New 280 Owner

Hai Nhi

Member
Feb 3, 2013
184
Hayward, CA
Boat Info
280DA, triple axle aluminum, 12 F350 CCLB 6.7 KR; 06 Yamaha Jetski Cruiser (50 Yr Anniversary Ver)
Engines
T4.3L 220HP w/Alpha I Drives Gen II
Hello everyone.

So it's official. I took her home this past Tuesday night, from 150 miles away.

Everything looks great, except a couple of things:

- cabin upholstery is dirty with some stain & dark spots (maybe mold). I can't remove the covers off. What's the best way to remove/bleach it?
- Carpet: same thing but worst. Water stain & dirty marks. I plan to install hardwood floor (I'm a contractor btw :) ). What you guys think? Photos, suggestions of color, styles, anything ?
- Bimini: brittle. Also, the halves of the zippers which stay on the radar arch & bimini are old. But the enclosures are brand new (never been used). So some of them would zip, most wouldn't. I can't spend any more on replacement yet. Any immediate solutions for a poorman fix?

I think that's it for now.

Thanks.
 
First, Congrats on the new toy!


- cabin upholstery is dirty with some stain & dark spots (maybe mold). I can't remove the covers off. What's the best way to remove/bleach it?

Try some less strong cleaners first. Is the upholstry vinyl or fabric? Spray Nine works good on vinyl, OxyClean liquid on fabric, etc. Bleach as a last resort. If you bleach, try to avoid the upholstry sewing/seams, or rinse very well. Bleach tends to kill the threads over time, and then they come unsewn.


- Carpet: same thing but worst. Water stain & dirty marks. I plan to install hardwood floor (I'm a contractor btw :) ). What you guys think? Photos, suggestions of color, styles, anything ?

Again, try less strong cleaners first before bleach. Also, there are several posts here about hardwood floor installs, but this is one that I had bookmarked (since same boat as my own).
http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/458-300-Sundancer-questions?p=660326#post660326


- Bimini: brittle. Also, the halves of the zippers which stay on the radar arch & bimini are old. But the enclosures are brand new (never been used). So some of them would zip, most wouldn't. I can't spend any more on replacement yet. Any immediate solutions for a poorman fix?

Many folks dont use the white arch / bimini zippers. They have a tendency to get hard to connect as your canvases shink up a bit. Usually just the zippers connecting the bimini panels themselves, and the snaps along the gunwhales and window frames will do the trick.
 
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Great. Thank you for the tips on cleaning. I'll try them out.

On the zippers, I'll skip those arch's zippers to see how it goes. But I still need a solution for those between new & old canvas.

Hardwood floors look nice but it seems like not a lot of people do it. :).
 
The order of putting up your canvas may be part of the problem. If you are snapping to the windows first- reverse the order. Try to get the hard to work zippers attached first then connect the rest of the top. There are seveal types of lubricant for your zippers- I am having a brain fart at the moment and can't think of them.

Congrats on the new boat!
 
Great. Thank you for the tips on cleaning. I'll try them out.

On the zippers, I'll skip those arch's zippers to see how it goes. But I still need a solution for those between new & old canvas.

Hardwood floors look nice but it seems like not a lot of people do it. :).
We were going to hardwood our 300DA floor then decided the floor space is so small that it isn't really an important feature. We just put down a 6 foot carpet runner and that gets the job done for us for looks.

I replaced my arch zippers when I bought mine a few years ago. The white zippers had gotten brittle and were falling apart. I had the local shop replace them with the blue zippers. They seem to tolerate the weather better (I mostly just made that part up - no real data to support it).
 
We were going to hardwood our 300DA floor then decided the floor space is so small that it isn't really an important feature. We just put down a 6 foot carpet runner and that gets the job done for us for looks.

I replaced my arch zippers when I bought mine a few years ago. The white zippers had gotten brittle and were falling apart. I had the local shop replace them with the blue zippers. They seem to tolerate the weather better (I mostly just made that part up - no real data to support it).

Mines are all blue. I think I'm gonna try some cleaners and lubricators of some sort. I'll check around more on that ...
 
Congrats on the new ride. :smt038








PS, Nhi. I'm sorry that I took you as a BOC bull-crapper in the other thread. :smt001
 
Tee zippers that attch to the arch are called Valences. You can get them form Great Lakes Boattop. I've replaced both and used the 20% off. They were like $85-$90 each.
 
I use this zipper lubricant from Shurhold: http://shurhold.com/article/press-releases/solid-lubricant-is-easy-to-apply-to-snap-and-zippers/ . It comes in a lip balm type tube and works great.

The order of putting up the canvas is important. I usually just start each zipper and then snap everything down. Finally, I'll complete the zip on each section.

The idea of a wood floor is one I've had on my TODO list for a year or so. I doubt I'll get to it this year either. I want to install a teak or teak-like raised wood slat floor in the cabin/galley, in the head and most importantly in that footwell in the cockpit (the first step down into the cabin). It seems that all the dirt and debris gathers in this spot and never likes to go down the drain located there. It's hard to keep clean. Teak, IPE or Mahogany are my favorite choices.

For the time being, just last year we replaced the carpet runners in the cabin that snap overtop the carpet, from Great Lakes Boat Top Co.
 
Congrats on the new ride. :smt038








PS, Nhi. I'm sorry that I took you as a BOC bull-crapper in the other thread. :smt001

no problem at all! Thanks Wayne.
 
My carpet top runners look very good actually. I just washed and snapped them on and it looks great. So wifey SAID hold off on the wood floor, "we've got many more higher priority items this summer" she said. So yeah, after she let me get all the toys, she's the boss now. I'll do anything she says. :)

The Bimini looks ok, but brittle. Not sure how much to replace them. Do you guys have local shop make replacement? Or order from somewhere else?

I think I'm gonna use them for now. But just in case. Or if it's not so expensive.
 
We had our cushions steam cleaned professionally and the dirt that came out was almost mud (and they didn't look that bad). They made us feel tha same way clean sheets feel. Well worth the $250 to come out and clean all carpet and upholstery.

MM
 
The Bimini looks ok, but brittle. Not sure how much to replace them. Do you guys have local shop make replacement? Or order from somewhere else?

I think I'm gonna use them for now. But just in case. Or if it's not so expensive.

You can get new bimini components from the OEM at http://www.greatlakesboattop.com. Usually in the spring (and fall?) they have a special 5-10% off offer, but I think you may have already missed the spring offer. I personally purchased a cockpit cover and cabin carpet runners from them a couple of years ago. My canvas is all in good shape.

Tom

UPDATE: Actually, they are having a 20% off sale right now, good through the 15th! Use code SPRING13.
 
Thanks for the tips. I sent them a request for quote already.
 
Nhi
she looks nice! Congrates on your new toy.. Any interior pics?
How was you launching at the ramp?

Gordon
 
Nhi
she looks nice! Congrates on your new toy.. Any interior pics?
How was you launching at the ramp?

Gordon

Thanks everyone, and Gordon.

I got tied up with some studying & exam for an admin license lately so I didn't have time for clean up & pictures. (I'm opening up a RCFE - Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly for my wife so she can work near home - 10 mins instead of 2 hrs back & forth).

But the first launch was rather smooth. I got a friend help out. I watched the YouTube video showing how you can launch by yourself so it's pretty straight forward. Only thing was port side battery was out. That's $150 for a deep cycle replacement. Drive oil was leaking. I still need to detect that.

It was my first time ever by myself so I considered it rather good. I backed out of the dock ok. Went for a quick spin but was kinda hickup on the drive trim and tabs and stuffs trying to get on plane. By the time I kinda figured out, it was too late in the afternoon so we pulled in. I couldn't get to the dock that smooth though. So some guy and my friend had to pull me in a little bit. Hahaha. Will practice more on that for sure. But as far as launching & retrieving goes, it's pretty straight forward for me. The tires did spin a bit even on 4 wd. I had to back down to get momentum driving up.

I definitely need more practice in getting to know my boat operation in term of getting on plane, getting used with trim tabs and drive trims, ect ... (Or get that auto trim tab thingy), and docking for sure :).

It was fun 15 mins when it actually run smooth. :) So I'm looking forward to another practice session soon, maybe this weekends.
 

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