MELBOURNE, FLA. / AGILITYPR.NEWS / November 09, 2026 / Side shade blocks the sun a T-top misses; see it at the Fort Myers Boat Show Nov. 12-15, 2026.

Every boater knows the move. It's 4 p.m. at the sandbar, the sun has slipped under the T-top, and someone hangs a beach towel off the frame for a little shade. It lasts about one boat wake before it's in the water, and the rest of the afternoon is spent fishing towels out of the bay.

SOS Screens, Inc. built a better answer. The SOS Boat Screen is a lightweight, patented side shade that goes up in minutes, attaches to the top, frame, glass, or rails already on the boat with no drilling, and moves around the boat as the sun moves. The result is more shade, more comfort, and more time on the water for boaters, their families, and their dogs.

SOS Screens, Inc. founder and inventor Jim Eaker built the product to solve his own problem. After more than 20 years of boating Tampa Bay, he looked every season for something to hang on the side of his boat to extend the day, and nothing stayed put. Towels ended up in the water. Sheets and shower curtains shifted around, were hard to reposition when the sun moved, and looked out of place on a boat owners had put real money into.

"Everybody has hung a towel off their top. By that point in the day, you've already been in the water plenty. You just want to sit in the shade and enjoy being out there," said Eaker. "I wasn't going to make a product unless I could patent something and do it right. It wasn't going to be cheap or thrown together. It was going to be well thought out."

Boaters can see the SOS Boat Screen up close at the 54th Annual Fort Myers Boat Show, the largest display of boats and boating products on Florida's Gulf Coast, which returns to downtown Fort Myers Nov. 12-15, 2026. The SOS Screens, Inc. team will be in booths L/65 and L/66, showing visitors how the screen attaches to almost any boat and helping them find the right size for theirs.

Side Shade, Simply Put

A T-top or bimini does its job at midday, but by late afternoon the sun comes in low from the side. A side shade hangs along the side of the boat to block that angle. The SOS Boat Screen works with the top already on the boat rather than replacing it, and when the sun moves, the screen moves with it.

Fabric Made Like a Sun Shirt

The screen is made from a lightweight, four-way stretch, marine-grade fabric rated UPF 50+ that blocks UVA and UVB rays, the same type of material used in a sun shirt. The center of the screen has a circular vent made with a mesh material to allow some airflow through the screen. It is nothing like hauling out a heavy canvas cover. It packs small, stows easily, and cleans up in the washing machine on a gentle cycle.

The Patented Clip

At the heart of the system is the SOS 3-Function Clip, now in its fifth generation and protected by two patents, with a third pending. The clip is military-grade, injection-molded by a plastics manufacturer in Melbourne, Florida, from the same glass-filled polymer used in military flashlights and knife handles. It is built for thousands of uses.

The clip makes three attachment methods possible, and boaters can mix and match them on a single screen:

• Suction cup for any glass or fiberglass surface
• Direct clip that snaps onto a bimini top, extender, or frame tube
• Rubber strap for marine handles, rails, or any tricky spot a strap can wrap around

"We hook up to what everybody else puts on their boat," Eaker said. "Between the suction cup, the clip, and the strap, you can always find a way to put it up. And when the sun moves, you just move the screen."

Built for the Way People Boat

The SOS Boat Screen sets up in two to three minutes once boaters learn their hookup points. Because nothing is permanently mounted, there's no drilling, no hardware, and no installer, which means no holes, snaps, or rust on the boat. That matters most to owners of new boats who want to protect their investment.

The extra shade opens up the boat to more of the crew:

• Families get a shaded spot for babies and toddlers to nap, and for kids and grandparents to cool off
• Sun-sensitive boaters can keep boating with UPF 50+ coverage right where they need it
• Dogs find it first. As Eaker puts it, "Let the dogs do the voting. They always know where the shade is."
• Big-boat owners in marinas get added privacy from neighboring slips

The screen can hang vertically along the side, angle down as the sun drops, or stretch horizontally from a pole to the console for midday shade. It works on center consoles, bay boats, deck boats, pontoons, cruisers, and catamarans, from about 22 feet up to 60-foot cats, on virtually any boat with a top, frame, or rail to attach to.

"There are no strangers on a boat. Everybody's hanging out at the sandbar or the marina, and we want to help them stay out there longer and enjoy it," said Eaker. "You spent a lot of money on your boat, too. This looks good on it, even from across the water."

Engineered for Wind and Weather

The SOS Boat Screen spent about 2½ years in development before going to market. The SOS team changed and tested materials repeatedly for sun durability, stretch, reinforcement, and washability.

• Center wind vent acts as a release valve, so the screen doesn't behave like a sail
• Sewn, reinforced corners, built like a sailboat sail, plus reinforced attachment points
• Bungee connections between the screen and its clips act as shock absorbers, so very little load reaches the clip

Prototypes were put through rough-weather testing on Tampa Bay, along with many attachment methods, before the final design was set.

Sizes and Availability

The SOS Boat Screen comes in four boxed, ready-to-ship sizes: 6 by 4 feet, 8 by 4 feet, 10 by 4 feet, and 12 by 4 feet. MSRP ranges from $395 for the 6-by-4-foot screen to $695 for the 12-by-4-foot screen. The clip can also be purchased individually at an MSRP of $55. Screens and clips are available at shadeonship.com and at boat shows throughout the season.

Keep up with SOS Screens, Inc. on its website and social media platforms: Facebook and Instagram.