Watercraft canopy

Abstract

A canopy covering for a watercraft to protect the watercraft from natural elements while allowing a substantial amount of light to be transmitted through the covering so as to not significantly adversely impact the marine habitat below the canopy by light reduction.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] In recent years, the necessity of avoiding impacts to the natural environment has resulted in the enactment of environmental legislation on the part of Federal and State governments to enhance the quality of the environment by reducing and / or eliminating activities that cause environmentally adverse effects. This has resulted in the exertion of regulatory pressures on those engaged in potentially environmentally impacting activities to avoid actions that may cause adverse impacts to endangered or protected flora, fauna and associated habitat. These pressures have, in turn, brought about the development of a substantial body of environment enhancing, protecting, and impact-minimizing technology. A typical example of a recent, relatively simple device of such technology includes U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,907, which discloses an environmentally compatible archway for road building that is meant to avoid harmful alterations, disruption, or destruction of fis...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009] The present invention provides a watercraft canopy in the form of a substantially translucent cover supported by a semi-rigid framework capable of protecting watercraft from natural elements while allowing a significant amount of sunlight to pass through the canopy. The cover is supported over the watercraft by a metal framework or some other method whereby the cover is semi-rigidly positioned between the sun and the watercraft. The cover will preferably be substantially flexible, and may include a UV-absorbing or reflecting material, the extent of absorption or reflection being selectable according to the intended use, providing protection from UV radiation in the range of 290 to 400 nM. Materials of construction are preferably such that deterioration in a marine environment is significantly reduced. A synthetic, durable material is thus preferably utilized.

Problems solved by technology

This has resulted in the exertion of regulatory pressures on those engaged in potentially environmentally impacting activities to avoid actions that may cause adverse impacts to endangered or protected flora, fauna and associated habitat.

A watercraft that is not covered may be subject to damage and degradation and rainwater may enter the watercraft, damaging the interior and potentially overburdening the craft to the point of sinking it: Ultraviolet radiation in the range of 290-400 nM is known to cause a boat's exterior and interior surface paint and materials to degrade.

Prior art, however, does not address recent environmental concerns regarding the use of light-blocking coverings over near-shore marine environments.

Such structures have the disadvantage of blocking a substantial amount of available sunlight, thereby causing shading of such light in regard to the waters below.

What's more, unlike the moveable watercraft that the canopy covers, these canopies continue to block light when the watercraft and other under-canopy structures are removed or absent, causing permanent shading impacts.

Environmental impacts from near-shore shading include changing growth patterns and growth ability of vegetation that forms the foundation of the pre-existing ecosystem beneath the canopy and detrimental promotion of non-indigenous vegetation growth.

Also, predatory behavior of fauna may be altered by canopy shading, causing endangered species such as salmon and / or their habitat to be at greater risk.

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