Boat Cover Maintenance

[TonkaTuff]

So, I finally made it out to the boat last night to start getting it ready for the season. Pre-season oil change is done, and she started right up, no worries.

Anyhow, I was looking at the cover and its pretty dirty and was letting water thru last year. So, I need to clean and reseal it. What tips, tricks, products do you guys recommend?

Thanks

 

[txav8r]

@TonkaTuff , there is always more than one way to skin a cat. But the material is called Surelast and is a urethane coated material. The urethane coating makes it less penetrable by water and help it shed better. But it does make it harder to clean since you can't rinse through the fabric and dirt can be trapped in between the yarn and with the coating, you can't rinse from behind to dislodge it as easy. They have some specifics in cleaning it and don't want you to use harsh chemicals or bleach often, nor do they want you to wash it in a commercial washer. If it needs additional waterproofing, they have recommendations on that too. You want to make sure the cover is actually leaking. If your poles are up and no pooling occurs, and your leaks are not from wind driven rain getting in places around the cover other than through the fabric, then once clean and dry, you can spray the coated side.

One of the ways I found to clean it is to rig up the poles and clean it right on the boat using a boat brush on a telescoping pole. I used normal laundry detergent to get more suds, to help lift dirt from the fibers. Stains are pretty permanent, and anything you use to remove them will probably not be good for the urethane backing. I have tried laying it on the driveway to clean it, but then I am walking on it and it gets dirty on both sides. So I have just rinsed it and when necessary, brushed it off using mild laundry detergent. Hope this helps!

 

[Glassman]

Since I store it covered, inside, it doesn't get too bad. But it does accumulate a layer of dust and fine dirt that blows in through the cracks in the building.
I usually blow the dust off with a leaf blower, then drape it over the tower and spray it off with plain water. After it drys I wash the boat.
It's a chore, so once a season is plenty for me.

 

[steined]

My mooring cover leaked like a sieve. It is the first generation cover for the 242 LS, not the current or premium. I was so disappointed after I saw all the water inside the boat. That lead me to jump in and see where it was leaking. It was leaking from the seams. The stitching was coarse, and not all that well executed in my opinion. So I went to Dick's and got some tent seam seal, I believe the brand was McNett? I sealed all the seams and it worked pretty well. I only "seam sealed" the seams that I thought were over the interior section, so I didn't do the one along the windshield. It turns out water runs down that inside the boat as well.

I've found the material itself to be pretty waterproof, but the seams anything but. I'll be sealing the remaining seams soon and hopefully that makes it drier.

Again, this is the older darker gray mooring cover that you can sometimes get on eBay for seemingly half off. I don't think it is as good as the current mooring cover and hopefully not anywhere near as nice as the new premium!

I bought the cockpit and cabin snap in cover and the material they used for that seemed 100x nicer. I think that's what the current gen mooring cover is made from.

So if I were you I'd try to see if the seams are leaking and if so seal those.

 

[txav8r]

On my new boat, I bought the old style Mooring and Trailering cover, not the new Deluxe. Only reason was that the deluxe only comes in BLACK. For the life of me, I can't figure why anyone would make a black cover to protect a boat from the elements. Heat is one of the contributing factors to deterioration, and black is the hottest cover you can get. I will say too, that the new M/T cover I just got, seems to have a heavier coating of urethane on the back than did my previous M/T cover, and it is a darker gray than my previous, but my previous may have just been a little faded, although it never sat out in the sun except a few weeks for its entire life with me. @steined , did you seal the seams from the outside or inside? The urethane coating is on the inside.

 

[TonkaTuff]

Thanks for the suggestions thus far... I'm pretty sure its the cover itself that's leaking. Last Sept when I was down to Cumberland, it was raining pretty hard when we got there. I was under the cover to get something and noticed the cover itself seemed saturated spotted water dripping thru the cover. The next day, the interior of the boat was pretty damp. To be honest, I've done nothing to the cover since its been in my possession.

It lives in the barn during the winter, but its parked beside the barn during the summer. So I am sure the summer sun has taken a toll on the cover. At this point, I just need to show it some love to get back in shape.

 

[ToddW850]

I had the same problem. Like said above, it was coming through at the seams. I used 303 Fabric Guard. Water runs off the cover now like a water fall. I need to touch up with a second application though because still getting a little water inside.

 

[steined]

On my new boat, I bought the old style Mooring and Trailering cover, not the new Deluxe. Only reason was that the deluxe only comes in BLACK. For the life of me, I can't figure why anyone would make a black cover to protect a boat from the elements. Heat is one of the contributing factors to deterioration, and black is the hottest cover you can get. I will say too, that the new M/T cover I just got, seems to have a heavier coating of urethane on the back than did my previous M/T cover, and it is a darker gray than my previous, but my previous may have just been a little faded, although it never sat out in the sun except a few weeks for its entire life with me. @steined , did you seal the seams from the outside or inside? The urethane coating is on the inside.

I sealed the seams from the inside. I'm reasonably sure the version of the cover I got was not made for very long. I don't think anyone would have bought it I'm pretty sure I would have been better off paying for the current Mooring and Trailering Cover (the one you got) or the black one.

I'm with you on the color black, but supposedly, at least with Sunbrella, the darker the color the longer it lasts. I had a bow and cockpit cover on my old stingray that was 12 years old made from sunbrella. It was still in good shape until the 12th year when the stitches gave out because I washed it with some bleach. That was an amazing cover! I wish Yamaha would make a Sunbrella cover, but maybe the new surelast (like you got and I got with the Bow & Cockpit cover) is as good! I even paid $120 to re-stitch it before I traded it in.