers or tarps, the advantages of shrink wrap are many. One of the best benefits of shrink wrap is that once it’s applied, it won’t move. It doesn’t flap, and it won’t make noise or chafe the exterior finish of your boat. It’s extremely durable and also waterproof.
Zormot’s marine shrink wrap is a specifically designed marine-grade plastic film that is draped over a boat and then shrunk tightly against it using a heat tool. You can easily join sheets of shrink wrap together, so there’s no limit to the size of the boat you can cover and protect with it. In fact, shrink wrap can accommodate any object for this reason – even entire buildings.
Marine shrink wrap comes in three different colors: white, blue, and clear. Blue wrap will absorb heat from the sun and help to melt any snow or ice that has accumulated on it. This is why it’s used in colder climates. White wrap does the opposite: it reflects heat and keeps covered boats cooler. Clear wrap will absorb heat, so it should only be used during the colder months of the year or the trapped heat might damage the boat’s interior.
If for any reason you need to check your boat after you have shrink-wrapped it, you can install zippers or zippered doors to access any section. It’s that simple.
Common Boat Shrink-Wrapping Applications
There are three main applications for shrink wrapping boats. They are:
Storage
When you shrink wrap your boat to store it, you ensure that it will be clean and ready to go when you need it next. The wrap protects teak decks and gel coats from the elements – and bird droppings! This protection minimizes depreciation, saves you time, effort, and money, and minimizes the risk of your boat being stolen.
Transport
During long road and sea journeys, shrink wrap protects your boat from exposure to bad weather, salt, heavy grime, and theft. Whether you’re transporting your boat by low-loader, trailer, or deck freight, it will come into contact with hazards that you can’t always predict. Shrink wrapping will protect it from pollutants like dust or oil as well as rain and spray from wet roads. If you want your boat to remain in the condition it was in before transport, wrap it up.
Repairs
Shrink wrap is also used to create work shelters and tents. If you plan to do work on your boat, you can easily create a custom tent with shrink wrap stretched over a wooden framework. This can be vented for moisture control, and not only protects your boat from its surroundings, it also protects the surroundings from chemicals, dust, or wood shavings created from your repairs.
If you would like help in determining how much shrink wrap you will need to wrap your boat, please use our handy shrink film size calculator or contact us at Zormot. We are always happy to answer any questions you may have about which products you need to get the job done right.