Perspective of Fiberglass Boat design life

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Scott Danforth

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Premium vinyls in popular colors seem to be scarce, Sailrite has their Ever-soft marine vinyls on what seems like forever backorder, in fact, they wont even allow backorder. They suggest ordering another brand. The cheaper stuff seems to be readily available. I had to go to another brand, and used another supplier to get the small amount i needed in the closest color to Ever-soft Teak I could find.
most vinyls are coming in from SE Asia and stuck on containers

I recommend Sunbrella Horizon line as they are manufactured on this side of the glove (Coasta Rica) . all colors about $17/yard (in roll volume) and its stocked in 3 locations globally. They also have the longest warranty on pinking
 

zool

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most vinyls are coming in from SE Asia and stuck on containers

I recommend Sunbrella Horizon line as they are manufactured on this side of the glove (Coasta Rica) . all colors about $17/yard (in roll volume) and its stocked in 3 locations globally. They also have the longest warranty on pinking
Sunbrella is available, but not in a close color, Sailrite has it at $39/yd on 54" roll, didnt shop it elsewhere because of the color.
 

Lou C

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Interesting and most of us, do like to do our own work to the extent that we can. Another perspective is to buy cars, trucks and boats following the used but not used up principal. The last vehicle I bought (2007 Grand Cherokee Limited 5.7 with Quadradrive II) that's what I did and I've owned it for 11 years, its now going on 15 years old and is still reliable, yes repairs were needed but not excessive for the time used and mileage driven. We bought the '98 Jeep brand new, still own it, many repairs needed more than the '07 and we paid a lot less for the '07 (which stickered at approx $45K) than we did for the '98 brand new. When its time, I'm going to look for another 2-3 year old Grand Cherokee Limited with the same 5.7 Hemi etc, so far its been my favorite of all the vehicles I've had.
The boat, when I bought it I didn't know much about boats at all, it was 14 years old and the structure and interior was "used up" the mechanicals were good. So it needed structural repairs and a new interior mostly. Both of which were done approx 15 years ago, still seems fine now. The engine, got a top end overhaul 4 years ago, the Cobra drive/transom mount is original and still fine. But the boat is now 33 years old....
Next boat, will be used not used up, like 2-3 years old and vehicles, same thing.
 

Scott Danforth

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The boat, when I bought it I didn't know much about boats at all, it was 14 years old and the structure and interior was "used up" the mechanicals were good. So it needed structural repairs and a new interior mostly. Both of which were done approx 15 years ago, still seems fine now. The engine, got a top end overhaul 4 years ago, the Cobra drive/transom mount is original and still fine. But the boat is now 33 years old....
Next boat, will be used not used up, like 2-3 years old and vehicles, same thing.
when you redid the structure and interior, you basically re-set the design life on those systems. the additional attention to maintenance and cleaning is extending the service life. with proper care, you could expect more years.
 
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