Glad it was helpful. I wish I remember who we took the ideas from. I 
think it was someone on this list 10-15 years ago.

And Peter, come to think of it we always tied a line from the mast, I 
think in a v to the hand rails - ours were stainless and made good tiedowns.

Mary Lou

On 11/26/2019 7:51 PM, Graham Stewart wrote:
> Mary Lou:
> Nice rig. I might adopt some of your ideas into mine.
> Graham
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rhodes22-list [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of Mary Lou Troy
> Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2019 2:51 PM
> To: The Rhodes 22 Email List
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Winter Storage cover - cheap
>
> Ours on the R22 was similar but all PVC. I like the larger diameter PVC
> at the top. We never found tarps that lasted more than 3 years and the
> third year was always iffy but we never tried Costco. Current boat has a
> hardtop over the cockpit so we haven't covered it. Dug up some old
> photos of the R22 frame.
>
> Mary Lou
> ex R22
> now Rosborough RF-246   Tara
> Rock Hall, MD
>
> On 11/26/2019 1:13 PM, Graham Stewart wrote:
>> Recurring discussions on the list regarding winter covers makes me think that my approach to this matter might be of interest to some of you.
>>
>> If you need to cover your boat in the winter where there is a significant snow load to contend with I provide here the arrangement that I came up with. In my case I didn't want to use the mast as a ridge pole because of all the protrusions, spreaders etc. I also wanted something that was fast and cheap because I am lazy and cheap.
>>
>> For the ridge pole I used 2 ten-foot lengths of 4" PVC drain pipe that are glued together and have end caps. This makes a great ridge pole that is smooth and has a gentle curve that avoids chafe, is rigid, strong and light - making it easy for me to handle alone.
>>
>> I have three vertical and adjustable supports made from 2 x 4 studs - one tied to the bow pulpit. One at the mast step and one in the cockpit that is clamped to the seats. All are held vertically by lines. At the top of the supports I attached a 6" piece of the same PVC pipe with about 1/3 of the circumference cut out and the opening facing up like a "C" on its back.
>>
>> I put the supports in place and then lay the ridge pole in the C brackets and just snap it into place. I then adjust the height of the supports, if necessary, to hold the ridge pole horizontally. I then fasten the ridge pole more securely to the support using reusable wire ties - probably unnecessarily.
>>
>> Finally, I use poly tarps to cover the whole rig. Costco sells a set of two tarps that are about 16' x 20' for about $30 in Canada and presumably a fraction of that in the US. They last for years. They are much better than the standard flimsy bleu tarps sold everywhere else. Using two overlapping tarps is much easier to hand than a single big one and these tarps fit perfectly with the one at the aft going across the boat on the long dimension and the one on the bow going lengthwise.
>>
>> After the first use the parts are reused each year without the need for adjustment so it all goes together very quickly working alone.
>>
>> I have used this rig for 4 years now without difficulty. We get quite heavy snow falls here so when we get a real dump I pull the  snow off to be safe. This is easy for me because I keep the boat at my home. Otherwise I might be tempted to increase the number of supports and/or make them higher to create a steeper slope.
>>
>> Total cost would be less than $100.
>>
>>
>> Graham Stewart
>> Agile 1976 Rhodes 22
>> Kingston Ontario
>>
>>
>> -------------- next part --------------
>> A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
>> Name: Agile with cover frame 2018.jpg
>> Type: image/jpeg
>> Size: 483586 bytes
>> Desc: not available
>> URL: <http://rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20191126/e9c897ed/attachment.jpg>
>> -------------- next part --------------
>> A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
>> Name: Agile with cover.jpg
>> Type: image/jpeg
>> Size: 242553 bytes
>> Desc: not available
>> URL: <http://rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20191126/e9c897ed/attachment-0001.jpg>
> -------------- next part --------------
> A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
> Name: pvc frame 2008 1sm.jpg
> Type: image/jpeg
> Size: 31841 bytes
> Desc: not available
> URL: <http://rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20191126/62bf790b/attachment.jpg>
> -------------- next part --------------
> A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
> Name: pvc frame 2008 2sm.jpg
> Type: image/jpeg
> Size: 180419 bytes
> Desc: not available
> URL: <http://rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20191126/62bf790b/attachment-0001.jpg>
> -------------- next part --------------
> A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
> Name: pvc frame 2008 3sm.jpg
> Type: image/jpeg
> Size: 158489 bytes
> Desc: not available
> URL: <http://rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20191126/62bf790b/attachment-0002.jpg>
> -------------- next part --------------
> A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
> Name: pvc frame 2008 4sm.jpg
> Type: image/jpeg
> Size: 163233 bytes
> Desc: not available
> URL: <http://rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20191126/62bf790b/attachment-0003.jpg>
>