Does Your Mooring Cover Leak?

[dalcini]

...mine sure does!

Cleaned and treated it with 303 Fabric guard - two coats - hoping it would keep the boat reasonably dry inside, but any rain results in wet seats & carpet in all the under-seat storage. Planning to moor at a marina in the summer and worried about the poor thing being soaked all the time!

• Am I hoping for too much from a water-resistant cover?
• If you store outside uncovered during the "on" season, what is your experience and how do you keep things dry?

TLDR:
New owner. Cover is the black one - model year 2018 and in very good condition - no major holes, just some failed stitches around the plastic cleat enclosures. Water beads and runs off pretty good during rain, but boat is still wet inside afterward. Boat has been in the driveway for a few weeks while I clean & prep for Long Term Storage.

Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[Thermobrett]

I used to get wet snap in carpet on mine, seems water finds a way to come in. Plus being in a high humidity zone like I am, it didn’t seem to breathe well, even with the vents. I also had the black Yamaha cover, beats having no cover at all.

 

[F.M.]

Mine repels water pretty good, but when it stays saturated for long periods of time water begins to seep through the fabric.

 

[jeffrt]

Mine leaks pretty good too. Always have to run the bilge pump after a heavy rain. It’s getting pretty old though, so probably getting worn a bit thin. I hope to buy a new one over the winter, but man they’re not cheap.

 

[dalcini]

Thanks guys. I may try to waterproof it again with two more coats of 303 to the inside of the cover this time. Maybe hitting it from both sides will help.

 

[drewkaree]

...mine sure does!

Cleaned and treated it with 303 Fabric guard - two coats - hoping it would keep the boat reasonably dry inside, but any rain results in wet seats & carpet in all the under-seat storage. Planning to moor at a marina in the summer and worried about the poor thing being soaked all the time!

• Am I hoping for too much from a water-resistant cover?
• If you store outside uncovered during the "on" season, what is your experience and how do you keep things dry?

TLDR:
New owner. Cover is the black one - model year 2018 and in very good condition - no major holes, just some failed stitches around the plastic cleat enclosures. Water beads and runs off pretty good during rain, but boat is still wet inside afterward. Boat has been in the driveway for a few weeks while I clean & prep for Long Term Storage.

Any help greatly appreciated!

"wet seats & carpet in all the under-seat storage" - elaborate please. The bow area? The seating behind the captain's seat inside the boat?

It sounds as if your cover isn't stopping any water whatsoever.

What size container(s) of 303 did you buy to waterproof your cover?

Were both of those 2 coats done to the outside?

How much of the 303 do you have left from your container(s)?

I'll say that I wouldn't judge the cover to be in very good condition if there are ANY holes or failed stitching, as those are easy areas for water to infiltrate. Without fixing those areas, it's hard to pin everything on the 303 or its application, although the 303 should help some.

Please give us more info - there's really not enough for us to be able to offer much help beyond relaying our own experience that may not mirror your experience, or was a more thorough/better solution due to differences in conditions and applications.

 

[lazergeek]

I have the Black Yamaha Morning cover and store outside in South Floridas so heavy rain several times a week. Mine stays bone dry inside. I do keep a tub of Damp Rid under to keep the humidity down.

 

[dalcini]

Thx @lazergeek.

Hi @drewkaree, I used about 3/4 gallon on the cover to spray 2 heavy coats with about 5 hours between in the warm sun. To clarify "no major holes”, there is only one hole ~4mm dia. Over the rub rail (probably from bumping a dock while covered). This hole is well over the side. The rest of the cover is intact.

I'm really just wondering what is typical to expect for water resistance from a cover that is 6 yrs old - and also interested in any waterproofing improvements that might help

I have another gallon of 303 ready to go and will probably hit the cover again this weekend. The boat is getting shrink wrapped for winter storage after this week so I won't be able to post results until next season.

 

[drewkaree]

If you're getting it wrapped, I would wait until next season to apply it.

To me, it sounds like not enough, but 2 coats of that total amount seems like it would cover everything at least once, and you'd have "hot spots" of excellent coverage.

I have a 21' that's one year newer than yours, and I've treated the cover twice, over separate years, so 2 separate applications. This used up my gallon - 1/2 gallon seemed to give satisfactory results, so 3/4 gallon seems to be an appropriate amount for a 24'

If I don't take my time with the cover around the tower, creases and folds act like a funnel for water to get in. My cover comes up the tower slightly from the top of the boat, acting like a dam or barrier to help, is yours flat? Not sure of the design for the 24', but your tower is definitely an area of concern.

The underside of the covers seems to have some sort of coating already, but your idea of doing the underside may be fruitful. If nobody chimes in with feedback of doing that, it's something that you won't know until you try it. My take would be to treat the topside to stop it at the source, but without any data, you could find success that's not been reported

Did you use a spray bottle, or something like it tank sprayer with a pump to apply? The tank sprayer seems like what you'd have done, and it gets a more consistent result, so I don't think that's it.

In spring, you may want to go under the cover with a flashlight, and have someone use a spray nozzle to hose down the cover to see if there's something you can suss out

 

[Austin-BR]

I have the Black Yamaha Morning cover and store outside in South Floridas so heavy rain several times a week. Mine stays bone dry inside. I do keep a tub of Damp Rid under to keep the humidity down.

Same here. But in North Carolina. I saw a lot little of water where the cover wrap up the tower base.

 

[dalcini]

Great info guys thanks. @drewkaree, yeah my cover comes up the tower a bit like yours. Ironically, the seats under the arch are dryer than the front, and the dryest area in the boat is in the wet storage behind the swim platform seats!

I used a DeWalt pump sprayer for application as well - but I did miss a few small spots. It's really difficult to hit everywhere with all the folds! LOL.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nice here in MI. I think I'll try to coat both sides of the mooring cover and see how that holds.

Here are a few pics to show the general condition. It's definitely not as taught looking as some others I've seen on here, but the fabric itself seems to be in really good shape.

 

[dalcini]

Yesterday was round 2 for waterproofing. 2 more coats (one on each side) for the mooring cover and 1.5 more coats to the Bimini before I ran out of Fabric Guard. Incidentally, 5-gallon buckets work nicely to prop the cover up in the tower area.

 

[drewkaree]

Really odd, nothing seems to stand out on those pics of your cover that would be allowing water in, I think the hose and sprayer nozzle on the end might show weak spots. Maybe recruit the wife and tell her she's got better eyesight so it'll work better if she's under the cover.

 

[dalcini]

My wife has better everything, but I'll never admit it!

Here's a new (to me) theory: The anchor locker drain plug. There are lots of threads here about that issue - and mine looks just as bad as the rest. Perhaps rain was soaking through the flat horizontal are of the cover over the anchor locker door and draining between the inner/outer hulls via that crappy plug. According to @swatski in the anchor locker leak thread, water from an unsealed drain can find its way to the inner hull compartments from there. I can't imagine how, but that guy has street cred (or rather, lake cred) about these boats, and I've got no better theories. I picked up some 3M 5200 today and may try to goop that thing up before it goes away for the winter.

I agree.
@MrMoose - in a 240 water can definitely drain/flow from the anchor locker along the hull (if entering through broken/unsealed anchor locker drain into the space between the inner shell and the hull) - thru the bow storage compartments and all the way around - back into the cockpit storage and stern, soaking everything wet along the way. I have not had that happen in my boat, and I've already fixed the anchor locker drain (thank you very much!) but I had a chance to explore it all in detail while running wire and ballast hose etc.

--

 

[drewkaree]

My wife has better everything, but I'll never admit it!

Here's a new (to me) theory: The anchor locker drain plug. There are lots of threads here about that issue - and mine looks just as bad as the rest. Perhaps rain was soaking through the flat horizontal are of the cover over the anchor locker door and draining between the inner/outer hills via that crappy plug. According to @swatski in the anchor locker leak thread, water from an unsealed drain can find its way to the inner hull compartments from there. I can't imagine how, but that guy has street cred (or rather, lake cred) about these boats, and I've got no better theories. I picked up some 3M 5200 today and may try to goop that thing up before it goes away for the winter.

Usually, it's going to happen when you're underway. You can easily test it out to see if it happens before you break open that tube. Once it's open, it's either gotta be put in a ziploc and then in the freezer, or it'll be garbage.

Some boats (not sure the year, but that's why you test) have the anchor locker drain right at the water line. Mine is like that, and I'm not certain it's really year-specific, but rather up to the assembler as to where they drill. If you have people in the bow, and are cruising along at slow/no-wake, and your anchor locker drain is being stuffed below the waterline, the compartment will fill up, and overflow the sides. I think some models have the anchor locker designed so there's a short wall that doesn't seal the anchor locker off from those two forward compartments, so any overflow simply soaks the carpet there, and if the seats aren't opened up to dry the compartments out, it takes a surprisingly long time to dry.

You should be able to see inside, either by eye or using your cel phone as an inspection camera, to determine if you've got a sealed-off compartment for your anchor locker. If you're not certain, it's easy enough to test by putting a cork in the anchor locker drain and simply fill up the compartment. If there's any opening, it should be easy to spot.

 

[fireflymedic]

Ok this is a stupid question but are you using the poles to make it peaked like a tent?

 

[dalcini]

Yes I am, but there may still be enough sag to cause small puddles during heavy rain. I also plan to replace the poles with Hangtyte supports next spring which should help with that.

 

[drewkaree]

Get some boobs. Cheaper than the Hangtyte

 

[Thermobrett]

Get some boobs. Cheaper than the Hangtyte

HAHA, you said boobs

 

[dalcini]

Thanks for the suggestion @drewkaree - I had to go research your posts on boat boobs. They look excellent for towing, but do you use those for daily storage? Wouldn't 3-4 minutes to inflate/deflate get old for daily storage?