All good cockpit covers are work to put on. If they go on easily, they come off easily; not what you want while driving down the freeway in a thunderstorm.

Hooking one end and gradually working up is one way. I like hooking the back and holding it in place with a knee or elbow and stretching the front to the lip by pulling on the loop easier for me. Then once the front is hooked I just work my way from back to front tucking the edges under the lip.

Spray skirts are work, too, except now you have the complication that if you move too much they pop off. Plan on a bunch of practice or a friend to help you It gets easier with practice.

Don't forget that you can also adjust the elastic tension in case that's set wrong.

Good luck,

Laszlo

i have a petrel and i bought the cover from clc that matched the boat.

yes, it is tight.  but it stays on the boat when you drive at highway speed. 

i had put a cover i had for my clc 17 on the boat....and it was easier and baggy.  it made a lot of noise while driving fast but it did not survive a short drive out to annapolis (20 minute segment at ~ 70 mph).....when i got there....no cover.

its a bit of a process to get them on....but after practicing a couple times, i have it down.  i find it easiest to put the cover on with the boat on the ground and i handle it like a skirt....back-to-front.  i suspect that there are other ways to skin this cat....but that's what i worked out and i stick to it.

as laszlo mentioned...skirts and covers should be tight.  skirts especially if you expect to role.  there are other types of skirts to provide shade that can be less tight....but its sort of the nature of the beast.

fwiw...nice and tight looks much more 'professional' than a baggy cover :)

h

Laszlo & Hspira,

Thanks for the comments. I was finally able to get the cover on and it's baggy, unlike the cover I have on the Necky Manitou II cockpit openings. I guess I'll need to go back to CLC and get a smaller cover that fits better. It might be best to take the PP so I can do it in one trip.

A separate thought is to replace the 1/4" bungee cord with 3/16" cord. I rarely cartop and that would make it easier to keep the critters out of the boat where I want to store it.

Take care!  -Terry

I found that the Heron/Petrel cover fits very well, but the 1/4" bungee cord made it challenging to install. Replacing with 6ft of 6mm bungee was a good solution.

   Neoprene covers are always tight and often stretch in sunlight. Nylon stretches too, but not as much.  I always get covers with a strap that goes all the way around the boat. 

Wife had one without strap that would make whomp, whomp, whomp sounds going down the interstate. Sounded like a UH-1 was approaching. The strap solved that bubble oscillation, noisemaker.