[Shabah203]

As always I keep thinking of ways to pimp my boat, one of the thing I've been thinking about lately is having an open bow. At the moment the bow for us is mostly lost space. Sure, underneath we store some water-toys and lifevests, but really it is just sad that almost half of the boat's lenght goes unused.

If I look at the construction I can imagine that it might be as easy as just cutting the deck away and creating a new polyester tub on the inside. But ofcourse you're in danger of loosing some stiffness of the boat and I wouldn't want to ruin the excellent handling of my Mariah.

Now I seem to remember some people on this forum have a bit more in-depth knowledge regarding the construction of the Mariah's so I'm hoping anyone knows if conversions are being done at all, and at what price, or if mine would be the first...

Thanks,
Alex

For reference: Mariah Shabah 203 1997

[ShabahZ280]

Alex,

Yours would be the first. The closed deck boats are definitely rare. There weren't many of them made, which makes them a bit of a collectible. I'd advise you not to consider this option of cutting out the bow and redoing it, as these boats are built structurally sound, and modifying your closed deck would compromise the entire construction and structure of your boat. Not to mention, it'd ruin a perfectly good boat, and would likely require more money than you'd ever imagine to make this conversion and do it right.

If you're truly after a bowrider, then it'd be a lot easier to just sell or trade your boat in for another Mariah bowrider that has what you want. Please don't destroy a perfectly good (and collectible) boat...

I know if I had the extra coin, I'd consider buying a closed bow Mariah, they're just so unique!

[Shabah203]

Nice words Chris, thanks!

I really like our boat, it's only sometimes with many people on board it would be nice to have more seating capacity. But I guess I'll go back to the original plan and have a cushion made gor the front deck. Not even close to thinking about getting rid of our Mariah��