Gone loopy!

Our gazebo further deteriorated since I posted of our pool noodle experiment.

The leaks in the cover worsened and there was a tear in one side as well.  As the gazebo is our kitchen/dining and living area, you can imagine our daily tasks were even more challenging in the rain.

Nick did some research and found a good price for a replacement gazebo cover.  We fitted it today, pleased to see the heavier material and better design.

The hooked straps are now reinforced (the previous cover tore at the site of one these straps).

We purchased a length of cable from our favourite tip shop the other day (along with our "new" picnic table).

The pool noodles work well but tend to flatten, losing effectiveness - and then drop to the ground.  Of course, the old cover had already weathered various rainy weather and two corner areas were stretched as a result.  Nick thought it would be best to mount the loops to a new cover, before it suffered any sagging due to rain.  He wanted to try a different material for the loops, hence the fibre-optic cable is being trialed. One loop is longer than the others.  It's been left in place but can easily be shortened if the others are deemed more useful.  (The loop ends are secured in place with cable ties).

The new cover definitely provides better shade (with a UPF rating of 50) - and we are hoping for improved shelter in the rain also but we're not in any hurry to test that aspect!  Fingers crossed that Nick's loopiness works!

Using our noodles!

Our gazebo has had a lot of use.  You can see that the cover has wear marks in the pics at right.  Although it is not intended as a permanent structure, we have it set up most of the time due to limited living space in the van.  (The area beneath is laid with our camping mats and one gazebo wall offers some privacy between us and our neighbour).

Rain collects in the stretched areas at the corners of the cover, so the water needs to be tipped off regularly.  If too much water pools on the gazebo cover, the weight can break the gazebo frame.  That's how our very first gazebo was broken, within days of it's initial use.  Yep, we've learned the hard way!

(The manufacturer does not sell replacement frames, so we kept that one and use it to effect repairs on our other two gazebos).

I belong to several FaceBook caravan and camping groups.  There have been suggestions of using pool noodles to prevent water pooling on gazebos.  It wasn't till someone posted a photo that I understood how the noodle was to be used.  Hah!  Nick bought a pack of three from BigW and has rigged them to counter today's rain.  I'm not sure they'll stay in place all the time but they seemed to work this afternoon.