Rich,
I appreciate your input. As far as sand/mud/weeds getting caught between the bunks and the hull, in my experience with them on the previous boat, it was FAR easier to clean the bunks off with the synthetic boards as they will be slightly damp when you pull it out of the water and if there is anything a 15 second wipe takes care of 100% of it. With carpet you need a wet/dry vacuum at minimum which would require power at the ramp and you will NEVER get all of the grit out of the carpet.
On trapping moisture, I disagree wholeheartedly based on my experience on a different boat. Its almost like running a squeegee on a window, they dry out almost immediately after pulling the boat out of the water and retain no moisture, whereas my carpeted bunks are often times still damp a good 24 hours after the last dip with the boat on them. Parked outside at a ramp the carpeted bunks dry out pretty good on the top side due to the sun, but the bottom side is still wet every time I go to load up.
Due to my launch/load procedure, I will not forget the hook. I never unhook before the back of the boat is in the water, and I never pull out before its hooked. That simply wont happen to me. I watched a buddy drop his dad’s brand new boat on the ramp with a roller trailer when we were about 18 years old and I watched the ass whoopin ensue when we got home.
In the past Bass Cat has used alternate bunk materials, gatorbacks come to mind but that was almost like a bubble wrap that went around the bunk. It dried out quick but was problematic for a multitude of reasons. If I remember right the slight hook in the back of the hull was digging into the gatorbacks and it wore thru prematurely. I am fully aware of the contour at the back edge of the bunk surface and would work these down to match that contour and not add undue stress to the back of the hull. I plan to take a contour gauge to the back of the bunks and make a template to follow from the indented carpet.
The only reason I can see that they don’t get used more often is some of that extra work that would need to go into fabricating them to match those contours and not wear the hull or the bunk boards. Carpet is far more forgiving in that regard. As long as that is done right, I see no other negatives to them.
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