If you had to rank your boat upgrades - what would be your top two or three???

ZZ13 said:
1. Removing all carpet and replacing with vinyl flooring (plank flooring inside, rolled vinyl outside and staterooms) - carpet does not belong on a boat!

2. Moving galley sink drain from shower sump to direct overboard.

3. Adding 120v outlets where there should have been some all along.

4. Adding full coverage galley undercabinet lighting. Factory install was just one wimpy light over stove.
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Bill,

Where did you add outlets? And what did you add for the galley lighting?
 
RollerCoastr said:
- Wine fridge in place of the old CRT above the fridge.
- 32" flat panel on fwd salon bulkhead
- DSC VHF
- Dual MFD's. After decades of insisting I was ok with 1, now I want 3
- Hybrid camper top. More shade, more seating without the squared-off look and acres of strata
- Straps for the canvas: instead of dragging big canvas/eisin panels with spiders an bird poop into the cabin only to be sat on an smashed, it just rolls up safely out of the way. $3 in straps and snaps. What took me so long!?!?
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Hey Roller, any chance you could share which wine fridge you used to fit above the fridge? Sounds neat!
 
1. Garmin 840xs to control Fusion head unit (via NMEA 2000)
2. DIY foam teak for swim platform
3. Foam mattress topper
4. MarinAire AC in forward cabin (best AC ever)
5. Added a Margaritaville frozen margarita machine- Love It!
 
Stee6043 said:
Hey Roller, any chance you could share which wine fridge you used to fit above the fridge? Sounds neat!
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It's 5-6 years old now, so it appears to be discontinued, but similar ones are out there if you search "6 bottle wine refrigerator". They're not expensive because they're not a dual-voltage or even a marine model. The bottles warm very slowly, so a lack of 110V isn't a worry.

The gap in the opening not filled by the unit was a perfect fit for 4 slots for reds. A local boat/cabinet maker assembled the cabinet for it. It's just particle board and black paint. I think it's a particularly good fit for a 400DA, which has a perfect bulkhead for a large TV.
 
If I look back at the last 3 boats the one upgrade that stands above the rest was the addition of the Swim Platforms, Inc. swim platform (sounds silly) on our 1989 340da. Going from 17" deep one to a 39" deep one was like adding another room. It was worth every penny.
Shawn
 
since my last post, Borel exhaust temperature alarms and a 11" Tempurpedic in the master.
 
Steve S said:
Bill,

Where did you add outlets? And what did you add for the galley lighting?
Click to expand...
On 400DB I added outlets to the starboard side of the master stateroom and to the dinette next to the house vac connection. I also replace the phone jack outlets with 120V outlets. I removed the single galley light and replaced it with a strip led light and added the same to the underside of the counter overhanging the work area to the right of the sink.
 
TNT8808 said:
I'll try to stay on point. This will be our 4th season with this boat, and our list of upgrades and replacements would probably be 50 lines long quite frankly. I think the best upgrades we've made have been:

Replaced helm seat pedestal with a new Garelick that's taller, and no longer wobbles.
Custom mattress.
Replaced all the electronics-everything.
Replaced every light with LED's.
Had custom stainless extensions made for the AC cooling outlets, as I couldn't stand the crap that ran down the side of the hull.
PlasDeck in the cockpit, and swimform. No more carpet to clean!

-Tom
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Hey @TNT8808 - we are also thinking of doing our swim platform and cockpit in PlasDeck. How is it holding up? Any stains or fading? Any heat issues?
 
hynespa said:
Hey @TNT8808 - we are also thinking of doing our swim platform and cockpit in PlasDeck. How is it holding up? Any stains or fading? Any heat issues?
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I sold that boat at the end of last season, but have stayed in contact with the new owner. The PlasDeck is holding up great. No stains or fading whatsoever, and as far as heat...yes it does get warm, but not hot. We had the "natural" color installed. I would not only recommend this product, but am having installed again on our current boat this winter.

Thanks,

-Tom
 
Plan on doing a new aft curtain this year with heavey duty webbing around the perimeter and stainless steel snaps that do not pull out or wear out and break off. Essentially copy what we currently have and which has held up nicely for 14 years. This work horse saves our lightly used original aft curtain that we use when cruising and which still looks brand new.
 
Stee6043 said:
I'm sure a lot of us like to tinker almost as much as we like to boat. It's a disease...

Lots of folks have upgraded flooring, TV's, stereos, electronics, dinghy's, etc and so on. So which are your favorites? Which enhancements have given you the most satisfaction (we're talking about boat upgrades only :smt001)?


As I enter my third season with our 340 I think I'd say the following:

1.) Stereo upgrade - we are listening to our favorite music just about anytime we are on or near the boat. I couldn't be happier with this investment.

2.) Dashboard "touchup" - I still have some work to do here but last year I painted all of my sun covers and removed/replaced an Atari era fishfinder with a remote for the stereo and a new backing plate. Eventually I need to replace the burled panels and will likely use some wood to dress up the rest of it when I replace my VHF.

3.) I think this year I'm going to have a tie between the bunk I built so I can sleep three kids in the aft cabin and the dinghy I bought. I'm pretty excited about the convenience each of these are going to add to the 2017 boating season.

Future Ranking.) I'll be replacing my cockpit sink and faucet with SS this spring, maybe wood flooring in the cabin this summer...then I should be ready to sell her. ha.


So let's see your lists!!!
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I nearly forgot about this thread! I upgraded my boat this year so I'm starting all over again. Good times.

Here's my revised top upgrade list for 2018:
# 1 - Stereo
# 2 - DIY aft cabin bunk (completed on my 340, will repeat on my 400 this winter)
# 3 - eBay swim platform covering
# 4 - SS cockpit sink/faucet (another upgrade I did on my 340, want it on my 400 ASAP)
# 5 - I need a new cabin fridge ($$$'s)
# 6 - I'd like to install the wine fridge mentioned in this thread
# 99 - I'd like to upgrade my radar/chartplotter at some point when it makes sense ($$$'s)
 
NorCal Boater said:
If I look back at the last 3 boats the one upgrade that stands above the rest was the addition of the Swim Platforms, Inc. swim platform (sounds silly) on our 1989 340da. Going from 17" deep one to a 39" deep one was like adding another room. It was worth every penny.
Shawn
Click to expand...


I 100% agree with this one! I installed an extended deck on our old 1992 230. That was a great upgrade, very simple as the swim deck just bolted on!
IMG_0471.jpg


Then we lucked out finding a barely used 2002 310. What a beauty! You guessed it, first upgrade, another swim deck! More of a chore, had to pull the old deck off. Our favorite upgrade to date.
Swimdeck-install.jpg
 
tiara in the snow 01.JPG
mrl_o4ZI.jpeg

We bought this 1986 Weekender at a fall boat show. The color was Sand and it had brown canvas and stripes. I wanted a white boat and the sales guy said Sand is this years white. So, I replaced the brown canvas with black. Brown stripes changed to black. Bottom paint brown to back.Transom art in silver. Suddenly, the boat looked white. I liked it. Then added the windless and custom arch which looks better than the arch that was a heavy looking fiberglass design. Plus we included a staff for the flag. Added radar and Loran. Added a flood light on the bow. Ripped out the brown carpet down below and switched that to off white. Removed the teak on the foredeck and taff rail. Front rails switched to stainless. Repaired the holes where the rail on the back was and left it clean. Removed the cheap looking teak trim on the base of the rear cockpit bench seat and rebuilt it with quality materials matching the cockpit gelcoat. Replaced the cheap looking plywood transom door and built a solid door from heavy lexan painted with Imrom to match the gelcoat on the hull. When the boat was completed it looked like it was a custom boat built by Sea Ray. Basically took everything off the boat I did not like and replaced it with what I thought SR should have done in the first place. It was a nice boat.
 
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1.Fox Marine Engine Monitoring via NMEA2000 and Bluetooth app http://fox-marine.com/
2.Under cabinet led strip lighting for galley and salon (doing engine room this month) https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jw81py5b7pm3otn/AAB__RPZgE_QoJ0aUyRqLBwfa?dl=0
3.Cabin flooring to vinyl plank https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ji3yanxqut4k9b9/AAD3S3-fD-DGHbl0EyVtc6Ega?dl=0
4.Cockpit/platform EVA foam https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xduzf8tggrg7xz0/AAAvQ8S0BiAI47Hu67fJ0DLra?dl=0
Just now, Raymarine upgrades to MFDs, KVH digital compass for AP heading, A95 plotter
About to:
Raise speakers on arch so people can talk without having a speaker in their ear
figure out how to make that PVC table that hangs on the aft rail for the Magma grill
re-purpose the helm heater blower to draw A/C air from the cabin for those hot summer days!
She was new to me in '03 so I've done all kinds of changes over the last 16 years. Engines to cockpit table pedestal
 
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Just for the short time that I've had the 98 290 DA ....

The #1 upgrade that I've done would be the Infinity floor covering from the swim deck all the way down through the cabin. Makes the boat feel bigger having the same floor throughout.

#2 would be the new Polk Audio speakers in the cabin.
 
Nuteak installation now on my second boat. Not in expensive but done with carpet and just plane white decks that show everything. 420AC did the Great loop in 2015 & 16 had more positive comments about the Nuteak than any other change we’d made. Lot of people really like our choice of Stamoid being used rather than sunbrella. It’s been on the boat now for 11 years and still looks like new.
 
I need to add one more "add on" to my list that I posted when this thread first started.

When we bought the boat we had the yard that was recommissioning her put on a new swim platform. We thought it would be great, and it was for awhile, but the first time we got the boat into some real heavy waves it cracked the platform, so we had to replace it.

Here's the platform we had put on when we bought the boat....
P7091013.jpg

Here's that platform after it broke and we removed it from the boat....
20160824-170252-010.jpg

and here's the one I had built. The guy who did it is a real craftsman with fiberglass. He built the new one with the boat in the water, and he did the whole thing for about what it would have cost just to have the boat hauled out.

20170711-082129.jpg

20170711-082145.jpg


He hand mixed the paint to match the boat color, blended the surface of the platform up to the surface of the transom and installed a non-skid on the platform.
 
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