Really Scewed Up today !

Well the end of pool season has come in central Texas once again. I purchased a new cover this year and had 3 friends show up this morning. As luck would have it the wind came up about the time we started installing the new cover. Blowing about 15 mph I decided to use some cast iron weights to help control the cover whipping around. These weights are about 1"X 4" X 8" and around 10 pounds each. Well as luck would have it, that was a bad choice. I had placed the weights around the top rail and one ended up getting pulled off the rail and into the pool. Mind you these things had no sharp edges. First thing I notice is water running out from the bottom edge of the pool. From looking down thru 4 feet of water I cant see the puncture. Water is running out at a rate of 4-5 gallons a minute. I don't really see any sense in getting into 50 degree water at this point.
So I need some advice on what to do after the pool had drained. I have fooled around with the vinyl patch kits in the past and they are junk in my experience. There is most likely a large slit for the amount of water flow. It may be better to just replace the 6 year old liner that try to repair a large tear.
My question is when to do that. Will my pool survive until next April until weather allows changing out the linner? Or perhaps you can make some suggestion's dealing with this mess I have created???

Well I haven't had a reply to my post since I posted it 10 days ago. Guess all the Mod's go on vacation after September. I did find out about Boxer 100 glue from searching the post and have ordered and received a kit now. Its forecast to be 73 and Sunny in North Central Texas tomorrow. So looks like my best shot is to try and get a couple of patches on the 2 holes in the liner. I have decided to refill the pool to the bottom of the skimmer return, and reinstall the cover. Well with a little luck and monitoring the water level over the next 4 months maybe the pool will survive until March. Perhaps I can get a recommendation on a liner from a MOD by then. Best wishes throughout the Holiday season to everyone !!!

Must have fallen through the cracks. I'm not sure what to tell you. It's very possible to patch a pool so it's permanent, but it's never pretty. How large is the slit? Last time I replaced my liner, I kept a large amount of the clean vinyl for repairs. With Boxer glue, properly applied, I've been able to create permanent repairs. If you've got a 6" hole you can probably fix it. If it's a 2' long slice, I have NO idea if it can be successfully repaired.

I strongly suggest you don't try to put on a winter cover in a 15mph wind again.

In the 5 days it took to get the boxer repair kit shipped to me and the pool drained the liner seemed to shrink and pull away from the walls of the pool. I attempted to patch the 2 holes in the liner. It was 72 degrees when I started but the vinyl was very stiff. I was able to install a 6 X 8 inch patch on the hole on the bottom area successfully. I trimmed around the cracked area to make a elongated hole about 4-1/2" X 2-1/2" where there was no where for the slit to continue to run. I also took a piece of vinyl the same size and the patch and slid under the liner where the patch would not stick to the foam board below the bottom area.
The slit in the radius where the liner transitions from the bottom to the wall as a different area. I had a 1-1/2"-2" hole that had a diagonal wrinkle running thru it. I attempted to straighten the area out using my wife's hair drier, No such luck. I applied a 4" X 4" patch. It almost worked but on one side in the wrinkle it just would not adhere and remain stuck to the old liner. I had cleaned both areas with rubbing alcohol but the damage being in the radius between bottom and side was to tough to over come. If both damaged areas had been on the bottom I'm confident I would have been successful.
I agree with you suggestion not to try and put on a cover when the wind is blowing but when it comes up in the middle of installing the cover its hard to make the decision to call it off. Especially when you have had friends come over to help with a job that's already difficult anyway. I can look back now and say "IF I HAD JUST " taken another course of action at that point. Lesson learned !
So I'm back to still needing a recommendation on purchasing a replacement liner for my 16 X32 Doughboy ? I under stand the heaver gauge liner is better. Its quit a job to install one from what I have read in the forum post so I want to make sure a by a high quality liner when the time comes. Any specific brands better than the others? Any sales during the off season when things are slower for dealers and manufactures ??? Thanks for any input !