12 Best Boat Upgrades
Last Updated on September 24, 2024 by Boatsetter Team
If you’ve put your boat into a sharing service like Boatsetter, you may be ecstatic about how this can defray ownership costs but also perplexed as to how to make your boat more attractive. Clients looking to rent or charter a boat for a day or weekend want comfort, convenience, and safety, so any investment you can make in those directions will be worthwhile. Let’s look at a dozen top upgrades you can make quickly and without breaking the bank.
Bimini
Invest in canvas. Whether you own a pontoon boat, a towboat, or a day cruiser, providing shade is key not only for comfort but also for safety, given how harsh the sun can be. A folding Bimini isn’t a massive project, all you need is a canvas fabricator or an off-the-shelf solution from the boat’s manufacturer. If you already have a cover, don’t let it age your boat. Fresh canvas can take years off your baby and will make it more attractive in the pictures as well as at the dock.
Boat Cover
Unlike a Bimini or soft-top, a boat cover is meant to protect the boat when it’s not in use. Like a blanket, a cover protects the entire boat during and off-season and keeps the gel coat, upholstery, and flooring looking new. It also helps to keep leaves and rain from staining surfaces and may keep bugs and rodents at bay so your boat appears newer and gets more rentals.
Upholstery
Worn out seating ages a boat perhaps more than anything. New upholstery may be a medium-sized investment, but it will pay for itself quickly. Unless you’re super handy, you’ll need a professional to replace seat cushions or sew new vinyl. Inside or out, clean, comfortable seating in contemporary colors will highlight your boat on any website and generate more interest.
Carpet & Decking
New marine carpet and vinyl decking will transform your boat with a fresh feel underfoot and possibly a pop of color. It’s easier than ever to upgrade boat flooring with snap-in modular carpets, faux teak finishes, adhesive-backed high-density foam squares, and durable looped mesh materials designed to withstand everything from saltwater to fish guts. Flooring is one of the least expensive ways to make a boat more appealing and safer.
Indirect Lighting
Nothing changes a mood faster than lighting, so when you want to create an ambiance, tuck lights into discreet spaces for a soft glow. LED rope lighting can be attached under gunwales and furniture ledges with a minimum of fuss or expense, and the power draw is negligible, so your batteries won’t suffer. Color-changing lights really tend to wow the audience.
Sound System
A change in what clients hear will make a big difference too. Boaters love to play their favorite tunes whether wakeboarding or out for a sunset cruise. A raspy sound system with cracked, blown-out, and sunbaked speakers will not impress. Replacing the stereo can be a DIY project if you’re handy, so it won’t dip into the boat budget much. You can really impact the boat’s ambiance with speakers that light up and color change with the music and with wireless controls that add a modern flare.
Cooler
Boating goes hand in hand with food and beverages, and clients appreciate a place to store both and keep them fresh. If you have the space, add a free-standing cooler. A large Yeti with a cushion on top will not only keep the drinks cold but also create additional seating aboard. You may even be able to screw in snaps to an existing cooler to keep a cushion from flying overboard.
Cupholders
There never seem to be enough cupholders in our lives and that becomes doubly important aboard where you may need your hands to do other things such as grab a fishing rod or hold on. Like cars, many boats come with integrated cupholders and there’s really no way to build more into an existing dash. But detachable cupholders can be mounted just about anywhere including to a Bimini rail or windshield frame. You can even suction cup them or stick them in place. Look for cupholders with a variety of mounts and grab a bunch because they’re a cheap way to make your boat more user friendly and keep spills from damaging it.
Cell Phone Mount
Speaking of hands-free convenience, adding a cell phone holder is also inexpensive and easy. Many renters want to play their own tunes from their phones so providing a safe and easy-to-use mount will be appreciated. Phone cradles can be added to the dash of a center console or a tow boat in just minutes and can make an older boat seem more contemporary.
Charging Ports
While we’re on the subject of phones, let’s discuss a way to charge them. Adding USB or USB-C ports lets your guests charge so they can take more pictures to post on social media which may mean free publicity for you. Wiring these in can be as simple as replacing the old 12-V plug with an inexpensive USB double port and voila, you’ve just sailed into the 21st century.
Rod Holders
If your boat is a center console doing heavy work with the fishing crowd, you can never have enough rod holders. Like cup holders, these can be added with rail clamps or suction surface mounts. You can go with removable plastic or fancy stainless holders and depending on where and how you mount them, you may also have created more cupholders in the process.
Modern Electronics
If you have deeper pockets and your boat is lacking the latest technology, consider investing in electronics including an MFD that will function as a chartplotter, radar and fish finder all at once. Electronics have made leaps of progress in the last few years so upgrading your boat’s center of control will make a huge difference in the user experience. You can add in-dash or bracket-mounted screens and provide your guests with an impressive interface. Just remember to keep the software updates current and to protect the screens with covers when not in use.
A long weekend and not much money can thoroughly modernize your boat visually and functionally and make it appealing to a broader spectrum of users. Once you make the upgrades, make sure to post current pictures and descriptions on your Boatsetter rental app and watch the rental inquiries grow.
Learn more about boat accessories:
10 Fun Boating Accessories for 2023
Pontoon Boat Accessories: A Complete Guide
About us
Boatsetter is the leading online marketplace for boat rentals and on-water experiences. Download the Boatsetter app (App Store | Google Play) and follow us on Instagram.
Zuzana Prochazka is an award-winning freelance journalist and photographer with regular contributions to more than a dozen sailing and powerboating magazines and online publications including Southern Boating, SEA, Latitudes & Attitudes and SAIL. She is SAIL magazines Charter Editor and the Executive Director of Boating Writers International. Zuzana serves as judge for SAIL’s Best Boats awards and for Europe’s Best of Boats in Berlin.
A USCG 100 Ton Master, Zuzana founded and manages a flotilla charter organization called Zescapes that takes guests adventure sailing at destinations worldwide.
Zuzana has lived in Europe, Africa and the United States and has traveled extensively in South America, the islands of the South Pacific and Mexico.
