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Mooring Cover - The Moral to the Story

Noah Genda

Noah Genda

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I won't belabor all the events leading up to my need for a new cover. Just the facts, Ma'am.

Contacted two "local" dealers directly for a Bennington cover for a 2011 2575 RCW. Their prices were between $1300 and $1450 +/-. Installing snaps would be additional.

Someone on the board suggest a link to eBay, which was a very good idea. Turns out it was Hennepin Marine (a Bennington dealer) in Illinois who dealt directly with the cover manufacturer. My end cost was around $1000 sans installation of snaps. And I really like their customer service, very good folks to deal with, at least the parts department.

Cover arrives, looks identical to my original, and I'm a happy camper. But it turns out the company installing my snaps discovers it isn't quite identical. They fix the problem. Total cost $160. $90 was for the original snap install and another $70 to resolve the misfitting problem.

So here's the lesson learned: When I asked about the cost of a custom cover, I discovered there are several grades of fabric. They recommend Sunbrella fabric, which has a longer warranty. They didn't run down my fabric. It's about the same price as Sunbrella and is not a low grade product. However, if I had gone to them first, I could have had the entire job done for about $900 (snaps included) and it would be an EXACT fit. Using the "Bennington" fabric, my cost would have been $750-800.

Case closed: May 17, 2013.
 
Thanks for the update. I have heard great things about the Sunbrella fabric. I just had a 30' canopy made for my ShoreStation out of it.
 
The Bennington fabric is called Surlast, and it's a high quality urethane coated polyester fabric. It's priced about $15 per yard.

Sunbrella is the industry leader in outdoor fabric, and it's also of high quality. Sunbrella marine fabric is priced substantially higher @ $22 per yard.

There's nothing wrong with Surlast as it's a Far East product that's a comparable but cheaper alternative to Sunbrella.

Even though many mooring covers are of good quality, fabric when left in the sun and weather for a number of years does deteriorate. And then, covers must be replaced.

If you have to replace your cover again, you might want to have a tent and awning company fabricate one for you.
 
I think the reason Bennington goes with the fabric they use is weight. Sunbrella is much heavier per square yard. If my toon had a Sunbrella cover I would not be able to it on by myself.
 
We use SurLast, a sister product made by the manufacturer of Sunbrella, because it has the properties we need for the large area covering a pontoon. (Without a wrap-around windshield or cockpit)

We consider weight, water resistance, high tensile and tear strength and most importantly...less than 1% stretch. Both SurLast and Sunbrella have the same life expectancy of 5 years plus.

SUR LAST 7.6 oz SUNBRELLA 9.0 oz

stretch 0% x 0% stretch 1% x 3%

tear strength 33 x 27 lb tear strength 10 x 6 lb

tensile strength 380 x 250 lb tensile strength 230 x 140 lb

*all info taken from the MFA Specifier's Guide

Surlast - cleaning care.pdf
 

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T B - Thank you for the information
 
Thank You very much for the PDF...... I have a quick question...... I got caught in rain...... I have the snap in carpet..... I decided to leave my cover off the boat for 7 days until my next return to our condo, in-order for the carpet to dry out...... I really did not like doing this, as the pollen is in bloom as well as did not like the idea of leaving my boat uncovered while I am 5 hours away.......With the cover on, will the carpet dry without mold starting......is there something else I should do??
 
That's a tough one. What if it rains again, or are you in a covered slip. I had my GG carpet soaked and no mold, then next time mold??? No rhyme or reason. You might try letting front and rear gates open to get a little air movement with cover on. I think pollen on wet carpet is as bad or worse than just wet carpet with some mold. At least you can pop it out and wash it at car wash or pressure wash (gently) at home, or use a carpet cleaner.
 
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