Mooring cover or full enclosure?

[BiXLL]

At the end of the season I am going to have to make a move. My mooring cover is now 10 years old, faded and wearing thin in a few spots. My problem is trying to decide between a new mooring cover or getting a full enclosure made. Currently we have a Bimini that covers the rear half of the boat and use a patio umbrella in front when not under way and need more shade. We love the openness and would not want to loose that feeling having a full enclosure, however I would love the option of having both Bimini's opened to be underway and shaded. I am a bit anal and can't seem to be able to leave the boat uncovered even for just overnight and at 55 years old it is getting to be more and more of a chore to cover it while in a wet slip.

The other thing nice about having the fulenclosurere is that while we have met many new friends and really enjoy the socializing aspect of our boat club, man these people know how to party! With me depending on my CDL license to make a living, I have rolled the dice a couple times this summer driving the 6 miles home when if I had the option I would have stayed the night on the boat.

Those that have a full enclosure, are you glad you got it? Is it more work to put sides on a full enclosure or put mooring cover on? Any comments, likes and dislikes you have noted would be greatly appreciated.

[DonCabo]

Hey Bill,

I currently am saving up for a full enclosure. I keep my boat in the water all year and also use it year 'round. I currently only have a mooring cover and bimini. I've done a lot of research and seen a lot of fellow boaters' enclosures.

If I can make one recommendation it would be to have the ability to roll up your clear vinyl windows and hold them with little straps versus having to take your windows completely out. Rolling them up takes only a few seconds each way. I've been out on our friend's boat with a full enclosure when it was 45 deg outside, but inside with the windows down it was a balmy 70 deg; very comfortable. (of course it was a sunny January day).

There's a member on this forum that's also in my marina and he's done a helluva job with his toon and full enclosure. Generator, big s/s electric fans, bar, blender; it's an awesome setup that I hope to replicate one day.

Mooring covers are a PITA especially the final step of putting up the tent poles and crawling back out. I cannot wait for my full enclosure.

Good luck.

[Bamaman]

I'm not sure what you're really wanting.

Sounds as if you need to find a good awning company to custom make whatever you're wanting.

The factory full enclosures are about $4K, and I would think an awning company could beat that.

I would be hesitant to spend that much $ unless my boat is pretty new.

[DonCabo]

Yeah, for my 24', the local marine custom canvas company estimated about $3000. I actually like the half-enclosures, too. They're slightly cheaper, by about $500. But heck, if I'm spending that much, I figure I should just go all in and get the full enclosure.

[Bamby]

IMHO you actually should consider having both. A full boat inclosure isn't anywhere near a cheap investment. It added thousands to the price tag as a value added option on a boat that we once had. That being said it also added value to many of the boating experiences we also enjoyed on the water.

Some things to consider:

Your boat has now acquired some age to it so I'd strongly recommend that the current bimini material be replaced as part of the package. At your boats age you're only probably looking at a few years before it needs replacement anyway and It will be necessary for them to do some modifications to make the enclosure work. So why not start off with a clean new slate where you should have years of trouble-free enjoyment of your investment.

Second, leaving your side-kits up and bimini's exposed to the harsh glare of the sun will greatly reduce it's possible projected life. In reality you'd be reducing it to about the life of the average mooring cover which is more or less about five years of pretty much trouble free usage which equals out to be a pretty expensive depreciation of the investment over a pretty short period of time. We made every attempt to protect our investment by almost always utilizing the mooring cover on ours and stowing our bimini's and side kits away. As such we had a pretty worn near the end of life mooring cover when we sold the boat but we'd also retained as value some of the money we'd spent in obtained the mooring cover to begin with.

But most of all enjoy your boat and time on the water whichever direction you may choose to go.

[Thin Ice]

As a pontoon owner with an enclosure..Im sure this may sound biased but I highly recommend getting the enclosure if you are in the market. I have only used my mooring cover for storage since I got my enclosure. I leave my toon docked all summer even though Im only there on the weekends. I love coming down on Friday and being able to walk right onto the boat.

The obvious benefits with the enclosure is the ability to cruise around in rain or other not so favorable weather, and sleeping on the toon.

Other benefits that I've come to appreciate is that removing and putting up the enclosure takes less than 5 minutes.....much faster than a mooring cover. My enclosure has 6 separate panels (1 front, 1 back, 2 sides). The side panels are sectioned into 3 separate clear plastic windows and screens, all of which can be rolled up independently. So you can take all or part of the enclosure down as needed. I also had the bimini tops redone with the same waterproof material as the enclosure not only so they match but not a drop of water comes into the boat even with the pouring rain.

Again, I may sound biased but shall I ever get another pontoon, the first option I will be buying is an enclosure.

I see you are in my neck of the woods....sorta. Tumacs in the south hills did my enclosure. Ask for Mike. Not only did he do a great job, I thought the price was pretty fair too. ($2400 for the enclosure with the required front bimini frame and top). He also added cut-outs to my existing mooring cover to be compatable with the new front bimini frame.

GBrian

[Mr Geets]

I sprung for the full top. Really enjoyed it for sun shade last time we were out. Overnighting is the reason I bought it. Actually buying the boat was the cheap part Accessories add up. Go big and enjoy!!

[rbiederwolf]

Easy answer, function and practicality. If you would like to stay on the boat, but can or will not without an enclosure then you have to get the enclosure.


Now if staying on the boat overnight is really a pipe dream then be realistic and just get a mooring cover.

Ideally if expenses allow it get both. Enclosure for overnights and mooring cover for storage.

Bottomline both a mooring cover and an enclosure are a PITA, but isn't boating in general. You have to make certain sacrifices in order to reap the rewards. Just comes with the territory

However I am a little sick because I enjoy the daily maintenance/rituals of owning a boat

[BiXLL]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I appreciate the input. The concern of the age of my boat was touched a couple times in the thread and while I too thought about that, my boat is in such good shape that putting this investment into it does not really throw any flags up for me. For me, I am really looking fwd to having the ability to stay overnight on the boat. I want this to the point of actually thinking of buying a house boat. I really do not want to live on it though, just have a place to crash sorta like camping at the dock.

To keep the wife happy though, I am going to have to work with the guy to give me what I need. I am thinking maybe having it done with more but smaller pannels? I would not mind just windows in the back if I had the ability to easily remove the front and fold the front bimini back.

I talked to a place on the phone and went over my ideas with them. They would need me to bring boat to them to give me a final price but thought they could make me happy for around $2500.00 +/-.

I am really thinking that if made right, I would really enjoy an enclosure.

[slingshot]

As somebody said early on this post, I'm the guy with the full enclosure, generator, fans and such. Go full enclosure all the way. I had mine custom made for $2800 and that included new tops. I have roll up windows all the way around and all 4 doors roll up too. I've had it for almost 4 years now and it's never been down w/ no tears or seam splits. Makes year round boating and camping a lot of fun. I recently added a portable AC unit (the upright ones you see in home depot made by LG). Make sleeping at night very comfortable. Your furniture will love you for it also. These are a couple of photos of the inside (don't mind the margarita machine on the left in the one photo )

[margaritaman]

These are a couple of photos of the inside (don't mind the margarita machine on the left in the one photo )

Best feature of your toon that I see.