Uncovered Boat

Well, the streak continues with my infant year of boat ownership. I have no space to park my boat so its just been outside. I live in Washington mind you...yeah some snow and rain are frequent here. I checked out my boat yesterday and it was really wet, evidently my cover isin't waterproof. And the cushions and such are full and some are even frozen. If I were to take out all of the cushions and keep them in a heated environment, would they thaw and dry out? And advice to this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

they would dry out, I would just put them on your washroom floor or in the tub - let them drip dry and thaw out by the room temp.

Once they are starting to get dry put some vinyl conditioner (or whatever its called) to keep the vinyl from splitting and being too dry.

But they should be fine, I'd be more worried about mold buildup in the boat if the interior is wet and then is outside where it can somewhat cook in the sun - stinky mess if that happens.

any suggestions for the wood. The guy before had all of the vinyl redone. It was done professionally by a real shop, but to save money he cut out all of the cushion bases himself and he didn't use a marine plywood. so the wood is soaked as well and pretty blotchy with mold or something.

You can always cut some new wood pieces out of marine plywood. I did it on my 84 Supra. Carefully remove all the staples, noting how everything is folded on the corners etc.
Once you have the cushions and vinyl off, simply trace the shapes on the new board, cut them out and staple the vinyl and cushion back on.

As an extra step, you could glass the wood base. That'll keep the wood good for a long time.

You should pull your cushions and put them indoors, and then consider having your boat Shrink Wrapped for the remainder of the winter...

I wouldn't shrink wrap it now unless you can get it 100% dry before you wrap it. If you don't get it dry you'll have a mold farm growning when you open it.

Remove the cushions, put a small dehumidifier and fan to romove the wetness and put a blue tarp over for the rest of winter. Then next year once it's dry shrink wrap it.

The shrink wraps usually have vents so they wont trap 100% of the moisture in, but I agree. I'd try to get it dry first. Try putting a light bulb in the interior and cover the boat cover with a loose tarp. The moister will evaporate back through the boat cover onto the inside of the tarp, then down the tarp to the ground (hence why I'd leave it loose). Open the boat up whenever it's nice outside to let it air out. It's kind of a pain, but should be dry in a week or two, then you can go ahead and get it shrink wrapped. Make sure you put some type of desicant in the boat once it's wrapped to handle any residual moisture. I hear kitty litter works for that.

Careful putting those blue tarps over your existing tarps... They will rub off on your cover and cause damage...

Coffee grounds work too....

great...........my nautique is sitting in my driveway covered with a blue tarp over my black boat cover..........always something...need a damn airplane hangar!

When I first bought my boat i got one of those portable carports from home depot, it did the job for the time i needed it and it kept everything dry..

About those "portable carports"...I live in Washington and Bellingham, WA for that matter, We get some crazy windstorms. My parents carport was fastened to the ground and after a windstorm they found it about 200 ft back in the woods. Another friend of mine anchored his carport to the ground and his boat, the wind used his carport as a sail and his boat moved about 8 ft overnight...

I think I agree with Ryan, an airplane hanger would do the trick...

I have a fitted boat cover and then two Home Depot tarps over mine, the HD tarps cover about 60% of the boat so they over lap in the middle. They are over the boat cover pole from Overtons and tied tightly around the bottom. A little water still gets in but not much.
It's a boat, it's supposed to be a little wet.

Hey Joel,

Can I glass the wood base myself or does this need to be done by a shop. If it's DIY, have you done it before?

You can absolutely do it yourself. when I did mine, all I actually used was the resin. Didn't use any cloth - as there was no need for extra strength. Just mix the resin as per the directions, get a cheap paint brush, and brush it on to cover the whole thing, especially the edges.

Now, that said, you'll need some pretty heavy duty stainless steel or other non-rusting staples. Keep in mind you will have to staple through the resin you just put on. you could use some really short nails too if you want.

Your other option would just be to use the marine-grade wood, and use something like thompsons water sealant. Thats certainly an easier solution, but I think the fiberglass resin is a better option.