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Home/Marinas/Mellieħa

St Julian’s and the north

Boat and RIB covers in Mellieħa

Mellieħa’s boats are mostly small, sea-going and stored ashore once the season ends. A shrink wrap cover keeps your RIB, day boat or fishing boat clean, dry and ready for the first calm weekend of spring.

Boats in winter storage under fitted shrink wrap covers

The season’s over in Mellieħa. How do you store a small boat properly?

Mellieħa sits at the north end of Malta above Għadira — Mellieħa Bay — the island’s longest sandy beach, with Ċirkewwa and the Gozo ferry beyond. Għadira Bay is sheltered on most sides but open to the east, which is why summer moorings and anchorages here empty out once the autumn weather starts. Most local boats are small: RIBs, day boats, small fishing boats and dive boats.

When they come out of the water, Mellieħa boats end up on trailers, in garages, in yards and on driveways. Many sit in the open for five or six months, collecting dust off the countryside, salt off the sea air and whatever the birds leave. A cheap cover rubs the gelcoat and lets rain pool in the cockpit. A fitted shrink wrap cover does neither.

Around Mellieħa

Where the boats are in Mellieħa

  • Għadira (Mellieħa Bay)Malta’s longest sandy beach, sheltered except from the east.
  • Anchor Bay and the west coastSmall coves and seasonal moorings on Mellieħa’s rocky side.
  • ĊirkewwaThe Gozo ferry terminal and a busy dive site for local dive boats.
  • Mellieħa’s storage yards and garagesWhere most small boats spend the winter ashore.
MellieħaMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors

The usual problems

What Mellieħa boat owners usually need

“A cover for my RIB over the winter”

RIBs are quick to wrap. The tubes, console and seats stay clean and out of the sun, and the cover is vented so damp doesn’t collect under it.

“Our dive boat needs to be ready in spring”

Dive and charter boats can be covered at the end of the season and uncovered for the first bookings — saving a week of cleaning before you can take paying customers.

“The boat lives outside at the house”

We come to you. A framed cover sheds rain and dust, doesn’t flap in the wind and doesn’t mark the gelcoat.

The approach

Quick, tidy covers for small boats

Small boats don’t need a big operation. Most of the work is in a well-shaped ridge frame that keeps the cover off the console and seats, and in finishing the edges so the wind can’t get under the bottom of the cover. On a RIB, the cover wraps the tubes as well, which keeps UV off the fabric that degrades fastest.

If you run a dive or charter business, we can cover the whole fleet at the end of the season in one visit, with each boat labelled and a removal date set for the start of your bookings.

  • Ridge frame clear of console and seats
  • RIB tubes covered from UV
  • Skirted so the wind can’t get under
  • Whole fleets in one visit
  • Removal timed to the season
  • We come to the boat

Before we quote

We scan it first. Then the price doesn't move.

Around Mellieħa we survey at the yard, the dive centre or the house — wherever the boat lives. We measure the vessel, work out the frame, the film area, the vents and the doors — and the number you get back is the number you pay. No provisional sums, no “subject to access”.

survey.shrinkwrapmalta.com/mellieha
Survey of a 6.5 m RIB on a trailer for a shrink wrap cover
Ready to scan

Survey readout

Mellieħa · example survey

Vessel6.5 m RIB on a trailer
Cover area31 m²
Film200 micron, UV-stabilised white
Vents & doors2 + 0
FittingAbout two hours, two crew
Fixed priceIn writing

Illustrative of a typical small-craft cover. Your own survey happens in Mellieħa — or starts from photos, if you’d rather.

Photo sent in for a shrink wrap quote
We run two dive RIBs out of Ċirkewwa. Can you cover them for winter?
Yes — both in one visit. Tubes, console and seats covered, vented so the damp doesn’t sit. Off before your first spring dives.
Sounds good, send me a price.

Start from your phone

Send a photo. Get a straight answer.

Not every Mellieħa job needs a visit to get going. Send a couple of photos and tell us how many boats, where they’re stored, and when you want them back in, and an installer will tell you what’s involved — including when shrink wrap isn’t the right call.

  1. Photograph it

    Whole item in frame, plus one close-up of the access side.

  2. Send it over

    WhatsApp or email, with how many boats, where they’re stored, and when you want them back in.

  3. We come back to you

    Approach, timescale and a price, in plain English.

Finished covers

What a proper cover looks like.

Tight, smooth, framed clear of the boat and welded into one skin. This is the standard every Mellieħa cover is fitted to.

Full cover, motor yacht ashore
Full cover, motor yacht ashore
Shrunk tight to the hull
Shrunk tight to the hull
Covered for a move across the yard
Covered for a move across the yard
Framed bow on a superyacht
Framed bow on a superyacht
One welded skin, no laps
One welded skin, no laps
Hull wrapped on its cradle
Hull wrapped on its cradle
Clear panel for the windscreen
Clear panel for the windscreen
Wrapped before the lift
Wrapped before the lift

Questions from Mellieħa

Shrink wrap in Mellieħa: common questions

Can you shrink wrap a RIB?

Yes, and RIBs benefit a lot — the tubes are the part that suffers most from UV. The cover goes over the tubes, console and seats and is vented so damp doesn’t collect.

Do you cover dive boats in Mellieħa and Ċirkewwa?

Yes. Dive and charter boats can be covered at the end of the season, singly or as a fleet, and uncovered for your first bookings.

Will you come to Mellieħa just for one boat?

Yes. Small jobs are quick, and we can often combine them with others in the north. If your neighbours want covers too, we can do them on the same visit.

How long does a small-boat cover last?

A full off-season is normal. If the boat is staying out longer, tell us at the start and we’ll specify for it.

Get a price for Mellieħa

Send a photo, the length and where she is. You’ll get a straight answer on the approach, and a fixed price after the survey.