Right now, as I write this email at 1:51 am Eastern Standard time, it
is pouring rain outside. The heaviest rain i've heard at night this
summer in South Florida.

This Past Saturday, I took the boat out with a group of sloppy
drinking, pasta eating, what the hell types. So upon returning, I
decided to shampoo the carpet and let it Sun dry so the cover was off.
Well, I'm sure the boat must have about 1 inch of constant water in on
the carpet right now.

Anyways, when I bought the boat used about 6 months ago, i loved
everything about it (yes it's a Bayliner and been good to me really),
except the carpet. I wondered how on earth carpet could survive south
florida rains and the mess that is boating sometimes ... fish, rusty
ankors, olive oil and pasta So my intentions were to someday rip
out the carpet (maybe wood) and lay loncoin or something else on
top... BUT, everybody i talked to says, NAH, leave it alone, it's cozy
or just wait for it to rot or fail OR, you'll like muck it up by
messing with it ... SOMEHOW..SOMEWAY... I'm starting to wonder if it's
going to last forever if it's lasted this long exposed to the elements
down here.

Question, would anybody know, what will i find under the carpet. I
suspect it's plain white pine plywood with that coat of grey material.
The bildge appears to be made of that same construction (only without
the carpet) and that appears to be more water tight and sealed than a
swimming pool.

Today the carpet and floor look in great condition. If my intentions
are to someday change the floor wood/ carpet and appolstry anyways,
should i just enjoy the boat and see how long before the floor gives?
Any predictions if the boat goes from fully soaked to sun dried about
20 times a year or so?

Many thanks for any help or information

You have fiberglass underneath the carpet. It is probably glued on, and
will be a mess to pull up. A friend of mine just did this to his bay boat,
and ended up having to sand the fiberglass to get the glue out, then paint
it to make it look decent.


wrote in message
om...
Right now, as I write this email at 1:51 am Eastern Standard time, it
is pouring rain outside. The heaviest rain i've heard at night this
summer in South Florida.

This Past Saturday, I took the boat out with a group of sloppy
drinking, pasta eating, what the hell types. So upon returning, I
decided to shampoo the carpet and let it Sun dry so the cover was off.
Well, I'm sure the boat must have about 1 inch of constant water in on
the carpet right now.

Anyways, when I bought the boat used about 6 months ago, i loved
everything about it (yes it's a Bayliner and been good to me really),
except the carpet. I wondered how on earth carpet could survive south
florida rains and the mess that is boating sometimes ... fish, rusty
ankors, olive oil and pasta So my intentions were to someday rip
out the carpet (maybe wood) and lay loncoin or something else on
top... BUT, everybody i talked to says, NAH, leave it alone, it's cozy
or just wait for it to rot or fail OR, you'll like muck it up by
messing with it ... SOMEHOW..SOMEWAY... I'm starting to wonder if it's
going to last forever if it's lasted this long exposed to the elements
down here.

Question, would anybody know, what will i find under the carpet. I
suspect it's plain white pine plywood with that coat of grey material.
The bildge appears to be made of that same construction (only without
the carpet) and that appears to be more water tight and sealed than a
swimming pool.

Today the carpet and floor look in great condition. If my intentions
are to someday change the floor wood/ carpet and appolstry anyways,
should i just enjoy the boat and see how long before the floor gives?
Any predictions if the boat goes from fully soaked to sun dried about
20 times a year or so?

Many thanks for any help or information

I'd simply cover the boat when not using it- you'll have weathering of every
exposed surface otherwise.

You have fiberglass underneath the carpet. It is probably glued on, and
will be a mess to pull up.

Not on the Capri series. He has a plywood floor. (Unless Bayliner downgraded
the floor between 1999 and 2003) The Ciera series and above have FRP
floorboards.

Carpets are frequently snapped in, rather than glued down, over fiberglass.

Main tbl with the Capri series (and almost all ski boats, regardless of brand)
is the carpet is pretty, glued in stuff to appeal to the 18 year old (you
hope) hottie you invited along. And the cockpit is not self bailing. And then
boat is usually stored bow down so rain water just sits. And sits. And
eventually finds a way to do damage.
Replacing the deck (floor) is a major job, try to keep the boat dry and drained
when not in use.
ex- Treasure Island Florida resident (who wishes he was back there!)
Mike

It's plywood, but not treated or marine, just appears to be stock
yellowpine plywood with some grey paint like material - carpet is
glued on in the worse way. Appears to be holding up nicely though. I
do believe if I try to tear it out I will only limit that floor's life
span.

I do have an nice snap on cover. I developed a website for a marine
welder and he built me an awsome 2" aluminum pipe t-top/wave board
tower in exchange and even threw in a snap on web material cover .
Problem with the cover is he made it from scraps and water seeps in
through seems. With the cover on that sitting water never drys out and
the wind sheilds fog up ... caused my fuel gauge to stop working and
other problems. I've since applied silcon to the seems, but am waiting
for a good 6 hours of sun/heat to dry the boat out before I cover
it... Its also great boating these days so I've taken her out four
weekends in a row and often when I'm driving back from the marina all
hell breaks loose and the skys empty out on the boat before I can put
the cover on.

Thanks for info.

I never thought the carpeting in my boat was there to appeal to my
granddaughter.
The cockpit may not have scuppers, but it should drain into the bilge.
The storage compartments under the forward seats in a bowrider drain into
the ski locker, which drains into the bilge. There is a hole on each side of
the engine compartment to let water from the cockpit drain into the bilge.
Removing the drain plug before you clear the inclined part of the ramp area
will get most of the water out, the rest should drain on the way home. After
you park the trailer, jack the front end up so that rain will drain into the
bilge and out.
The carpet covered the drain holes into my engine compartment - I used a
utility knife to cut the carpet and speed up the flow of water.

"CaptMP" wrote in message
...
Main tbl with the Capri series (and almost all ski boats, regardless of
brand)
is the carpet is pretty, glued in stuff to appeal to the 18 year old (you
hope) hottie you invited along. And the cockpit is not self bailing. And
then
boat is usually stored bow down so rain water just sits. And sits. And
eventually finds a way to do damage.
Replacing the deck (floor) is a major job, try to keep the boat dry and
drained
when not in use.
ex- Treasure Island Florida resident (who wishes he was back there!)
Mike

William said:

"I never thought the carpeting in my boat was there to appeal to my
granddaughter............

The cockpit may not have scuppers, but it should drain into the bilge........."

William, From the tone of your reply I guess I offended you, which I didn't
mean to. Sorry. Really.
I was just pointing out that my experience glued in cockpit carpet is a good
beginning point for rot, as it retains moisture. Water draining into the bilge
and standing can also cause moisture related tbl. My current and past boats
have non-skid in the cockpit and self bail so the bilge stays dry.
MY granddaughter just learned to walk, so I my have to throw some carpet down
to cusion her from the non-skid!
Again, sorry if I put you off, have a good weekend!
Mike

For the record ... I've had an 18yo hottie on the boat.. and well ...
her grandparents never came up in conversation... and don't ask me how
she new the carpet was damp either.

Sorry, could not help myself.

Thanks