why carpet... why???

[jprice]

I'm still relatively new to boating. Have had a 14' seadoo speedster for 2 years, and it's time to upgrade. Mainly because of it's size, the fact that it chugs the gas, and the ride can get really rough when the lake gets choppy.
Although one of the features that I absolutely love about it was that it was 100% fiberglass. No matter how much mud, muck, and sand we tracked into it, it was just a simple hose down when we got home.

So now I'm looking at getting a 17'-18' bowrider. It seems like the perfect size/style for us, as we mainly just cruise around, stop at various swim spots, and do some tubing.
But the part that kills me is that they all have carpet! I understand that it's marine carpeting, but if you could see how much muck the kids and dog can bring back into the boat, you'd be cringing like I am. I just don't know how we'd get it clean. Not to mention, carpet holds moisture, and moisture promotes mold, mildew, and rot.

Maybe it's because I'm still a noob boater, but I just don't get it. Why carpet?

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: why carpet... why???

Wow! If you don't want carpet then get a boat without it! Keep looking there are plenty out there you just have to find it.

Personally I prefer it, keeps the boat cooler and gives it a homely feel. Kids and the dog dragging stuff into the boat? sorry that doesn't happen there are no shoes allowed in my boat so that doesn't happen, the biggest issue we have is the hair from the Lab (The Hair Factory) but that's part of the experience for us.

I think that the difference is that your children are probably younger then mine, I only have one left at home and she is a Sophomore in High School but having younger kids I can see the advantage in having snap in carpet as far as cleaning.

Mold Mildew and rot is all part of proper maintenance, drying out my boat when we have all the kids is just part of the routine. We boat on Saturday, let the boat sit overnight to dry then vacuum her out after church Sunday Morning then me and the Wife go for a Ride on the Harley for the rest of the day. If we go somewhere for the weekend then drying the boat out is just delayed another day is all. I have an 11 yr old boat and have zero mold mildew or rot but I'm in a "dry" climate in Colorado so I'm sure there are other locations where a different routine would be needed.

Carpet is simply the coolest surface in the boat, when were talking 105 degrees, fiberglass and Vinyl are very hot.

 

[emilsr]

Re: why carpet... why???

Carpet is more comfortable, but I don't like it either. The BEST option is snap out carpet; you can put it in when you want it, leave it out when you don't. It's easy to add to a boat that doesn't have glued in carpet and there are several companies that will custom make it to fit your particular application.

Keep looking; there are plenty of boats out there that fit this description.

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: why carpet... why???

I have been boating all my life, and for the life of me, I cant see why anyone would put carpet into something that WILL be getting wet all the time. It only takes one person to get in the boat wet and then it is wet for a week. If you put your cover on this way, it gets moldy. If you get salt water in there, you have to rinse it out and again it gets wet and stays wet for a week. You dont realize how much water you bring on board until you take the boat out and have a completely dry day. Nothing comes out the drain, but when you are in and out all day it drains for a good minute or 2. If you have carpet, that is all in your carpet and eventually the wood underneath. You cant simply let it dry out over night because in Florida it rains just about every day and with the morning dew everything is always wet in the morning. If you try to let it dry out over night it will never dry. Plain and simple. We take a couple towels and dry it out and wipe everything down and clean it then throw the cover on when we get home. Pretty easy and we dont have to worry about any rott.

I live in Florida, and trust me it gets hot here. I have never had a white fiberglass surface get so hot you cant walk on it. Now, poor quality dark colored upholstery can get hot, but not white fiberglass. In fact we had dark blue carpet in our Chaparral and it was damn hot. We never had any rott in that one, but it was hot and a real pain to get dried out.

Incidently, I pulled the carpet out of my Jeep too. Seemed kinda silly to have carpet in a vehicle that will get wet or muddy all the time. Now I just pull the plugs and hose it out when we get off the trails.

As said already, there are a lot of boats out there that do not have carpet, just keep looking.

 

[jprice]

Re: why carpet... why???

Thanks guys. I'll keep looking, but I was getting discouraged because I've been looking for a while, and haven't seen a single one.
The strange part is, I've found plenty without carpet, but in different style boats. Like all the center console boats are just fiberglass. Of course, that doesn't really suite our boating style.

Anyway, I suppose I could replace it with something like hydroturf, or maybe the snap-in carpets like you've mentioned. Because I don't see permanent carpet every drying out after a complete hosedown, especially in the humid southeast where I live.

emilsr,
If it already has a glued-in carpet, does that eliminate the "snap-out carpet" option? Or does it just mean I'd have a painstaking task of scraping out old glue?

If you have carpet, that is all in your carpet and eventually the wood underneath....

This brings up another question for me. (great, I'm taking my own post off-topic )
Are modern bowriders still built with wood floors? I would have thought everything would be fiberglass these days. But again, I'm still a bit of a boating noob.

 

[emilsr]

Re: why carpet... why???

emilsr,
If it already has a glued-in carpet, does that eliminate the "snap-out carpet" option? Or does it just mean I'd have a painstaking task of scraping out old glue?

Yes, most likely it does since there will be (more or less) raw fiberglass and not non-skid underneath the carpet. There may be exceptions....but I haven't seen any. What you see in center consoles (non skid that you could put snap in carpet over the top of it) is what you want.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: why carpet... why???

I agree, carpet makes no sense in an open boat. All the discussion about drying, covering, vacuuming, snapping, mildew and rot are reasons not to have it. And no, white fiberglass does not get hot. Although a personal preferernce, I have never liked the feel of carpet under my feet in a boat; it just feels nasty. Kinda like old shag carpet in a beach house.

Now to seperate carpet from boat styles: There are certain styles of boats that are not really made for outdoor use. They sell to people who want a very limited boat experience, and who either don't mind, or don't realize, the restrictions they are under with that type of boat. And there are some people who enjoy spending their leisure time cleaning and maintaining instead of using the boat. I don't get it but to each his own. Sounds like you are not one of those types, either

So move away from the sofa boats and look at the ones made for family recreation with simple maintenance. These are roomy, comfortable, practical, seaworthy and reliable. Isn't that better than trying to replicate your living room on the water?

http://seahuntboats.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=93&Itemid=119

 

[jprice]

Re: why carpet... why???

So move away from the sofa boats and look at the ones made for family recreation with simple maintenance. These are roomy, comfortable, practical, seaworthy and reliable. Isn't that better than trying to replicate your living room on the water?

http://seahuntboats.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=93&Itemid=119

Very nice, and yes, something like that would be perfect for us. But I don't even want to know what they cost.
I'll have to keep an eye out for a used one.

 

[Navigator_Victory]

Re: why carpet... why???

+1 on snap in carpet.....but you will probably find you leave it out more than in

I totally disagree about the white not getting hot......then again it has been 109 here for the last month or so......maybe in Florida where the temps are milder and maybe Georgia but, in Texas with the heat wave we have had....I can almost cook an egg on my white fiberglass....and I could on the windshield.....can not even touch it after a day in the sun

 

[JimS123]

Re: why carpet... why???

I personally won't own a boat with a carpet. Nautolex vinyl non-skid covering is in all my boats. On the Stingray, it did require a special order though.

 

[emilsr]

Re: why carpet... why???

+1 on snap in carpet.....but you will probably find you leave it out more than in

I totally disagree about the white not getting hot......then again it has been 109 here for the last month or so......maybe in Florida where the temps are milder and maybe Georgia but, in Texas with the heat wave we have had....I can almost cook an egg on my white fiberglass....and I could on the windshield.....can not even touch it after a day in the sun

Same here....haven't been able to step on ANYTHING (deck, dock, boat) without shoes during this heat wave. Carpeted boats haven't fared much better. Normally it isn't so bad, but the temps have been brutal this summer.

And, yes, I wind up leaving the carpet out more than not.....but if you simply must have carpet the removable kind is the way to go.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: why carpet... why???

my white glass floors get HAWT here in indiana.... My boat will have snap in carpet next season

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: why carpet... why???

Shop the new ones on line and in dealers and walking around marinas to find the design and features you want, then go look for a used one. I think that is a way better approach than starting with the used ones; you get a better idea about choices and alternatives.

don't sell center consoles short. Many have built-in seating. Here, where the boaters tend to be experienced, the center console is hands down the most popular "general family use" boat. This is why I suggest looking around at the new ones, to see the ones with lots of seating and similar features. Look at the 17' Scout for example.

And vinyl is not a bad alternative; growing up we had 2 starcrafts with it and it was fine although not as durable, prone to tears and holding water on the subfloor at leaks, seams, etc.

 

[scipper77]

Re: why carpet... why???

Most boat manufacturers will still use a wood floor and transom in a 17-20 foot boat. Most use composite stringers (bayliner still wood I think).

If you order a new Stingray for example, adding snap in carpet requires you to add the fiberglass floor liner. Over the wood I assume.

 

[jprice]

Re: why carpet... why???

Shop the new ones on line and in dealers and walking around marinas to find the design and features you want, then go look for a used one. I think that is a way better approach than starting with the used ones; you get a better idea about choices and alternatives.

That's some damn good advice. Thank you. That's exactly what I'm going to do (actually sounds kinda fun too )
I just hope the salespeople aren't too much of a pushy pain in the ***.

 

[jkust]

Re: why carpet... why???

For the small bowriders, it seemed according to my unscientific observations that the early 2000's is when the snap out carpet started becoming available. First on some premium brands (ie not common on the small mid 2000's Crownlines) where they came with fiberglass, diamond pattern floor, and you simply bought the optional carpet pieces to snap in, then a few years later, many of the boats started offering it. No snap in carpet is a deal killer in my eyes. As it turns out, because I have the flattest feet on earth, I usually keep the snap in carpet snapped in the boat. I have young kids and you just pull the pieces and give them a shake to clean them. If something colored gets snuck into the boat and spilled, it is easy to deal with that as well. By the way although wood gets a bad rap because bad boat owners didn't take care of their boats, wood actually provides several good qualities as well. I'd have no problem at all owning a boat with even a lot of wood because I am a person who realizes water can rot wood and can operate accordingly.

 

[3gsdad]

Re: why carpet... why???

The carpet thing baffled me too when I started looking for a boat. On our must have list of features, snap in carpet was a must. I have a stingray and they offer it as an option. They fiberglass the plywood with a texture that looks like what is on the swim deck then snap in some nice padded berber carpet. The carpet is soft on the feet but you do have to remove it, hose it out, and hang it to dry. It's not that bad but I hope my next boat has an all fiberglass deck.
One thing a lot of manufaturers (like stingray) do that makes even less sense is carpet the ski locker and other storage areas. Try to clean them out! I have found that after a rinse a shop vac will pull a lot of water out of them, then I leave a fan blowing in there overnight.

I do not know alot about brands but have seen all fiberglass yamaha and seadoo jet boats. The only I/O bowrider I have seen that is all fiberglass is Glasstron. Search the websites of the other big names(searay, fourwinns, mariah, chapperal, ect...) and see how they make theirs.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: why carpet... why???

That's some damn good advice. Thank you. That's exactly what I'm going to do (actually sounds kinda fun too )
I just hope the salespeople aren't too much of a pushy pain in the ***.

If you're going to buy a used boat you should do some extensive reading in the restoration forum so you'll know what to look for in the way of potential problems and the rip-offs that are happening to people buying used boats.

Back on topic, I just ordered 18 square yards of Nautolex marine vinyl to replace the nappyazz carpet in my boat this morning, I'm sick of and done with carpet in a boat!!!

 

[H20Rat]

Re: why carpet... why???

I do not know alot about brands but have seen all fiberglass yamaha and seadoo jet boats. The only I/O bowrider I have seen that is all fiberglass is Glasstron. Search the websites of the other big names(searay, fourwinns, mariah, chapperal, ect...) and see how they make theirs.

Most of the smaller jet boats essentially are dual-hulled. The inner hull/sole is all fiberglass and is sealed from the outside. Pretty much makes snap in carpet (or at least fiberglass floors) mandatory. Nice part is that essentially makes them also unsinkable, at least assuming the hulls are intact. You can take a hose and fill up the inner hull, and other than having your beverage of choice float away from you, the boat won't have a problem. (yep, i've done this a couple of times with my jet boat... 30 mph and then drop the reverse bucket. the front end of the boat does a nice submarine and washes out the interior in a hurry!)

 

[jkust]

Re: why carpet... why???

I do not know alot about brands but have seen all fiberglass yamaha and seadoo jet boats. The only I/O bowrider I have seen that is all fiberglass is Glasstron. Search the websites of the other big names(searay, fourwinns, mariah, chapperal, ect...) and see how they make theirs.

All of the brands that use(d) VEC technology to quickly and cheaply mass produce their hulls versus hand laid have all fiberglass. Larson, Glastron, and others do this. Multiple other brands that advertise no wood/composite construction also do this. I can understand the carpeting in some of the storage areas but I agree that the ski locker should have an either unfinished or bare glass and a mat not carpet.