Custom in-water mooring cover - looking for design suggestions

paulswagelock · May 30, 2019

I have the 270 SDX OB as listed in my signature. I leave it wet-slipped all season. It came with the two piece Sunbrella cover - bow and cockpit. I had that modified so there is a 4" wide by 24" long piece that fastens with velcro from the cockpit cover over the center windshield hatch on to the bow cover blocking the water path at the walkthrough area.
However, when there is hard rain, water still leaks at that joint from running across the horizontal fiberglass area below the windshield into the cockpit. As a result, I always remove the center Infinity flooring piece so it does not get saturated if it storms.

I am thinking of having a custom mooring cover made for use while docked. I had one for my last boat that snugged up under the rub rail, but that won't work on this boat. I was looking for ideas (pictures) of anyone with an open bow boat with a one piece cover that keeps the cockpit dry. Where / how is it fastened, utilize the original snaps on the boat or add more, material (sunbrella or other), etc? If you like your setup, please share. Does not need to be towable, though that would be a plus.

randmhall · May 30, 2019

Lots of places make them, I got mine from Overtons, but they don't list your boat as a custom fit.
try national boat covers at https://www.nationalboatcovers.com/y/SEA--RAY--BOATS/SDX--270--OB/2018.html

Lazy Daze · May 30, 2019

Paul, I see you mentioned that a cover that snugs under the rubrail won't work. Is there a specific reason? The reason I ask is that the Sea Ray mooring cover that is available for your boat is very nice. It can be trailered because it fits very tight, but it is also meant as a mooring cover with cutouts for cleats and it goes around your tower and re-fastens on itself. It snugs below the rubrail with a ratchet strap in the hem and gets VERY tight, very easily. Personally, I order most of my boats with this as opposed to the bow/cockpit covers as I like it better.

Quint4 · May 30, 2019

I do custom marine canvas. I have converted many 2 piece covers into 1 piece. Much better in my opinion. A few pics for reference.

paulswagelock · May 30, 2019

Quint4 said:
I do custom marine canvas. I have converted many 2 piece covers into 1 piece. Much better in my opinion. A few pics for reference.
View attachment 70572 View attachment 70573

By convert, you reused the original covers and modified or you converted from two piece cover to a one piece cover?
Your pics look like you used the original snaps on the boat and added a few? I really like what you showed in the pics.

paulswagelock · May 30, 2019

Lazy Daze said:
Paul, I see you mentioned that a cover that snugs under the rubrail won't work. Is there a specific reason? The reason I ask is that the Sea Ray mooring cover that is available for your boat is very nice. It can be trailered because it fits very tight, but it is also meant as a mooring cover with cutouts for cleats and it goes around your tower and re-fastens on itself. It snugs below the rubrail with a ratchet strap in the hem and gets VERY tight, very easily. Personally, I order most of my boats with this as opposed to the bow/cockpit covers as I like it better.

I have the outboard and a Bimini. The factory option required folding up the Bimini to use it which is not an option, I leave it deployed all summer.

Lazy Daze · May 30, 2019

Tower... my mistake - thought your sig pic was your boat.

Really? You have to fold the bimini on your boat? On every other Sea Ray I've ordered/seen/used that mooring cover with, it goes right around the bimini poles and fits snugly around them. Never once have I had to take a bimini down. Either it does have to go down and it's news to me, or maybe you got misinformation?

That's a neat idea, Dave. I've never seen that before.

Quint4 · May 30, 2019

paulswagelock said:
By convert, you reused the original covers and modified or you converted from two piece cover to a one piece cover?
Your pics look like you used the original snaps on the boat and added a few? I really like what you showed in the pics.

Bad choice of words....not convert but make new 1 piece cover using existing snap studs (and sometimes adding a few snap studs in the boat)

paulswagelock · May 30, 2019

Lazy Daze said:
Tower... my mistake - thought your sig pic was your boat.

Really? You have to fold the bimini on your boat? On every other Sea Ray I've ordered/seen/used that mooring cover with, it goes right around the bimini poles and fits snugly around them. Never once have I had to take a bimini down. Either it does have to go down and it's news to me, or maybe you got misinformation?

That's a neat idea, Dave. I've never seen that before.

I was told that the Bimini would need to go to the folded in position (position the Bimini boot works) to use the cover by my purchasing dealer. If you could verify it can stay in the deployed position, maybe we could strike a deal on an aftermarket sale. I attached the actual picture of my boat, my profile is the website generated picture.

paulswagelock · May 30, 2019

Quint4 said:
Bad choice of words....not convert but make new 1 piece cover using existing snap studs (and sometimes adding a few snap studs in the boat)

Shame you don’t do work near Pittsburgh. My local canvas folks only offered to make a mooring cover that snaps under the rub rail.

Quint4 · May 31, 2019

Email my pics to a few local shops for reference and ask for a quote.

Lazy Daze · May 31, 2019

paulswagelock said:
I was told that the Bimini would need to go to the folded in position (position the Bimini boot works) to use the cover by my purchasing dealer. If you could verify it can stay in the deployed position, maybe we could strike a deal on an aftermarket sale. I attached the actual picture of my boat, my profile is the website generated picture.

Ah, I see what you're talking about. When you said 'folded', I was envisioning you folding it down completely horizontally - like if you needed to get the boat under a low bridge or into a garage.

Correct - the bimini would need to be in it's folded/stored position (where the boot works). The cover goes around the middle and aft bimini legs, but not around the front leg.

Now... you do know it takes all of about 90 seconds to fold up the bimini and put the boot on, right?

Pretty boat - I hadn't seen that color combination before, with the tan strip under the rubrail. It adds a nice, classy touch to the look.

paulswagelock · May 31, 2019

Lazy Daze said:
Ah, I see what you're talking about. When you said 'folded', I was envisioning you folding it down completely horizontally - like if you needed to get the boat under a low bridge or into a garage.

Correct - the bimini would need to be in it's folded/stored position (where the boot works). The cover goes around the middle and aft bimini legs, but not around the front leg.

Now... you do know it takes all of about 90 seconds to fold up the bimini and put the boot on, right?

Pretty boat - I hadn't seen that color combination before, with the tan strip under the rubrail. It adds a nice, classy touch to the look.

Good point, maybe it’s not much extra work each day to fold that in. Could you PM me a quote to dropship the cover that would fit my boat?

We custom ordered the boat to get that color combination. Thought it made it look a little less sporty and a little more classy.

paulswagelock · May 31, 2019

Quint4 said:
Email my pics to a few local shops for reference and ask for a quote.

Thanks, I will do that since you offered. We really only have two choices in my area, and I know that one already told me they won’t make it that way.

Lazy Daze · May 31, 2019

paulswagelock said:
Good point, maybe it’s not much extra work each day to fold that in. Could you PM me a quote to dropship the cover that would fit my boat?

We custom ordered the boat to get that color combination. Thought it made it look a little less sporty and a little more classy.

Sure, I can do that. But please know that I'm not really on this forum for selling - really just here as a fellow boater and maybe someone who can offer some extra advice/knowledge from my experience working in the industry for a few decades. If you would choose to buy the cover from your local dealer, you absolutely wouldn't hurt my feelings!

But if I can help - I would be glad to. I'll check pricing later on today and PM you.

paulswagelock · May 31, 2019

Lazy Daze said:
Sure, I can do that. But please know that I'm not really on this forum for selling - really just here as a fellow boater and maybe someone who can offer some extra advice/knowledge from my experience working in the industry for a few decades. If you would choose to buy the cover from your local dealer, you absolutely wouldn't hurt my feelings! But if I can help - I would be glad to. I'll check pricing later on today and PM you.

Understood. You did not solicit me or even make the offer.

Pat McLaughlin · May 18, 2020

I tried to order the factory mooring cover for my SDX and they wanted twice as much than if you ordered with the boat. Can’t seem to find an alternative so I may be stuck paying the inflated price. Disappointed with Sea Ray that they would Jack the price up like that.

KevinC · May 18, 2020

Pat McLaughlin said:
I tried to order the factory mooring cover for my SDX and they wanted twice as much than if you ordered with the boat. Can’t seem to find an alternative so I may be stuck paying the inflated price. Disappointed with Sea Ray that they would Jack the price up like that.

Pat,

Great Lakes probably produced it for Sea Ray and they are more than likely restricted in their sales for the first couple of years. PM me if you would like to discuss further.

-Kevin

Steve in Minneapolis · Jul 23, 2020

I know this is an old thread. But, you asked for design suggestion, so here is what I have. My boat has a folding arch, and I wanted a mooring cover so that all of the gelcoat above the rub rail is protected from the sun. A custom canvas company nearby made this for me. You may find someone locally that does things like canvas awnings for buildings by custom design. To put this on, I roll it from bow to stern. After covering the bow, I lower the arch and pull it the rest of the way. Then, I can stand on the swim platform, and the ratchet strap is on the corner. I tighten that up, and we are done. I know this pic is on a trailer, but I do this all the time at the slip. It attaches by a ratchet strap, and has no snaps.

Arch up

Under cover

Custom in-water mooring cover - looking for design suggestions

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