Re-upholstery Job on Cruisers Yacht 338 Bowrider

[tpenfield]

Greetings,

I could easily title this thread 'Here I go again . . .' another upholstery job. This time it is on the new-2-me boat . . . a 2016 Cruisers Yacht 338 Bowrider. The boat is only 5 years old and the cockpit seating is already in need of some serious work.

The backstory is that in my recent boat search, I encountered many fairly new boats that had issues. Gelcoat fading and upholstery deterioration topped the list.
It was a bit shocking that 5-6 year old boats would need such work, but I was sensing a 'new normal' where people buy new boats, beat the hell out of them for a few years, and then look to sell and start the process all over again with yet another new boat.

Anyway, because of the needed work, I was able to factor that into the price negotiations and the boat was ours.

There are 2 issues with the cockpit upholstery . . .
1) The main issue it appears that the wrong type of thread was used (probably a polyester or nylon thread) and it has disintegrated due to sun exposure. There are other areas where the thread did not wear well.
2) The choice of vinyl style used in the seating is suspect. Cruisers uses/used Spradling brand vinyl, which is a decent vinyl, but not over the top. The style was a textile-look finish, which seems to be a 'thing' these days. However, the textile pattern does not wear well at all and quickly discolors.

Here are a few pictures showing the issues. . .
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We looked at another boat just like this one, except tan/white color seating instead of gray/white. Although the stitching was intact the discoloration was readily apparent. I talked with Cruisers Yacht Tech Support both before and after buying the boat to gain some insight to the issue and options for resolution. The boat is out of warranty, and I believe the PO tried to get the seats covered under warranty to no avail.

So, in re-doing the seats, I wanted to go more top-shelf on the materials and get away from the textile pattern in the high usage areas, going a bit old-school with the vinyl choices.

I also thought to add some color to the seating, as there was/is a 'Black Diamond' edition of the Cruisers 338 that had some red mixed in with the gray/white. It looked pretty good in some of the pictures I've seen, as per below. . .
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The Game Plan . . .

Instead of Spradling brand material I plan to use Omnova brands of vinyl - Nautolex and Boltaflex are their common product lines.

I've been able to get the vinyl information from Cruisers and have cross-matched it to suitable equivalents in the Nautolex lines. The before/after vinyl choices are going to be:

White - was Spradling Begula 'Pure White' will be Nautolex Cetacea 'White'
Gray - was Spradling Simtex 'Plata' will be Nautolex Capitano 'Techno Gray'
Dark Gray - was Spradling Diamante (discontinued) will be Nautolex Beacon 'Lead'
Black - was Spradling Simtex Black will be the same . . . Not able to cross-match.
Red will be Boltaflex Colorguard 'American Beauty'

I will say that my 24 foot Formula had the Boltaflex Colorguard vinyl and it is probably the most durable vinyl I have ever seen . . . super fade resistant. The grain pattern is a bit dated though . . .

So far, I've estimated out all of the vinyl and it will be about 50 linear yards of vinyl material, along with an equal amount of 'sew foam' backing and 4 spools of Tenara brand thread (what is known as a lifetime thread - PFTE), which I used on my Formula re-upholstering. (Formula boats uses it as well as the Nautolex brand vinyl).

Next steps will be to . . .
1) set up my sewing machine (Consew 206RB-4) at the summer house where the boat is located
2) Order the Vinyl
3) Begin dismantling the seats from the boat.

Fun, fun, fun.

 

[alldodge]

No thoughts of just designing with an all out one of a kind pattern?

With Boltaflex being the best, what about going back with it?

 

[paulswagelock]

That appears to be poor materials choice and workmanship from the factory. There are so many 20+ year old boats that look better.
Big project, good luck. I wish I had that skill set, opens up more potential boats to purchase.

 

[tpenfield]

No thoughts of just designing with an all out one of a kind pattern?

With Boltaflex being the best, what about going back with it?

Correct, no thoughts of a full set of Boltaflex Colorguard. I want to stay in the same ballpark with texture variation, because I like the look.

I have been trying to match the original texture as much as possible across the brands. The white is pretty much an exact match, the light gray a nice contrasting pattern - more leather looking and should wear better. The red will be the old-school Boltaflex. I actually found a dark gray material in the Nautolex line that I like better than the original. The dark gray is used for cockpit sidewall trim and helm trim, as well as a bit up front in the bow section.

As for the Boltaflex - it's specs for vinyl 'weight' are the best of the bunch, being at 24 oz. per sq. yd. The other Nautolex vinyls are around 20 oz. and the Spradling vinyls run in the 18-19 oz range.

When I did the seats on my Formula 242 (many years ago) the original Boltaflex Red material (15 years old) had no color variation to the new red Boltaflex coming off the roll. . . and RED is a color generally thought to fade the most

It is just that using all Boltaflex will look too old-school in IMO. I our boat search, we did look at a Chaparral 327 SSX (similar layout to the boat we bought) and the vinyl was all old-school. It was in great shape, but looked dated.

I'm thinking with upgraded material and some better seam techniques, I can keep the look fairly original, if not better, and have it last as well. (time will tell )

 

[Scott Danforth]

Ted, If you plan on keeping the boat for a long long long time. I would look into Sunbrella Horizon line of vinyl and look at the PTFE threads such as Solarfix. the thread in clear/white/black is $142 a pound. the vinyl is about $18/yard

there are many of the texile patterns and colors from Sunbrella.

if you want an embroidered logo, email me. I will get you in touch with the embroiderer that we use at TACO Seating

 

[Scott Danforth]

That appears to be poor materials choice and workmanship from the factory. There are so many 20+ year old boats that look better.
Big project, good luck. I wish I had that skill set, opens up more potential boats to purchase.

the issue is the older fabrics, threads, and foams were allowed to use arsenic as the anti-microbial. that went away in 2004. so the new fabrics and threads will not stand up to the fabric and threads from 20 years ago.

 

[tpenfield]

Thanks for the advice @Scott Danforth The Tenara thread is PFTE, like Solarfix. My challenge may be to find all the colors that I need (red, white, black, light gray)

Do let me know about the embroidery contact, as I may want to have the red panels of the seat backs embroidered, just like the original seating.

 

[southkogs]

Don't have much to add ... but I'm locked into watching another topic of Ted reupholstering ...

 

[tpenfield]

Quick update . . .

I set up and adjusted my sewing machine..
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I was able to disassemble the rear seat, which was no small feat. The seat is a back-to-back triple width that can lay flat making a sun pad. There is a power actuator which extends/retracts the seat.

The seat is made up of 6 pieces. Back rests . . .

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There are 4 base pieces - the rear facing base has rounded corners. Here are a few of the 4 base pieces.

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I took apart one of the rear facing base cushions.


The construction of the seat looked OK. It does not look like it has the quick draining foam, which was surprising. The vinyl is the kind with 1/8" foam backing - no scrim layer to prevent seam tearing. The black stuff you see in the picture above is the anchoring material. It looks like it did not hold up that well. I'll probably use a piece of vinyl for the anchor stips.

The stitching length is 5 mm, and the top-stitching is about the same.

Here are the vinyl panels from one of the base pieces all taken apart.

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I plan on using a 1/4" 'sew foam', which has a scrim cloth later to avoid seam tearing. I'll be able to make a new 'skin' once my materials arrive.

 

[southkogs]

I also thought to add some color to the seating, as there was/is a 'Black Diamond' edition of the Cruisers 338 that had some red mixed in with the gray/white. It looked pretty good in some of the pictures I've seen, as per below. . .
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View attachment 353933

Maybe this time you should do the quilting. The image above gives me the vintage auto vibe:

 

[tpenfield]

Maybe this time you should do the quilting. . . .

Yes, I did add some quilting on my Formula 330 re-upholstering, but not sure I can work it into this project. The sidewalls on the boat have the diamond pattern quilting . . . I'll have to give quilting some thought as far as adding it to the seats.

 

[southkogs]

The sidewalls on the boat have the diamond pattern quilting . . .

Sorry. I remember adding the quilting on the last one. I was thinking exactly that : the diamond pattern look. #bentleyboating

 

[tpenfield]

I did find some pictures online of quilting on the Cruisers 338 seating. I think it is on the 'Palm Beach' Edition of the boats. FYI - there is the 'CX' version (which I have, the 'South Beach' version and the 'Palm Beach' version. There used to be a 'Black Diamond' version, which is the inspiration for my seating color choices. (adding the red.)

Here are a few pictures of what the rear seat might look like with a bit of quilting in the center panel.

White stitching . . .

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Red Stitching . . .

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Black Stitching . . .

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I'm thinking the white stitching might be the way to go, the other look a bit over-powering.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I say do a tuck-n-roll like 'kogs pic. that involves cutting the laminated vinyl into strips, sewing the panel, then cutting the panel to size and sewing into the cover.

the issue with quilt panels is they leak water thru. However most boat builders are going that way vs the older RF quilted panels.

If you are headed to Florida, I can show you the CNC quilting machine we have

 

[southkogs]

I'm with ya'. White stitching.

 

[alldodge]

2x for white

 

[tpenfield]

I say do a tuck-n-roll like 'kogs pic. that involves cutting the laminated vinyl into strips, sewing the panel, then cutting the panel to size and sewing into the cover.

the issue with quilt panels is they leak water thru. However most boat builders are going that way vs the older RF quilted panels.

If you are headed to Florida, I can show you the CNC quilting machine we have

I know what you are saying, sounds like a lot of work though. Not sure how I could do a diamond pattern that way.

I have also considered buying some pre-quilted vinyl, but the quality level is a bit unknown. I have seen that Great Lakes Skipper has some excess material from the boat manufacturers . . . presumably of better quality.

Anyway, still food for thought at this point. I am chasing some vinyl right now, as the source for the white Nautolex does not have enough material for my order and not getting any more in at this point.

Any leads on 18 linear yards of Nautolex Cetacea White Wave will get you my tip of a hat and a hearty hand-shake.

 

[alldodge]

Check around your area for local quilters. Wife is president of our local group and 1/3 of the ladies in the group have computer quilting machines

 

[Scott Danforth]

prior to our CNC quilters, our seamstresses used china markers to draw the pattern and sew by hand

then they switched to UV lights and marking pens

then we purchased from the outside from Veada (former mattress quilter). the panels are 3 yards (51 x 120)

the CNC quilter we have does a 1/2 yard panel (29 x 51). Limitation is the pattern needs to be done in a continuous stitch. (overlapping in the margins)

local vinyl shop sews by hand - they charge $200 per panel to sew the diamond shape or squares (any straight line).

 

[tpenfield]

It looks like I can get the Spradling Beluga Pure White, the original white. I cannot find the Nautolex Cetacea. So, it may be the Spradling for the white.

I don't need much quilted, so I may make my own. I touched base with the Royal Palms person - will be sending them a sample image.