Boat Cover - Material and Bow Cut-Outs
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: General Correct Craft Discussion
Forum Name: Common Questions
Forum Discription: Visit here first for common questions regarding your Correct Craft
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=25560
Printed Date: May-13-2024 at 5:57pm
Topic: Boat Cover - Material and Bow Cut-Outs
Posted By: 63 Skier
Subject: Boat Cover - Material and Bow Cut-Outs
Date Posted: April-12-2012 at 11:35am
|
I need a cover for the '98 Sport, am looking at the Westland site, will order through Christine's (Nautiqueskins.com). I leave the boat in the water for weeks at a time, but also will have it on the trailer quite a bit. Breathability is really important to me, it's hard to have the boat completely dry every time I cover it. They offer 3 fabrics - 6 1/2 oz. Sharkskin Plus acrylic coated polyester, 7 1/2 oz. Sharkskin Supreme SD solution dyed polyester, and 9 1/4 oz. Sunbrella solution dyed acrylic. Is Sunbrella so good I should just go with it, or would the Supreme be just as good for my use and be a bit lighter to handle (9 oz. sounds heavy to me). I can get it with or without the bow cutouts for the trailer. Since I'll use it both in the water and on the trailer, which ends up the better compromise? Thanks! David ------------- '63 American Skier - '98 Sport Nautique |
Replies:
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: April-12-2012 at 11:45am
|
Unless youre getting a dust cover for $100 or less, the only type of cover material worth considering is Sunbrella, IMHO. It breathes awesome, fairly light weight, water proof (and can be re-waterproofed), and the stuff lasts forever. I have 5 year old covers made out of shark skin, poly, cotton, etc... and they are useless for anything beyond dust covers now. I have seen Sunbrella covers that are 10+ years old that still look like new. I would recommend a color that hides a little bit of dirt and mold... darker colors and tweeds seem to do the best. Westland makes a decent cover. So do Angola and Skiboatcovers. I would cross shop all 3. I would not bother with trailer cut outs unless the boat sleeps on the trailer exclusively. ------------- |
Posted By: 63 Skier
Date Posted: April-12-2012 at 11:55am
|
Thanks for the info Tim. I've looked at Angola before at the suggestion of another person here, just thought I ought to support Christine's and order through them. I'll take a closer look today. I guess the question is whether one of the companys does a better job of custom fit for my boat. I'll probably go with black, might consider a dark navy, charcoal, or the charcoal tweed in Sunbrella looks interesting. ------------- '63 American Skier - '98 Sport Nautique |
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: April-12-2012 at 1:08pm
|
The charcoal tweed is very nice... my buddy has one on his '02 SN. I have a black one that I love. Cant go wrong with Nay either! Is there a Navy tweed? That would look sharp. I get the impression that Westland is a pretty big company. They sell through a lot of big shops like Overton's. Personally, Id lean towards Angola or Skiboatcovers. The Angolas I have fit pretty nice and are well made. Their customer service can be a little lacking at times though... Id like to try Skiboatcovers, as Ive heard good things about them. Their covers seem to fit very well, and they offer a waterline option to keep the sun off the sides of the boat. The only thing that has kept me from ordering one from them in the past is that they dont have the patterns for the older CC's like Angola does. I doubt that would be a problem with a '98 though. They should all be very close price-wise. ------------- |
Posted By: SN206
Date Posted: April-12-2012 at 2:17pm
|
Do not get bow cut outs. IMHO. ------------- ...those who have fallen and those who will. |
Posted By: MI-nick
Date Posted: April-12-2012 at 3:38pm
|
i'm with tim on only considering sunbrella...and I'm a big fan of the tweeds. i've got two from skiboatcovers.com (local to me in MI) that are very good. i just got one from westland for a '99 SAN and it fits perfect. big difference b/w the two are poles...none on the westland and not needed. the skiboat.com covers both came with two poles. westland cover came with 12 straps and I had to buy bungees for the other covers...the bungees are easier to use, but the straps were free. i got a sweet deal on the westland through christines...$495 vs. ~$750 from skiboatcovers.com. no experience with angola. lastly, no need for bow cut outs in my opinion. ------------- As far as I can tell, I'm not quite sure... |
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: April-12-2012 at 3:50pm
|
$750 for a regular mooring cover from skiboatcovers? Or was that a waterline? That seems high... is the comparison apples to apples on the Westland? Angola, Skiboatcovers and one of the big companies (forget if it was Carver or Westland) were all within $20 of each other (~$510) for our 19' Barefoot Nautique. I realize the SAN is 2' longer, but that seems like a big price difference! ------------- |
Posted By: MI-nick
Date Posted: April-12-2012 at 10:09pm
|
the $495 vs. $750 was for a standard SAN cover with factory tower that covered the platform. the $495 was with a 20 or 25% discount offer through planetnautique...i couldn't pass it up. i think a basic sunbrella cover from skiboatcovers is about $500 for a ski nautique. ------------- As far as I can tell, I'm not quite sure... |
Posted By: Foot_Fungus
Date Posted: April-13-2012 at 12:05am
| Got a Carver through nautiqueparts.com (white lake marina) for 3 and change. I'm very impressed with the quality. I have an issue where the rear darts for the platform got mis-sewn, but I've had a couple of back and forth email and its seems like they're going to get it taken care of(I'll have an update tomorrow). I have a Sunbrella on my 05 Stingray and comparing the carver PolyGuard material to the Stingray, the Sunbrella is a tad thicker/heavier/more 'fabricy', but that aside the PolyGuard material feels/looks solid and the 2nd day on we had a downpour and it beaded off the water like a champ, had zero through transfer. Supposedly it has the same life-cycle, and so far I've been very impressed not to mention it was almost half the price of Sunbrella. That said I will say the Sunbrella came with the boat(7 years old) and hasn't faded one bit. It has lost the majority of its water repellency, but no tears, rips or UV issues so far. Only thing I hate about it is contrary to popular opinion mine holds moisture in like a ziplock back, I have to clean the underside of the cover atleast once a month in the summer to wash off the mold and if it rains heavy and I leave the cover on i get mildew on my seats. The mildew/moisture issue was the main reason I decided to give the PolyGuard a try as several people on THT say its more breathable. |
Posted By: lewy2001
Date Posted: April-13-2012 at 2:13am
|
David I purchased a Westland Sunbrella cover through NautiqueSkins on the 25% discount offered for CCfan's for my 98 Sport. (Cost was $419.00) The fit is good I trailer with mine but I changed from the straps to shock cord also added more positions on cover for the shock cord. Makes it much simpler to fit and remove. Purchased without tower cutouts and had them done locally. I wanted to have the rope running fully around the boat not stopping at the front and rear tower legs allowing the cover to flap in between legs.  ------------- If you're going through hell, keep going http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=2999" rel="nofollow - 89 Ski <a href="http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=5685" ta |
Posted By: 63 Skier
Date Posted: July-09-2012 at 1:57am
Thought I'd post an update - 3 months later! I just put the new cover on the boat for the 1st time this evening. I bought a Westland through Christines, $485 with free shipping. It seemed to fit very well once I stopped trying to put the stern end on the bow. Here's a picture. ------------- '63 American Skier - '98 Sport Nautique |
Posted By: P71_CrownVic
Date Posted: July-09-2012 at 2:13am
|
I read that Top Gun fabric is better than Sunbrella. That's why I used it for my boat. It was bone dry after an absolutely massive downpour the other day. From earlier in the season:    ------------- |
Posted By: 63 Skier
Date Posted: July-09-2012 at 2:20am
|
That looks like a glove tight fit! Mine wasn't quite as tight as I'd like, but with the extended pylon I think it will have enough pitch to not collect water in the gunwale areas. ------------- '63 American Skier - '98 Sport Nautique |
Posted By: P71_CrownVic
Date Posted: July-09-2012 at 9:05pm
It's very tight. And they even supplied me with TWO prop rods just incase the cover stretches. ------------- |
63 Skier wrote:Posted By: 63 Skier
Date Posted: July-09-2012 at 9:12pm
Easy enough for me to add them if needed, but I'm definitely fine on the bow, the gunwales would be the only potential problem area and I think I could have pulled it a bit tighter. One thing I'm tempted to add is a cut-out for the stern lift ring. I'm going to add stern pull-up cleats at some point but the easiest place to tie up to right now is the lift ring. ------------- '63 American Skier - '98 Sport Nautique |
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: July-10-2012 at 10:55am
FWIW, I have always read the opposite. Top Gun is polyester based and surely its good at keeping water out... but Im guessing it doesnt breathe nearly as well since they recommend vents. Sunbrella needs to be re-upped with water repellant (like 303 Fabric Guard) every few years, but when maintained properly, is essentially waterproof. It breathes great too. Ive yet to find another fabric that lasts as long. The poly covers Ive tried only last a handful of years before they become useless. ------------- |