Lilly pad, aqua pad... What to get and where.

[270cook]

Heading down to lake next Thursday. Wife and I want to buy a swim mat. I was just planning on going by iguana and see what they have, but I open to opinions. Limitations are I want to be under 600 , and I have a 270 sundeck so the factory swim platform isn't huge, there for I'm thinking 12 -16 foot?

Guy at iguana said they had some that are three layers and are red, white and blue. I really liked the sound of that.

I defiantly don't want something my intoxicated friends will get on and put a foot through it. Thanks

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[mobocracy]

I have an "Aqua Lily Pad" brand mat. http://aqualilypad.com/

We've had it for 3 years now and its held up well. My 12 year old son and his friends routinely jump off the swim deck onto it. I think it's made out of cross-linked polyethylene -- I know not even silicone will stick to it. Until this year, it lived outside on the back of our bow rider all summer and while I think it might have faded a tad, no decrease in durability. We did have a muskrat try to nest in it (ropes went slack and it was in the water) and they gnawed on it a bit, but it's still intact.

We went with the 12 ft vs. the 18 ft. and I don't regret that. What I do wish it had was a "pillow" end so you can lay on it without your head sinking into the water. I've toyed with tightly rolling one end and permanently securing it into a headrest type arrangement. I don't remember paying anything like the retail prices I've seen, but we had a parent from our son's school was was a dealer for them so maybe we got a discount or something.

 

[270cook]

About how big around is it when you roll a 12' up?

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[mobocracy]

About how big around is it when you roll a 12' up?

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It depends on how tight you roll it. I'd say minimum maybe 2 ft. I find that standing on the swim deck and rolling it by myself it's tough to get it that tight. By yourself on the swim deck it tends to roll looser.

You do roll it "the long way", so it's 6 ft wide so a foot or so of extra height when rolled doesn't matter much.

On my bow rider I ran a rope through it and tied it to the rear cleats and it rode on the swim deck. On my 310 I keep it on the port side of the bow.

 

[270cook]

Any other local brands that someone can recommend around the lake?

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[270cook]

Sorry just realized I posts this on the wrong forum... Sorry guys I

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[blaster]

I saw one at Costco last week. I think it was 17x6 and around $379. It looked like it would be difficult to lug around.

Here it is.

https://m.costco.com/Neptune's-Isla...ukBQ0Agj0GVTH 1VDB3NODrXl3W3fMvT9y2jhBAIGStFA

 

[mobocracy]

I saw one at Costco last week. I think it was 17x6 and around $379. It looked like it would be difficult to lug around.

More bulky than heavy in my experience. You roll it up along the long axis, so it's 6' x 2-3', depending on how tightly you roll it, which in turn depends on whether you roll it solo. The one I have I toted around the lake on my old 19' bow rider on the swim deck, with a rope run through the center and tied off on the rear cleats. It's got enough mass not to fly around at 40 MPH, but is light enough that one person can lift and move it with only the bulk as the impeding problem.

Unless you carry around 10 people who all want to be on it simultaneously, IMHO the 12' lengths make more sense -- smaller when rolled up and uses less real estate in crowded anchorages. They have serious buoyancy -- I think mine is supposed to have 1200 lbs of buoyancy, so even 4 adults on it can't sink it.

I replaced the scrawny bungee on mine with a heavier 3/8" x 10' bungee and stainless hardware. I roll it up from the opposite side of the bungee grommet so that the bungee self-wraps and serves as a strap, which is less cumbersome than the velcro straps it came with (although they hold a tighter roll). IMHO the heavier bungee is beneficial on windy days, as the sail effect can pull pretty hard and the original skinny bungee would definitely max out.