The rub rail is thinner (vertically) inboard. The clamp part of the brackets has a lip that squeezes down on this thinner part. This holds the bracket to the rub rail. The vertical height of the piece separating the clamp parts is about 1/16" smaller than the rubrail and was cut from a 2x4. So it all squeezes just a little. The flange to hold the cover frame is an upside down L-section that I cut from a 2x4. Basically I cut a 1x3 out of the 2x4. This worked but the cut with the 2x4 on end is 3" deep and it's pretty tricky on a basic table saw. A better method might be to glue the flange onto a 1x4.

The underside of the flange is rounded off. This is going to be in contact with the tarp and it needs to be smooth and easy to keep from chafing. I rounded this on a stationary router.

I glued and screwed the ten-foot bracket sections together except for the bottom part of the clamp. That only screws on so the brackets can be installed. Once the sections were assembled I painted them. Then I put the bottom piece of the clamp section on and cut the ten-foot sections down to one-foot pieces. Then I painted the edges.

The brackets clamp down on the rub rail well and hold the frame off the boat just a little so there is a 1" air gap. That will be useful for ventilation. I spaced the brackets every 3 feet with one extra right at the stern.

I used ten-foot lumber for the cover frame. I used eight 2x4's, eight 1x4's, some glue, a box of #6 1-5/8" drywall screws a quart of primer, and a quart of paint. Cost was in the $90 range. I ended up needing only 24 brackets but I expect it will be good to have some spares. But I could have made enough from 3 sets of eight foot sections.

The entire framework was made from ten-foot PVC sections. Longer sections were made together by inserting a one foot length of 1/2" PVC as a splice. The 1/2" PVC had a slit cut in it on a table saw. It was with a standard carbide blade, a thinner blade made the slit too narrow and the splice wouldn't fit in the pipe. The spices were glued together with PVC cement. I chamfered the ends of the splices so they would start into the 3/4 pipe more easily. This is a really important step. It takes 5 minutes to do them all. It will take 15 minutes to go find a band-aid for the gash in your knuckles after slipping while assembling these without the chamfer. Adding the chamfer is a net saving of 10 minutes.

The bows were simply bent as they were put in place. A few have tighter radius bends and those were done with a heat gun. I heated about 3" of the pipe until it was flexy then bent it. I wore thick leather gloves and pinched out the crimps as the pipe cooled.

The frame is made with 3-way and 4-way PVC connectors. I reamed these out so they would slide over the PVC on one direction. The 3-ways connect the bows to the rub rail longitudinal and the 4-ways connect the upper longitudinals to the bows. I used my dremel with a coarse sanding drum to ream out the connectors. It took about two minutes a piece. The fit over the pipe is just a little snug so they don't slide on their own.

The frame extends past the transom by about 3 feet and forms a hood over the boarding stairs. The hood will have a panel that closes it off so birds don't think it will make a good home. In that panel I'll mount a 24" box fan to pull air out of the cover through that 1" gap all along the rub rail. Hopefully that will provide good ventilation.

I used about 40 ten-foot sections of 3/4" PVC, 4 ten-foot sections of 1/2" PVC (for splices), about 36 3-way connectors, and 16 4-way connectors. The cost for those parts was about $110.

Click here for a pre-warped photo...