The Rinker 206 Captiva is a 20-foot bowrider built for exactly the kind of use that Lake Wallenpaupack sees every summer. Day trips, family outings, a long afternoon on the water with the bow lounge and aft bench doing most of the work. Every upholstered surface on this boat takes the same beating: sun, spray, sunscreen, and the constant use of people moving around the cockpit over years of Pennsylvania summers.

This project was a full interior refresh for a Wallenpaupack-area owner. Three separate scopes: a multi-piece bow cushion kit templated to the fiberglass, an aft bench rebuild with integrated cup holders, and a separate navy sun pad with factory-position handle cutouts. All in marine-grade vinyl. All built to fit correctly and last. Alex builds marine upholstery for boat owners across Pennsylvania's lake and river communities. Here is the full picture.

The full bow cushion kit. Triangular inserts, rectangular side pieces, and corner fills — every piece templated individually from the fiberglass platform, not from the worn originals.

Piece One: The Bow Cushion Kit

The bow area of the 206 Captiva is not a single pad. It is a kit of multiple pieces: triangular inserts that fill the angled forward sections, rectangular pieces along the sides, and a larger center section. Every piece fits against fiberglass surfaces that were molded to specific angles, and they all have to work together as a visual system. A kit where one piece is slightly off in thickness or profile throws the whole bow off.

Alex templates each piece individually from the fiberglass, not from the old cushions. Old pieces that have been in service compress unevenly and change dimension at contact edges. A template from the hull gives the true dimension. Each piece is cut from the same closed-cell foam base to ensure consistent thickness and therefore consistent surface height across the entire bow kit.

The completed aft bench in the shop before delivery. Integrated cup holders at both armrests, clean back panel, correct profile across the full seat width.

The Material: Marine Vinyl Is Not the Same as Everything Else

What Marine-Grade Vinyl Actually Means

The term gets used loosely. In practice, a material qualifies as genuinely marine-grade when it meets a specific set of performance standards that standard upholstery vinyl does not have to meet. Alex specifies a vinyl for marine work that carries mildew inhibitor treatment throughout the material, UV stabilizers in the top coat rated for prolonged direct sun exposure, and a backing that does not absorb moisture and breed mold in a stored, covered boat over winter.

Standard upholstery vinyl installed on a boat looks fine the first season. By the second winter it typically starts showing the consequences of using a material in conditions it was not designed for. Mildew staining at the seams, fading along the sun-facing surfaces, and backing delamination where water has worked into the material are the typical failure modes. None of them appear when marine-grade material is correctly specified and installed.

The navy vinyl on this Rinker project is a 28-ounce marine grade with a matte finish that does not develop the adhesive glare-strip quality that glossy vinyl develops in direct sun. It is the same vinyl specification Alex uses for the full range of marine upholstery work done for lake and river clients across Pennsylvania.

Foam for Marine Cushions

Closed-cell foam is the correct specification for any cushion that will live in a marine environment. Open-cell foam, which is standard in furniture and even in many replacement marine cushions sold at discount, absorbs water. A soaked open-cell foam cushion adds significant weight to the boat, takes days to dry, and is a mold culture in a covered bilge environment. Closed-cell foam does not absorb water. It gets wet on the surface and dries. Alex uses closed-cell polyethylene foam as the base layer on all marine cushion work, with a firmness selected for the specific cushion type.

Seam Placement and Waterproofing

On a sun pad, the top surface is the surface that matters most aesthetically and that takes the most direct sun exposure. Alex designs the pattern so the seams fall at the side edges and underside of the pad rather than across the top. This gives the top surface a clean, uninterrupted appearance and keeps the seams in a position where they shed water rather than collecting it. All seams on marine work use a locked stitch with UV-stabilized polyester thread rather than the bonded nylon used in some shops, which degrades faster under marine UV conditions.

Piece Two: The Aft Bench Rebuild

The aft bench on the 206 Captiva is the seat most passengers use most of the time. It is also the piece that takes the most direct weather exposure when the boat is on the trailer or sitting in a slip. The original seat back had lost its firmness and the vinyl was starting to show the cracking that begins at fold points when the topcoat starts to fail.

Alex rebuilt the entire bench: new closed-cell foam throughout, new marine vinyl cover, and the integrated cup holders preserved and re-finished in matching material. The result is a bench that sits correctly, looks correct, and will hold up to another decade of lake use. The cup holders at both armrests were the detail that required the most precision. The cutout positions had to align exactly with the fiberglass recesses in the armrest structure, and the vinyl had to wrap cleanly into the edges without pulling or bunching at the cut.

Piece Three: The Sun Pad

The sun pad in navy vinyl was built as a separate piece to the main white interior refresh. Two oval handle cutouts at the factory fiberglass positions, edges finished with matching vinyl binding. All seams on the underside. Non-skid backing to prevent movement on the fiberglass platform when people are moving in and out of the bow.

The navy sun pad. Handle cutouts at factory positions, clean welt edge, zero seams on the top surface. Slides onto the fiberglass platform and stays put.

Full Project Specification

Aft bench complete. White marine vinyl, rebuilt foam, integrated cup holders at both ends. Ready for the season.

Marine Upholstery for Pennsylvania Lake and River Boaters

Pennsylvania has more boats registered per capita than most people expect. Lake Wallenpaupack in Wayne County is one of the most active boating lakes in the Northeast, drawing owners from across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Raystown Lake in Huntingdon County is the largest lake entirely within Pennsylvania and supports a large population of ski boats, pontoons, and cabin cruisers. The Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers run through some of the most populated parts of the state. All of these communities have boat owners whose upholstery needs attention.

Alex Upholstery Shop is located in Myerstown, PA, positioned to serve boat owners from the Wallenpaupack and Pocono region, the Raystown Lake area, the Lancaster and York county river communities, and all of Eastern Pennsylvania. Most marine cushion projects can be handled with the pieces removed from the boat and transported. For larger projects or full interior refits, boats can be trailered to the shop.

See more marine and specialty work in the before and after gallery and the full Custom Marine Upholstery portfolio.

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