You've had the old boat around for a long time, and it's getting pretty sea worn (or garage worn). So, we decided to fix up the old one. Should we replace or recover them.

How about sprucing up the old tub a little. To replace them with new ones would cost around $160, so that was a no brainer. It might be fun, but where do you start. The seats and carpet need replacing or recovering, the fiberglass needs a new gel coat, and several odds and ends need repair.

After investigating each option, we came to a pretty clear choice to have them recovered would cost about $400. The next area that was in dire need.

We wanted to have access to a decent boat occasionally, but we would not use a boat enough to merit buying a new one. This was just the position my husband and I were in. First we assessed what it would take to put it back into good shape. One obvious eyesore was the seats. We found the seats on sale at a nationally known sporting outlet, ordered them, and had them within days.

You want a more up to date look, but you certainly don't want to pay thousands of dollars for a new boat.