HI everyone. Wanted to share a couple of items I have come across while outfitting a new Cobalt in the off season. I have recently purchased my 3rd Cobalt. We boat with our a dog Tabasco - he goes every time. Tabasco is a 50 lb Vizsla. I had a 210 in 2014 and the swim platform had a very hard, non slip deck material that was truly dog proof. Several years of boating with out any dog nail damage. Our Vizsla likes to fish...no really. He sits on the back deck when not swimming and follows fish in the water. He jumps in after them when they get close enough. He hunts quite a bit during winter and fish have become his entertainment during summer months. We purchased a 2016 R5 and the swim platform had a new product on it called SeaDeck. Our dealer told us it was a new product and thought it would hold up better than what we had on the 2014 210. SeaDeck is a nice product. Cool and soft to the touch- very soft. Tabasco damaged this product in just 10 boating trips. Small nail holes were all over the decking. We replaced it under warranty mid season thinking we got a bad piece of decking only to have this happen again. If you go to the SeaDeck FAQ on the web, they no longer warranty the product against dog nail damage.
I have been researching and found what I think is a dog friendly product called plasdeck.com. They will be putting this on our new boat and I will report back but I can tell you I tested it and I think the problem is eliminated. It is a much harder surface and seems to be significantly more resilient. My guess is that it may be more slippery than the SeaDeck. However, I poked it with a dart (from a dart board) and it actually fills the whole after 30-40 minutes. Simulating normal Nail pressure from tabasco (he was very happy about this
) did no damage to the samples. Anyhow, if you don't have a dog, or your dog is laid back, I would recommend SeaDeck. If you are getting dents in your deck, check out plasdeck.com. JK
