Last year I made a nice PVC frame to support my bass boat cover. It didn’t survive the weight of the snow as you can see in the photo. I wanted a basic frame that wouldn’t take a long time to setup or take down but would be solid. I have four rod holder mounts attached to the top of my gunnels. I cut a short piece of conduit and soldered a washer to one end and bolted that to rod holder mount as an anchor point to the four side supports. Those four supports also attach to the ridge pole using 90 degree connectors on the bottom and T connectors on the top. I used a 45 degree connector at the forward and aft ends to brace the frame from fore and aft movement, plus one vertical support in the cockpit area. I drilled a hole in a couple golf balls and attached them to a short piece of wood dowel to slip in the ends of the ridge pole to reduce the chance of the cover tearing at the end of the ridge pole. No need to attach the dowels to the pole as the pressure from the cover will hold them in the conduit. I used some 7/8" rubber feet found at the local hardware store on the vertical and fore and aft supports. I have some of the bicycle seat fasteners that I will be incorporating into the build to facilitate setting up and taking the frame down. Please forgive how dirty the boat is, I haven't had it out in a couple years.
