Boat Enclosure Assembly for Boat Maintenance

The present invention relates generally to a boat enclosure and is particularly concerned with an enclosure assembly which can be used to perform maintenance or boat cleaning on the water, rather than having to move the boat to a dry dock to perform such tasks.

The submerged portion of a boat's hull below the water line typically accumulates dirt and algae growth and must be cleaned and re-painted at regular intervals to ensure that the hull structure does not become irreparably damaged. Additionally, the remainder of the hull as well as the deck, cabins and the like must also be cleaned and re-painted regularly to reduce the effects of weathering. Under current environmental regulations, such regular maintenance work cannot be carried out in open water, since this would result in discharge of undesirable quantities of pollutants into the water. Thus, boats and other craft must often be returned to dry dock for regular maintenance work, at considerable inconvenience and expense.

Plastic liners for enclosing the bottom of boats are known, into which chlorine can be placed for dissolving material accumulating on the hull. However, these do not meet environmental regulations for carrying out maintenance on the water. Also, great care must be taken to ensure that chlorine and dissolved materials do not escape from the liner into the surrounding water, where they will cause environmental pollution problems.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved boat enclosure assembly for carrying out boat maintenance on the water.

According to the present invention, a boat enclosure assembly is provided, which comprises a floating, generally U-shaped dock which is open at one end to permit vessels to move in and out of the enclosed area of the dock, and a sheet of flexible, waterproof material suspended around part of its periphery from the periphery of the dock and depending downwardly from the dock to form an enclosure around the bottom of a boat in the dock, the remainder of the sheet's periphery being moveable between a lowered position permitting a boat to sail into the dock and a raised position above the water line. The enclosure is connected via a pump line to a pump and filter assembly for circulating water from within the enclosure to the filter assembly to remove particles from the water and then returning the filtered water back to the enclosure. The pump and filter assembly may be suitably mounted on the floating dock.

This arrangement permits maintenance work to be carried out on a vessel while still on the water, since any debris produced by cleaning or painting will be caught in the enclosure surrounding the vessel and circulated through the filter assembly, where it will be removed by the filter. Preferably, skimmers are also provided to remove any floating debris from the water enclosed within the dock. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, an upper enclosure is provided on the dock for at least partially enclosing the upper parts of a vessel while in the dock. This may be a permanent enclosure with a roof for areas where rain and storms are frequent, or may be a temporary, tent-like or curtained enclosure for warmer, drier climates. This will prevent debris from boat cleaning, for example, from being blown into the water surrounding the floating dock.

With this arrangement, boats and other vessels do not have to be moved to a dry dock whenever any work is to be done on the boat, but minor maintenance such as cleaning above and below the water line and painting above the water line can be done quickly and easily in the floating dock enclosure without taking the boat out of the water. This considerably reduces the expense and inconvenience of boat maintenance.

The present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a boat enclosure or floating cleaning dock according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, with a boat in place;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the dock;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the entry end of the dock;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 4--4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side elevation view of the entry end, partially cut away to show the open and closed positions of the boat enclosure bag; and

FIG. 6 is a diagram of the filtration system.

The drawings illustrate a boat enclosure assembly 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention for use while performing maintenance work on boats or other vessels. As best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the assembly basically comprises a generally U-shaped, floating dock 12 defining an area 14 enclosed on three sides of dimensions sufficient for receiving a standard sail or motorboat 15 or equivalent size vessel entering via open end 16, and a sheet or bag 17 of flexible, waterproof material suspended around part of its periphery from the entire periphery of the dock to form an enclosed chamber 18 below the bottom or hull 20 of boat 15 when in the dock. The remainder or free end portion 24 of the periphery of sheet 16 can be released and dropped down into the water to leave an opening to allow a boat to sail in or out of the dock, as best illustrated in FIG. 3. The portion 24 can subsequently be drawn up via drawstring 28 until it is above the water level 30 to complete the chamber surrounding the entire bottom surface of the boat beneath the water level, as illustrated in dotted outline in FIG. 3, and in solid lines in FIG. 5. Lead weights are sewn into periphery of the sheet along portion 24 to ensure that it will drop down into the water when released and not float.

The bag or enclosure sheet 17 is releasably secured to the dock 12 via grommets or similar fasteners, and is preferably of hard wearing material such as neoprene or the like.

A filtration system of the type used in swimming pools is mounted in a suitable housing 32 at one end of the floating dock. As best illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 6, the filtration system basically comprises a filter unit 34 having an inlet connected via flexible tubing 35 to an outlet port 36 provided in the bottom of bag 18, and an outlet connected to a pump 38 for pumping water through the filter unit and back into the bag 17 via outlet pipe 39. Preferably, the inlet tubing 35 is releasably connected to port 36 and may be connected to the port on either side of the sheet 17. This allows the sheet to be reversed periodically to reduce growth on the outermost surface of the sheet. Surface skimmers 42 of the type used in swimming pools to remove lightweight surface debris are provided on the surface of the water within the dock, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

A temporary enclosure or tent-like housing 43 is provided on the dock for enclosing the upper parts of a boat while in the dock, as illustrated in dotted outline in FIGS. 1 and 3. Housing 43 is a temporary housing in the illustrated embodiment, for use in warm, relatively dry climates, but a permanent upper cover or housing may be provided in place of tent housing 43 for wetter climates. The housing 43 in the illustrated embodiment comprises a series of vertical support posts 44 along each leg of the U-shaped dock, with a bendable, removable U-shaped connector tube 46 connecting each aligned pair of posts on opposite legs of the dock. A cover sheet 48 such as a tarpaulin may be thrown across the resultant frame structure to form a temporary enclosure.

This arrangement allows a vessel to be completely enclosed below the water line, and optionally enclosed above the water line as well if necessary. It allows debris-producing maintenance and cleaning work to be carried out without having to transport the boat to a dry dock. When maintenance work such as cleaning or painting is to be done, the boat is simply sailed into the floating dock with the end 24 of the enclosing sheet 16 lowered. The end 24 is then raised using drawstrings 28 to form a chamber 18 completely surrounding the boat below the water line.

The curtains or cover 48 may be extended over the top of the boat if necessary due to bad weather or risk of debris being blown from the upper regions of the boat onto the surrounding water outside the dock. The pump and filter unit will operate continuously while maintenance work is proceeding. While work is being carried out, any debris will fall onto the surface of the water inside the dock. Heavy debris will sink and will be filtered out by circulation through the pump and filter unit 34. Any lightweight debris which floats on the water surface can be removed by skimmers 42. Once work is complete and the water in chamber 18 is completely clean, the end 24 of sheet 16 is lowered and the boat is sailed out of the dock. For sailing boats having high masts, the upper, U-shaped sections 46 of the cover supporting the frame may be removed to allow the boat to sail in and out of the dock freely. This arrangement significantly reduces or eliminates any pollution entering the water as a result of boat maintenance procedures, and avoids the need for moving boats to dry docks every time maintenance is required.

The boat enclosure assembly described above considerably reduces the expense and inconvenience of minor boat maintenance work. Such maintenance work can be carried out without taking the boat out of the water and without risk of causing unacceptable levels of water pollution.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described above by way of example only, it will be understood by those skilled in the field that modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims.