Enclosure for year round boating.

SeaDog SC

Member
Messages
21
Reaction score
45
Location
Lake Hartwell SC
Our boat is a new 2021 Benny LXL 24, Yamaha 175 SHO. We took delivery April 1st, and had an enclosure custom made for it this past November. The pictures were taken January 27, 2022, water temperature was 45 air temperature 49, inside enclosure was a comfortable 61, with no heater other than solar. On sunset (cocktail) cruises we will turn on a propane heater after the sun sets which keeps it nice and toasty for the trip home. We did put a carbon monoxide monitor inside for safety, but it has never alerted. The enclosure was made in 14 separate panels, and provides access at the front, side door and rear door. No loss in visibility, with the exception that the Isinglass is not crystal clear, so objects at distance are slightly fuzzy. Not really a problem since we are typically the only boaters on Lake Hartwell (except the brave Fisherman) this time of year. We just turned 160 hours on the boat, and love every minute of it.IMG-8256 (1).JPGIMG-8268.JPGIMG-8276.jpgIMG-8275.jpgIMG-8265.jpg
 
Thats nice Seadog, I stopped at the windshield portion for a wind break . I need to finish all the way around. We like to look at the Eagles on Dale Hollow in the winter.
 
If you don’t mind me asking, what did that run you $$$ wise?
 
It was made by Janice's Upholstery Shop located in Six Mile SC. They specialize in enclosures and play pen covers for boats. They had the boat for 12 days, and the cost was $2,800 plus tax. The quality of the work is exceptional :).

SemperFi8387 - Thank you for your service to our country!
 
Last edited:
That looks great SeaDog. We bought our boat from 72 Marine Sales in Elberton, GA. That was our first time ever seeing Lake Hartwell. Beautiful area and lake. We love the folks at 72 Marine Sales.
 
Nice! What a great way to extend the season! Hey, same exact colors we ordered both inside and out right down to the smooth platinum accent!
 
So would that help me out at all in extending my boating season to year round boating?
12C10F8B-D241-434B-8ED7-E95C99E6767A.jpeg

Kidding of course. It looks very functional!

In different climates, I can really see this being a nice feature at times: be it for extending boating during the year as you are, boating bug free in “buggy” environments, or even perhaps for us northerners in just keeping the mosquitos away during evening boating.

Thanks for sharing all the details and great pictures of the finished product!!!
 
We've had an enclosure for our boat for 5 years, and we install it every year when the temps drop. This year we put it on and took it off about 4 times because mother nature could not make up her mind. Like the OP said, during the day you don't need a heater as the sun will keep the inside of the boat nice and toasty, but you will need a heater at night. We won't run more than 20mph with the enclosure on as we don't want to tear it up, but it does real well at those speeds. Vision is not too bad during the day, but on a dark night the enclosure really can mess up your vision and depth perception.
 
A nice feature on the one we have is the ability to open up the front area and allow air to flow through, so even in warmer temperatures it does not get to hot. The flow through design saves a lot of install / uninstall time. We have a boater comrade who also has an enclosure, so we have had a couple of raft up / chili parties with our group of friends. So far no one has fallen in from too much chili consumption............
We too keep the speed down, not because we fear tearing it up, we enjoy the sights. If we wanted speed we would have bought a Go-Fast boat.
To Vikingstaff, luckily we live in a latitude where you don't need an icebreaker to boat in the winter, good luck up there, spring is coming.
 
A nice feature on the one we have is the ability to open up the front area and allow air to flow through, so even in warmer temperatures it does not get to hot. The flow through design saves a lot of install / uninstall time. We have a boater comrade who also has an enclosure, so we have had a couple of raft up / chili parties with our group of friends. So far no one has fallen in from too much chili consumption............
We too keep the speed down, not because we fear tearing it up, we enjoy the sights. If we wanted speed we would have bought a Go-Fast boat.
To Vikingstaff, luckily we live in a latitude where you don't need an icebreaker to boat in the winter, good luck up there, spring is coming.
We have the flow through as well and makes big difference early or late season when we get the occasional really warm day. However, the boat hasn't moved this January -it's just been too darn cold in SC!
 
Thats nice Seadog, I stopped at the windshield portion for a wind break . I need to finish all the way around. We like to look at the Eagles on Dale Hollow in the winter.
KC24, is your windshield only custom or something you found off-the-shelf? We have a 22SXSR and are looking for a windbreak as well.
 
The enclosure is custom made to each boat. There are so many configurations and layouts of deck furniture no one could make a standard off the shelf that would work well. Our cover was made by Janice's Upholstery Shop located in Six Mile SC, which is near Seneca. They had the boat about 10 days to measure make and install. I see you are from SC so they will pick up and deliver for a small fee if you are close enough. After using it all winter into early spring I am extremely pleased with the quality, the look and how it performed in speeds up to 20 MPH, (we did not try it above that, but I think it would be okay). We bought all year long, use a Big Buddy propane heater when it is cloudy or coming back from evening sunsets, just love going out to the many sandy beach islands on Lake Hartwell in the winter, only pontoon boat around. We carry out a portable Blackstone griddle and have fantastic Cuban Sandwiches with our friend sitting on the beach or in the enclosure. Adds a whole other dimension to the boating life.
 
Thanks for the info. We are in the midlands of SC. Went from a bowrider to the Beni. About the only thing we miss is the windshield of the bowrider (to extend our boating season, and for the occasional pop up storm). But we will look into canvas shop options.
 
Back
Top