To Cover Or Not To Cover

I get asked this question more than any other question about pontoon boats. And it is one of the hardest to answer because of the many alternatives.

To Cover

Florida's sun can be very intense and cause damage to vinyl and carpet rather quickly. The first instinct is to cover the boat to protect if from the sun. You go out and have someone fabricate a custom cover at a cost of $500-$1000. You start out diligently covering the boat each time you finish using it. This is fine for a while but it gets old quickly and you start getting lazy. Some of the covers have snaps and others have ropes to fasten to the boat. After a period of time, covers tend to shrink and become difficult to snap in place. Pulling all the ropes to fasten to the boat can be time consuming. And in Florida, mildew is a huge problem. If the cover traps in moisture, mildew is inevitable. You then have a major cleaning problem that can compound into other problems. Your first instinct is to use bleach to remove the mildew but this can damage the vinyl. Most furniture comes with cleaning instructions telling you not to use bleach or ArmorAll. Hear me now and believe me later, follow the directions. See Cleaning Pontoon Furniture section.

The next thing you know, the cover is sitting in the corner of the garage and you are out all that money and in the same position as before.

Not to Cover

You decide to take your chances with the weather and don't cover the boat. It will not take long for the carpet to begin fading and the furniture's vinyl begins to fade, dry out, and crack. The carpet dries out and can tear exposing the bare deck below. Once the deck is exposed, moisture can begin to prematurely damage the wood and require the deck to be replaced much sooner than necessary.

Alternatives

There is no one-way or right way to conquer this problem. These are only suggestions for you to consider dealing with your individual habits and situation. If the furniture is your primary concern, you may want to cover each piece of furniture separately. This can be done with a piece of vinyl or canvas. Using snaps on the outside of the fence, attach the material and drape it over the furniture and attach it to the floor or bottom of the furniture with more snaps. This will protect the furniture for least amount of money. No custom or fancy covers need to be made.

Ideally, the furniture or deck for that matter, should be covered but at the same time allow air to circulate thus allowing any moisture to dry. The best alternative but not the cheapest is to have a $20,000 boat house or pole barn to cover the entire boat. This provides cover against the sun and still allows air to circulate.

But leave it to me to find a down side to this alternative. Birds love to sit under these boathouses and do what birds do....make a mess. Now you are back to cleaning.

So, now you just need to weigh the solutions and choose the method that best suits your habits and situations.

Good luck!


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