I have read many posts about carpet replacement and have a few specific questions about doing this work on a 2004 X-10. But, first things first - - - what happened to the carpet?
I picked up the boat on Memorial Day Weekend from our regular storage place, which is a barn outside of Lake Mills, Wisconsin. I've kept the boat there for 7 winters and have never had a single problem. The barn is well made and there have never been issues with damage. I put it away when it's dry and put Damp Rid and moth balls throughout the boat just to be sure.
I realized something wasn't quite right when I saw that the cover snaps had been undone on the port side near the stern and the cover was folded back. Muddy footprints and smell of an animal latrine greeted me, causing me to yell a lot of words which I won't repeat here.
I did a quick inspection and then texted my wife that I needed to do a huge cleanup when I got the boat home.
20 miles later, I pulled into the driveway still completely aggravated that I had to spend my Memorial Day Saturday cleaning bow to stern. After donning protective gear, I cleaned out the huge amount feces from the storage area on the beneath the back bench seat on the starboard side. I take the cushions off the seats during storage to allow for good air movement and that allowed the winter residents to get in and out of that storage area easily.
Next came the shop vac, which allowed me to get rid of most of the debris. The moth ball packages had been ripped up open, so I had a lot of moth balls to vacuum up - - - they obviously hadn't been a deterrent for whatever had been living in this beloved boat of ours. I found the carpeting in the bunks in the bow and stern had all been torn away from the hull and much of it had been chewed and shredded into little pieces. That took awhile to vacuum up, as well.
Power washing and scrubbing the carpets with soapy water came next, as I worked from bow to stern, trying to wash everything out via the bilge.
From the muddy footprints everywhere, I was pretty certain this had been a raccoon living in the boat. This suspicion was confirmed when I removed a panel in the stern and came face-to-face with the raccoon which was still living in the boat.
This was essentially a free cardiac stress test as I jumped back, heart pounding. I am not queasy or easily frightened by animals but I had never thought that the animal would still be in the boat!
Once my heart rate and blood pressure came back down, I called animal control, who came and caught the raccoon. They also started to hear some soft cooing from the other side of the stern - - - removing the panel on that side led to the discovery of no fewer than 4 baby raccoons, as well. Unbelievable. The whole family was home.
For animal lovers, the family of raccoons made their way later that day to Milton, Wisconsin, where they were released into the wild. (Boat owners in Milton, beware.)
Now to my questions for the forum.
The carpeting in the main parts of the boat is actually fine, in fact, it cleaned up as well as ever. The carpeting which was ripped away from the gunwales and shredded is all in the storage bunks in the bow and in the storage areas adjacent to the engine compartment. That said, I have wanted to replace the carpeting for a number of years (and the vinyl, but that is another post, most likely.)
I'll post additional photos showing the interior of the boat, but my question is this: Since I have been thinking of replacing the carpeting for some time anyway and will likely have some insurance money coming for this, I'm wondering if it is time to rip everything out and replace with new.
If I do replace everything with new, how big of a job is this with a 2004 X-10? I've read posts where they report that sliding new carpeting under the fiberglass into the storage bunks in the bow is a real pain - - - is it possible to remove the interior fiberglass parts to make this an easier job?
I'm also wondering the same for the carpeting which goes from the main cabin into the stern - - - is it easy enough to remove that back seat to facilitate laying new carpeting into the stern?
A few pics have been included to tell the story. I'll take a few more to show more of the work which I'd like to do and post them soon. (I've looked at mechanical systems and wiring and don't find any damage, which is great.)
Big question is - - - has anyone replaced all of the carpeting in an X-10 or a similar boat from this era and how big of a job would it be?
(and yes - - - I'm already looking for a new storage option.)
Thanks, in advance,
Mark
I picked up the boat on Memorial Day Weekend from our regular storage place, which is a barn outside of Lake Mills, Wisconsin. I've kept the boat there for 7 winters and have never had a single problem. The barn is well made and there have never been issues with damage. I put it away when it's dry and put Damp Rid and moth balls throughout the boat just to be sure.
I realized something wasn't quite right when I saw that the cover snaps had been undone on the port side near the stern and the cover was folded back. Muddy footprints and smell of an animal latrine greeted me, causing me to yell a lot of words which I won't repeat here.
I did a quick inspection and then texted my wife that I needed to do a huge cleanup when I got the boat home.
20 miles later, I pulled into the driveway still completely aggravated that I had to spend my Memorial Day Saturday cleaning bow to stern. After donning protective gear, I cleaned out the huge amount feces from the storage area on the beneath the back bench seat on the starboard side. I take the cushions off the seats during storage to allow for good air movement and that allowed the winter residents to get in and out of that storage area easily.
Next came the shop vac, which allowed me to get rid of most of the debris. The moth ball packages had been ripped up open, so I had a lot of moth balls to vacuum up - - - they obviously hadn't been a deterrent for whatever had been living in this beloved boat of ours. I found the carpeting in the bunks in the bow and stern had all been torn away from the hull and much of it had been chewed and shredded into little pieces. That took awhile to vacuum up, as well.
Power washing and scrubbing the carpets with soapy water came next, as I worked from bow to stern, trying to wash everything out via the bilge.
From the muddy footprints everywhere, I was pretty certain this had been a raccoon living in the boat. This suspicion was confirmed when I removed a panel in the stern and came face-to-face with the raccoon which was still living in the boat.
This was essentially a free cardiac stress test as I jumped back, heart pounding. I am not queasy or easily frightened by animals but I had never thought that the animal would still be in the boat!
Once my heart rate and blood pressure came back down, I called animal control, who came and caught the raccoon. They also started to hear some soft cooing from the other side of the stern - - - removing the panel on that side led to the discovery of no fewer than 4 baby raccoons, as well. Unbelievable. The whole family was home.
For animal lovers, the family of raccoons made their way later that day to Milton, Wisconsin, where they were released into the wild. (Boat owners in Milton, beware.)
Now to my questions for the forum.
The carpeting in the main parts of the boat is actually fine, in fact, it cleaned up as well as ever. The carpeting which was ripped away from the gunwales and shredded is all in the storage bunks in the bow and in the storage areas adjacent to the engine compartment. That said, I have wanted to replace the carpeting for a number of years (and the vinyl, but that is another post, most likely.)
I'll post additional photos showing the interior of the boat, but my question is this: Since I have been thinking of replacing the carpeting for some time anyway and will likely have some insurance money coming for this, I'm wondering if it is time to rip everything out and replace with new.
If I do replace everything with new, how big of a job is this with a 2004 X-10? I've read posts where they report that sliding new carpeting under the fiberglass into the storage bunks in the bow is a real pain - - - is it possible to remove the interior fiberglass parts to make this an easier job?
I'm also wondering the same for the carpeting which goes from the main cabin into the stern - - - is it easy enough to remove that back seat to facilitate laying new carpeting into the stern?
A few pics have been included to tell the story. I'll take a few more to show more of the work which I'd like to do and post them soon. (I've looked at mechanical systems and wiring and don't find any damage, which is great.)
Big question is - - - has anyone replaced all of the carpeting in an X-10 or a similar boat from this era and how big of a job would it be?
(and yes - - - I'm already looking for a new storage option.)
Thanks, in advance,
Mark
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