Maui Mat Hauling

Sheltoon

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How do you bring along a Maui Mat on your toon without taking up alot of room inside? Same question for a towable tube? (Puctures would be great also)
 
We bought a small one ,a few years back ,took it out Once ,it went back it the box and has been there ever since . We tried the Bow ,the Stern and down the center .None of those worked for us .
 
We have a different brand. I think it is a Giant Pain In The A$$ Mat. ;-) It's a big one. Even rolled up tight, it takes a lot of room. We either put it in the center aisle, open the front gate and let it jut out a bit off the bow. Or strap it down across the back porch.

I hate it, but the wife and all her girlfriends love it. So we bring it every time.
Lake mat.jpg
 
We had planned to get one of these large water mats when we got our boat. After reading a few posts on here, and looking at our boat after we got it, we decided not to. We are lakeside, so that gives us great flexibility.

If we are tubing we either hook up dockside and pull the rider out to deeper water, or just toss the inflated tube on the back of the swingback, and head out for deep water before starting. When done, we swing by our dock and just drop it off before heading back out.

If I trailered, I’d have to inflate/deflate because they otherwise just take up too much room (at least decent sized multi person towable’s do).
 
We have a different brand. I think it is a Giant Pain In The A$$ Mat. ;-) It's a big one. Even rolled up tight, it takes a lot of room. We either put it in the center aisle, open the front gate and let it jut out a bit off the bow. Or strap it down across the back porch.

I hate it, but the wife and all her girlfriends love it. So we bring it every time.
View attachment 29292
My wife also wants one of these, I'm sure we'll get the same brand you have and my thoughts were to roll it up with velcro straps and put on the front
 
I just said no. I don't want to f with it. I did compromise at Jill's suggestion and got an inflatable mat for the littles. It is not as good as a lillypad but much easier to take on and off the boat.
 
My wife also wants one of these, I'm sure we'll get the same brand you have and my thoughts were to roll it up with velcro straps and put on the front
I was thinking something like this might be easier and take up less space. They could be laid flat against the rails or just strapped to the rear deck. I also like the inflatable type like mission makes but then you are completely out of the water. Just depends how you want to use it.
 
As others have mentioned, a full sized mat will take up a LOT of real estate. My admiral wanted one so I bought an individual sized Lillypad for about $150 bucks with the intention of storing it under the helm. Well, the first time I unrolled it I soon discovered that it wouldn't fit back in the helm so we ended up giving it to a friend that has a pool.

As for the inflatable tube, we inflate/deflate as needed and store it under our rear lounger as we don't have the center storage. Some folks strap it on the stern, but having something that big on the back just doesn't appeal to me. It only takes a few minutes to inflate with a 12V inflator.
 
I decided that storage, taking up too much deck and dealing with the weight / rolling up was going to be no fun for these big mats and opted for a combination of noodles, individual foam mats and an ISup. I am still working on tube storage (Big Mabel and Airhead Griffin 3) - trifolded and rolled they are too wide/tall (~20" round) to fit in any of the storage compartments. Cigar rolled they are 66" x 11" and should fit in the floor storage - working on customizing a cam strap length and sewing in a loop as a handle for easy pulling out. Other option I am exploring is to figure out the right folding option and store under the rear SB Lounger front cushion (the rear SB fold up cushion with the privacy curtain, it has very little storage room).
 

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We got a Fat Daddy mat last year. It's 2" thick and nightmare to roll up. But our son and his friends love it. I bought a LilliPad at Costco this year for $300. It's thinner and easier to roll up. Or at least it looks like everyone else can roll them up easily!

But for your question. I'd stand the pad up on it's end on the stern port side. But ours had a large O.D. The Lillipad is a much smaller footprint so I'm not sure if it will stand up well. When we tube we put the mat laying on it's side on the bow and wrap the bungee cords around the door. No issues.

We have the tow bar and lean the inflated tube up against it until we reach the tubing area. The kids use the tube in the swim hole a lot too. I love the tow bar. We hang the floats and life jackets off of it to drain/dry. Plus I powder coated it black it looks bad ass.

They're all a pain in the butt, especially since we drive to our boat. The Fat Daddy took up the entire damn mini van. We had to lay the seats down. But we put up with it for the kids.
 
Never had a mat but we used to inflate our tube onboard and keep it on the sun pad until we deflated it let it dry and put it away. My wife's 11 ft. inflatable paddle board is a different story. Took up alot of room when she wasn't using it. But we managed.
 
Never had a mat but we used to inflate our tube onboard and keep it on the sun pad until we deflated it let it dry and put it away. My wife's 11 ft. inflatable paddle board is a different story. Took up alot of room when she wasn't using it. But we managed.
Good call about the SUP. My wife ordered one today. Our friends brought one onboard last year. It wasn't horrible. They blew it up on the water and then I think we left it inflated until we hit land. Damn our boat is become a play ground.
 
We have a different brand. I think it is a Giant Pain In The A$$ Mat. ;-) It's a big one. Even rolled up tight, it takes a lot of room. We either put it in the center aisle, open the front gate and let it jut out a bit off the bow. Or strap it down across the back porch.

I hate it, but the wife and all her girlfriends love it. So we bring it every time.
View attachment 29292
Small price to pay for all those happy faces and memories for them.
 
How do you bring along a Maui Mat on your toon without taking up alot of room inside? Same question for a towable tube? (Puctures would be great also)
I don't have a picture but we have a big Mable and when not in the water we have it tied to the tow bar and its generally out of the way.
Biggest issue is I can't see the motor when we are pulling up to the docks and shallow waters so I have to trust the trim gage and my ears.
I even tow down the road to the boat launch about 5 miles with top speed 40mph and she stays put
 
I hate it, but the wife and all her girlfriends love it. So we bring it every time.
Was looking through some other pics and maybe hate is too strong a word.
lake mat 3.jpg

And your boat will be very popular at a tie up...
lake mat 2.jpg
 
We have a different brand. I think it is a Giant Pain In The A$$ Mat. ;-) It's a big one. Even rolled up tight, it takes a lot of room. We either put it in the center aisle, open the front gate and let it jut out a bit off the bow. Or strap it down across the back porch.

I hate it, but the wife and all her girlfriends love it. So we bring it every time.
View attachment 29292

Looking at your pics....I'd put up with the hassle!;)
 
Here is the Rack Solution for my SUP and Wakeboards I am working on, waiting for boat to finalize the custom brackets, but seems very doable and will give me a place to put them when moving and out of the walk ways / decks. Store under Mooring Cover overnight so don't have to deflate every day.
 

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Very nice! I contemplated a rack system but decided against it when we bought the inflatable SUP. I was also looking for a system to hold our water skis/wakeboard that attached to our ski tow bar but we have plenty of room behind/side of the Captains chair.
 
We got a Fat Daddy mat last year. It's 2" thick and nightmare to roll up. But our son and his friends love it. I bought a LilliPad at Costco this year for $300. It's thinner and easier to roll up. Or at least it looks like everyone else can roll them up easily!

But for your question. I'd stand the pad up on it's end on the stern port side. But ours had a large O.D. The Lillipad is a much smaller footprint so I'm not sure if it will stand up well. When we tube we put the mat laying on it's side on the bow and wrap the bungee cords around the door. No issues.

We have the tow bar and lean the inflated tube up against it until we reach the tubing area. The kids use the tube in the swim hole a lot too. I love the tow bar. We hang the floats and life jackets off of it to drain/dry. Plus I powder coated it black it looks bad ass.

They're all a pain in the butt, especially since we drive to our boat. The Fat Daddy took up the entire damn mini van. We had to lay the seats down. But we put up with it for the kids.
VitiminJ do you have a picture of your black powder coat ski bar? Where did you have that done? And is it easy to take off yourself? Thanks
 
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