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New owner! Lot's of questions

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CatDab

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We just bought our first Bennington and our first tritoon! Our current boat lift does not allow us to walk all the way around the boat. We only have access to one side. Will we have difficulty putting the cover on the boat? Can we put the cover on the other side while in the boat? 


Also any suggestions for keeping the boat interior clean and the spiders out! We keep the boat on the lift on a fresh water lake for the entire season and have limited access to any water outside of the lake water. 
 
we only have access to one side.  It is not difficult.  You create a system and it works.  I do it by myself and never have to crawl under the cover. 
 
Congrats on buying the boat and joining the group on this forum. And I'm sure we can help you with any question. Just let us know what model and options . As far as your question,many of us will unsnap the one side from bow to stern first. Then fold in half on top of the seats. Next unsnap the opposite side and fold over top of the cover again. And then roll it up from either front to back or vis a versa . The installation of the cover is done in reverse of the removal.   Some will install the poles before snapping the last side. After a few times,I'm sure you'll come up with your own version. Enjoy your new Benny this summer! 
 
We always start unsnapping on dock side of cover then put in center of boat on the floor, let the poles fall down, go to opposite side while standing on the cover unsnap and pull it into the boat. Remove the poles. Fold the front halfway to the middle then go to the rear fold to the middle, two more fold to the middle then your done. Reverse what we just did then put back on the boat. Kind trial and error involved. Actually easier to do than to put in writing. We do have a good cleaner just don't remember the name now. For the spiders I have been told if you spray Ortho bug be gone or something comparable on your dock and lift it will keep the spiders off your boat.


Welcome and Good luck !
 
Congradulations and welcome aboard! I'm sure you'll love your Bennington! Pics/specs are a must, questions are always welcome  and plan on us spending a lot of your money! :)   


As for the cover I'm sure you'll get your own system but as stated above start to cover on the water side and work your way across, obviously the opposite to uncover. Spiders has never been an issue on our boat so I can't be much help there.
 
Welcome CatDab! As others have said, pictures and details when available! Enjoy!
 
CatDab said:
We just bought our first Bennington and our first tritoon! Our current boat lift does not allow us to walk all the way around the boat. We only have access to one side. Will we have difficulty putting the cover on the boat? Can we put the cover on the other side while in the boat? 
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We unsnap from the port dockside and the bow/stern that we can reach, then fold in half over to the starboard  side. Remove poles and fold again in half to starboard side. Finish unsnapping starboard then fold bow and stern to the middle - roughly at helm- then keep folding toward center again. (Some people roll it up but I find it easier to fold it and rest it on helm for the times I do it by myself.)  pretty easy and quick once you have done it a couple times. it is fairly compact and I store it under the sun deck in the back - that is just storage for us. 
 
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I think I am going to make a video this spring of how I do mine. This question seems to come up quite a bit.
 
Great idea.  I was hoping someone would do that!  It would be most helpful.
 
lakeliving said:
I think I am going to make a video this spring of how I do mine. This question seems to come up quite a bit.
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Lol! I was thinking same thing. 
 
Welcome to the family!! PICS, PICS, PICS .......  :D
 
lakeliving said:
I think I am going to make a video this spring of how I do mine. This question seems to come up quite a bit.
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Wonder if you can get Mark over as the "assistant" then he can do one for the coconut scented suntan lotion!!  


(It puts the lotion on it's skin, or it gets the hose again!)
 
This episode is brought to you by, Banana Boat sunscreens. And we have Mark with us here today who's going to help me with the cover as soon as he gets done applying his 8th coat of spf 15 coconut gold. 
 
I guess I didn't finish above  ^_^  Taking it off like I described above allows you to easily reverse the process to put back on. Simply start by unfolding then snapping the starboard side and continue working backward. Some install the poles extended to the proper height at the appropriate step to avoid having to crawl inside to extend them. I've done it both ways but sometimes it is too tight with them extended to get the port side snapped so I have to crawl in anyway. 
 
Most of the time when I put our cover on, it's when the boat is on the trailer with no side dock to stand on. In those cases, I put our cover on front to back, instead of one side then the other.  Doing one full side and then the other makes for tight working quarters if you do the whole thing from inside the boat.  You'll just have to try it to see what I mean. Front to back lets you use the center walkway more as you go along.  I think the poles stand in place better that way too.  Fasten 3-4 snaps on one side, then 3-4 on the other, then back again, working your way from front to back.  Works for me.  A lot may depend on your furniture layout.  If you have a side dock to work from, it may make more sense to do one full side first, then the dock side last. 


Warn us about what Mark ends up doing in that video before you post it.  Not sure I want that etched into my brain.  Although forgetting things is getting easier as I age.  I guess one good thing about getting Alzheimer's is you get to take your Bennington out for the first time, every time. 
 
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BulldogsCadillac said:
Wonder if you can get Mark over as the "assistant" then he can do one for the coconut scented suntan lotion!!  


(It puts the lotion on it's skin, or it gets the hose again!)
Click to expand...


lakeliving said:
This episode is brought to you by, Banana Boat sunscreens. And we have Mark with us here today who's going to help me with the cover as soon as he gets done applying his 8th coat of spf 15 coconut gold. 
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Just so you guys know I have reached the point that I do not use any suntan lotion at all.  I'll see if I can get a picture :p
 
BulldogsCadillac said:
Wonder if you can get Mark over as the "assistant" then he can do one for the coconut scented suntan lotion!!  


(It puts the lotion on it's skin, or it gets the hose again!)
Click to expand...

lotion.jpg
 
Nobody, please nobody, ask about tan lines.
 
mattb said:
Nobody, please nobody, ask about tan lines.
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Knowing Mark he doesn't have any. His motto, "Wear a little grin, and a lot of skin" in addition to "Suns out...buns out"
 
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