[Jack Anderson]

Found the Club while searching for torgue tab settings. Charlene and I are the original owners of a 1994 Davanti 205 (4.3 LX). It has been the primary tow for three boys and hundreds of friends over the last 15 years. The boys are all gone now so we recently had a "camper back" built so we can enjoy overnighting on the Columbia river. We live in north central Washington State on the Columbia near Lake Chelan so we have lots of great weather and water for boating.

We also enjoy on and off road motorcycle riding. Charlene rides a Kawasaki EX 650 and I a 1300 Yamaha FJR we both have Yamaha XT 225s for off road.

I remember making the "buy" decision in 1993. We were looking at a Cobalt at Seattle Boats they were also dealing in Mariah at the time. When we compared the two boats it was easy to see the true value of the Mariah brand. I wanted a 1993 model because I liked the sliding cuddy door; but it was late in the year and no local dealers had them. The factory said they thought a dealer in Moses Lake had one; they did not, so we ended up ordering the 1994 version from them.

J. & Charlene

[WetWilly]

Ahoy Jack and Charlene, welcome to the club!

It great to hear from another original Mariah owner and what swayed you to buy a Mariah. I'm the second or third owner, but I was considering a used Cobalt before going with out Talari for the same reasons, value.

It's also great to hear you and your wife both cycle, mine just likes to co-pilot from the back.....

I recommended you to another member (The Boat) for any advice as he's looking to add a camper back to his '94 235 Davanti, hope you don't mind. I wouldn't mind talking to you about your camper back as well.

WetWilly

[Jack Anderson]

The addition of covered "headroom" space has opened a new chapter in the 205s use. We have camped in it over the years but it was always an exercise in stealth. Want to use the potty? Crawl to the back, stay low while getting your swimsuite down, you get the picture right? Now we have the same level of privacy as in a tent trailer.

To reduce the cost we decided to use the original sun cover. The new enclosure is made of the same material and everything's matched up very well. Next time we have it up, which will be next week (12 September 2009) I'll take some pictures of the brackets/supports and the overall setup. We have not none a full weekend in this configuration yet but have slept overnight on the river several times. We are very happy.

We installed a house battery at the same time so now I have no worries when watching DVDs at night or leaving the radio on for hours at a time while drifting on the river. I attempted doing this myself but ended up taking the boat to a auto electrical shop as I could not get everything to work the way I planned. Because the boat is used by family members I wanted the entire electrical charging system to be automatic (no operator training required). This was achieved by some rewiring and use of a solenoid rather than an isolator and battery switch. We ended up with an additional power outlet in the cuddy so now iPdos, MP3 Players, whatever can be powered from the house battery.

I am more than happy to "talk" boats or motorcycles with anyone. Charlene and I are state and MSF certified instructors we teach 10 - 12 Basic Rider Course classes each year.

[WetWilly]

Hello Jack,

Thanks for the Camper Top info, I like the idea of the headroom and being able to reuse the existing top as well. Our Sunpad is pretty large, so would make a great bed for the wife and me for short overnighters as long as you don't roll around much in your sleep and there is just enough space under the tonneau cover over the "Bow Pit" (with the bow filler cushions, it's like a mini bed up there) for the little one.....

I have quite a few questions about the Camper Top but I'm sure your pictures will answer most of them for me and the other members wanting to do the same thing

Thanks again,
WetWilly

[Jack Anderson]

WetWilly

The attached pictures are here because on a lark we decided to sleep over on the boat last night.

The first picture attempts to show the new support structure. The others simply what it looks like when deployed. The one disadvantage to using your existing sun cover is that (at least the one that came with our boat) it is designed for any add on to slope down towards the transum. Now with our addition sloping up the weather tab is "upside Down" so rain water will run under it into the cockpit rather than over it onto the next piece of material. We do not see much rain here so decided to save some money.

One person can hange the covers on the water. It is best to have two for setting up the rear support because the length allows to much movement for one person to control. We set this up yesterday evening at about 9PM while anchored a mile down stream from our house. The point is we got the cover panels up in twilight with no difficulties. Did not plan to sleep over but we did so I took these pictures this morning at the dock.

Ask you questions....

[AlexLeeAmy]

Hello,

I am a recent buyer of a 1994 Mariah Davanti 205 Cuddy.

I would like to know where you got that camper top? I would like one just like it for my boat...

Thanks,

P.S. It did not come with a top..so I have to start fresh.