Watch out for black covers

[Paublo]

Background first- One year ago I bought an '09 210. I had been a Nautique fan for years, but had bought 2 Tiges based in large part on a relationship with the dealer. When that dealer went out of business I finally came over to the other side. (And I coulnddn't be happier with the boat and to be part of the Nautique family) When ordering this boat I went over every option carefully and felt that I could do better than the somewhat expensive black Surlast Nautique factory cover. Based on my experience with living in AZ and having to keep my boat outside, the only material that lasted more than a couple of years was Sunbrella. I was promised that this was an outstanding cover and I won't be disappointted.

By mid June I noticed that the bow seat backs were pulling away from the boat. By July some side panels were doing the same and the whole passenger lift up seat was warping badly. It is nice having a boat with no wood, but the plastic based material used as the framework for the upholstry warps under the high temperatures under a black cover in AZ. It took much longer than it should have, but eventually the factory sent replacement pieces and all was fixed.

My dealer pushed to get a silver or lighter colored cover from the factory but their response was that their supplier wouldn't make anything but black. So he had his local canvas guy make a copy of the factory one, but in silver. It should be fine and the real test will come in two months. Yesterday I saw a full page advertisement in Wakeboarding Mag for the black factory Nautique cover and I thought that a warning should be shouted out. Beware!

[Mikeski]

Not just the black. My boat is on it's third loveseat. My cover is medium/dark blue sunbrella tweed. I have resorted to unhooking the gas shocks for storage.

[janswake]

I wish I would have seen this thread before I ordered my black cover.I am hoping that since I live in a northern climate I will not be very affected.I had no problems with my old red sunbrella cover.I wonder if you guys could bring it to a canvas shop and have them put in a couple vent to let the heat escape.

[NautiqueJeff]

I bet you'll be fine in VT. I ran an all black cover on my all black 230 in Virginia, and had no problems.

[swc5150]

Black covers in WI are just fine, so VT should be ok as well. When I lived in Phoenix, I remember being able to take rubber off of my car tires with my finger due to the heat, so this doesn't surprise me at all.

[Paublo]

The factory cover does have 2 vent openings. Another problem we see is when the cover lays on the vinyl, it burns it, as in turning it brown. I had been laying white towels over the sun deck/pad and avoided that issue. The intense sun in the southwest is a killer. I don't expect to have problems with this silver cover as similar covers on previous boats were ok.

[ClemsonDave]

Does your cover use the three pole with straps like mine? I don't like all the straps, so I'm going install the below. They will also add more vents to the cover.

My cover rarely gets used since it stays in a garage. Only gets used when I take it to tournaments.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com...pid=52208&BASE

[Paublo]

My black cover had the 3 poles and straps and I thought it did a great job keeping the rain from pooling. The new replacement cover has 1 pole with a built-in vent exactly tike the picture. But he is working on some straps to keep water off. Part of tjhe problem is when I fold the FCT3 down and the front portion of the Z5 rests on the windshield, the back end of the bimini pushes the cover down, creating a place for water to poo ( I hope that makes sense)l. The straps help a lot.

[uwhusky]

I find it odd that someone would spend the kind of money the OP spent (2009 SANTE 210 would likely run $60k+ and that's conservative) and not keep it indoors or at least undercover. I just bought a brand new 2007 SANTE 220 and would never consider keeping it outdoors. I keep it in my garage and if I couldn't keep it in my garage I'd rent a storage unit.

[TRBenj]

I find it odd that someone would spend the kind of money the OP spent (2009 SANTE 210 would likely run $60k+ and that's conservative) and not keep it indoors or at least undercover. I just bought a brand new 2007 SANTE 220 and would never consider keeping it outdoors. I keep it in my garage and if I couldn't keep it in my garage I'd rent a storage unit.

Some people keep their boats on a lift (in the water) and either dont have or are not allowed a canopy. I certainly wouldnt call that "abuse" of a nice boat, so long as its kept covered!

No problems with a black sunbrella cover here in CT.

[hourglass]

you do it how you can. my boat has always lived on the trailer. if i had a choice i'd keep it in a climate controlled garage, but that's not an option.

[patoloco]

Always wondered about potential damage.

I have a black and dark red sunbrella cover. I had it parked outside one day in 90deg sun. I checked it with an infared heat sensor and the surface temp of the cover was something like 140 deg. Not sure how hot it was inside the boat, but I was surprised. Would be interested in know how other colors do.

In the southwest you should just get a cover made of that reflective aluminum radiant barrier foil. You might blind all of the other drivers on the road, but your boat would be cool.

[SkiTundra]

I find it odd that someone would spend the kind of money the OP spent (2009 SANTE 210 would likely run $60k+ and that's conservative) and not keep it indoors or at least undercover. I just bought a brand new 2007 SANTE 220 and would never consider keeping it outdoors. I keep it in my garage and if I couldn't keep it in my garage I'd rent a storage unit.

Ours sits in the water in a marina May - Oct. Canopies not allowed. Bulk of our usage is a quick run in the evening and if we had to trailer it every time we used it we'd rarely have time to use it. So, I'd rather have the boat sitting in the water and sun and get used than not get used at all.

[SkiTundra]

Wanted to resurrect this thread about Black covers. Our boat '08 211 sits in the water in an uncovered marina May - Oct in MN so on sunny days will get full sun from 4am - 11pm. Ordering a CoverSports cover from Brent. He says he only does Black (but can also do a grey). Sounds like others in northern climes have been OK with black.

[jpduster]

custom white cover (sorry lousy pic)