Clear Vinyl Hardtop Enclosure for a Large Center Console

A fiberglass hardtop gives a center console shade and a place to mount rod holders and electronics, but it does nothing about wind, spray and sideways rain. This project added a complete clear vinyl enclosure to a large offshore center console: front and side panels bound in canvas, joined with zippers and attached along the edge of the hardtop. The boat came to our yard in Venice, FL on its trailer, which is the easiest way to pattern a job this size.

A big center console built for long days offshore

This is a serious fishing boat. The fiberglass hardtop carries a row of rocket-launcher rod holders across the back, and behind the helm there is a full tackle station with a sink, a countertop and a refrigerator drawer. That layout tells you how the boat is used: early departures, long runs and a lot of hours standing at the wheel.

An open hardtop is fine on a flat July afternoon. It is a different story at first light in January, or running home ahead of a squall, when wind and spray come straight through the gap between the hardtop and the console. The owner wanted to close that gap when the weather called for it and open it again when it did not.

Why a hardtop enclosure earns its keep on the Gulf Coast

A center console enclosure is often thought of as cold-weather gear, and it does make a winter run out of Venice Inlet a great deal more pleasant. On this coast, though, it works just as hard the rest of the year:

• Wind at cruising speed turns a warm morning into a cold one. Panels in front of the helm take the wind off the crew without blocking the view.
• Spray and rain stop reaching the helm, which keeps the electronics, the switches and the helm seating dry.
• The side panels keep the tackle station and the forward cockpit out of the weather on the way out and the way back.
• At the dock, a zipped-up enclosure keeps overnight dew and sun off everything inside it.

Because the panels are separate and zippered, the owner can run with the front closed and the sides open, or with everything removed in summer. Our custom T-top enclosure on a center console fishing boat is a smaller version of the same idea.

What we built

Patterning on the boat in our yard

Every enclosure we build is patterned on the boat it is going on. The owner left this one with us on its trailer, so we could work around it in the fenced lot next to the shop. The hardtop edge is the top attachment line for every panel, and the hardtop legs set where one panel ends and the next begins. From there each panel is patterned individually: the windshield panels across the front, and the side panels running aft from the legs.

A large hardtop means big panels, and the shape has to be right. A clear panel that is cut even slightly off will show a wave or a wrinkle that a canvas cover would hide. Patterning on the actual boat is how we avoid that.

Clear vinyl, canvas binding and zippers

The windows are a coated clear vinyl of the Strataglass type, chosen for clarity and for its resistance to the scratching, yellowing and fogging that cheaper sheet vinyl develops in Florida sun. Each panel is bound in marine-grade acrylic canvas, which carries the zippers and fasteners and takes the strain that would otherwise tear at the edge of the vinyl.

Panels are joined with marine zippers, so any one of them can be opened or removed without disturbing the rest. All stitching is done in UV-resistant thread, and the hardware is stainless or UV-stable. On an enclosure the stitching and the zippers are what wear first, so this is not the place to save money.

Attaching along the hardtop edge

The top of each panel attaches along the edge of the hardtop, so the enclosure seals against the top instead of leaving a gap for rain to run through. The bottoms are tensioned so the panels stay taut at speed instead of working against their zippers. Our clear vinyl marine windows page covers the materials and the options in more detail.

The view from the helm

The photo from inside at the helm is the one that matters most to the owner. Looking forward through the new front panels, the view is clear and undistorted, and the side panels carry it around to either side. The tackle station and the helm are now inside a space that can be closed up completely, and the rod holders on the hardtop are untouched.

From outside, with the boat on its trailer, the enclosure follows the hardtop cleanly and the canvas binding gives every panel a finished edge. Our clear vinyl enclosure on the Lady Cindy shows the same approach on a very different boat.

Caring for clear vinyl in Florida

Clear vinyl lasts a long time if it is treated well and a short time if it is not:

• Rinse the panels with fresh water before you wipe them. Salt and sand on a dry cloth are what put the fine scratches in clear vinyl.
• Use a cleaner and protectant made for coated clear vinyl, applied with a clean microfiber cloth. Household glass cleaners with ammonia will cloud the material.
• Never roll a panel up dirty or while it is wet, and store removed panels flat or rolled in a soft sleeve, never folded.
• Unzip panels gently, with both hands, and keep the zippers rinsed and lubricated so they do not have to be forced.
• Check the canvas binding and the stitching once or twice a season for the first loose thread.

If you also need the boat covered when it sits, we build custom marine covers to work with an enclosure like this one.

Get a free quote in Venice, FL

If your center console has a hardtop or a T-top and you are tired of taking spray at the helm, bring it by. Call (941) 786-4100 or use the contact page for a free estimate. We build clear vinyl enclosures for boat owners in Venice, Nokomis, Englewood, North Port, Port Charlotte and Boca Grande, and there is trailer parking at the shop at 420 E Venice Ave.