[crewser]

I'm the proud new owner of a 2000 Mariah 238. I'm getting the boat ready for some spring overnight adventures on the Tennessee River and have a few questions regarding the cabin.



The boat is in overall pretty good condition, but the head was removed and the pipes were cut.

I'm curious to know if the pipe is a vent to reduce cabin odor or if there is in fact a holding tank on this model.

Any input on replacement heads would be helpful. At this point I'm leaning toward replacing with a standard 5 gallon camping unit, but may look elsewhere if there is a holding tank on board.

A second question I have is regarding the cabin area on the starboard side nearest the helm. There is currently a large rectangle there and I was curious if the boat originally had a cabin fan installed there. If so, any ideas on a suitable replacement?

Thanks in advance,

Eric Crews

[crewser]

After digging into these issues a bit more here's what I found:

the boat doesn't have a holding tank, but uses the Thetford 735 head, which has direct hook ups for pump out. I opted to add a head that doesn't use the pump outs as in my case that will be easier since we don't have pump outs at most marinas I frequent.

The cuddy cabin has a cut out behind the dash area when accessed from inside the cabin. According to a photo shown in the brochure for the 2000 model boats, this area was a small inset cabinet that was used to hold the Glomaster stovetop.

I replaced the missing cabinet with a piece of wood and added a light. I'll post up some photos once I get it all sorted out.

So far making a lot of good progress and will keep updating this thread as I go.

[crewser]

Here are some photos of the boat after the first thorough cleaning. I'm currently considering doing a full wet sand and wax to try and restore the original luster and color.

[crewser]

[crewser]

[ShabahZ280]

Pics aren't showing up Eric. But before you do a wet sanding job, get some high quality compound wax, some polish, and a rotary buffer. Spend some time with it, and you may be surprised at the results. I do a 3 step compound, polish and wax every season (which takes forever, but well worth the effort!) I personally use Presta products, but Meguiars makes a great kit that I used for years called the "Fiberglass Restoration Kit". Some people swear by 3M or Fleetwax as well. The factory gelcoats were very good, and one of our members here is one of the former gelcoaters from the Mariah factory and can probably offer you good sound advice! Hopefully he'll chime in.

[Motoxxx43]

THIS GUY does a phenomenal job cleaning up fiberglass. It is a really good write up.