What would you do?

[strakeryrius]

I let my no 1 daughter (18) stay on the boat for a week with a couple of her friends, on the understanding that they replaced anything they consumed (Ha!) and cleaned it up properly afterwards. She claims to have spent an hour cleaning it (a whole hour mind!) but when I went down to it at the weekend I had to spend over three hours on the interior just to get it back to my own standard of what is clean.

The main casualty seems to be the carpet in the saloon - a beige berber. There seems to have been some kind of spillage which was improperly mopped up, and the residue has attracted loads of dirt leaving black marks and spots all over the place, too many and too widespread to hide with a rug.

Now it seems to me I have three choices;
I can fork out for a carpet cleaner and hope that it all comes out returning it to some semblance of its former condition.
I could get new carpet for that area, but it would be a hideous job trying to fit it - definitely a job for a professional.
I could junk the carpet and lay a wood laminate floor - costly, but at least I wouldn't have to worry about future spillages and having to repeat the exercise at some later date.

What would you do and why? Or is there a fourth option I haven't thought of - apart from skinning the daughter and using her hide as a rug!

 

[Firestone]

Option 4. Hire professional cleaners to clean the carpet,while you chill out at the nearest bar. There are more things to fret about in life,than a "ruined" carpet.

 

[MartinANick]

The obvious fourth option is to trade daughter no1 in for a new boat

 

[Philiz]

I can never understand biege carpets in a boat, she's probably done you a favour. Chuck a rug over it if it upsets you that much, wait till the carpets really messy, then swop it for a more practical colour.

 

[epervier]

I let my no 1 daughter (18) stay on the boat for a week with a couple of her friends, on the understanding that they replaced anything they consumed (Ha!) and cleaned it up properly afterwards. She claims to have spent an hour cleaning it (a whole hour mind!) but when I went down to it at the weekend I had to spend over three hours on the interior just to get it back to my own standard of what is clean.

The main casualty seems to be the carpet in the saloon - a beige berber. There seems to have been some kind of spillage which was improperly mopped up, and the residue has attracted loads of dirt leaving black marks and spots all over the place, too many and too widespread to hide with a rug.

Now it seems to me I have three choices;
I can fork out for a carpet cleaner and hope that it all comes out returning it to some semblance of its former condition.
I could get new carpet for that area, but it would be a hideous job trying to fit it - definitely a job for a professional.
I could junk the carpet and lay a wood laminate floor - costly, but at least I wouldn't have to worry about future spillages and having to repeat the exercise at some later date.

What would you do and why? Or is there a fourth option I haven't thought of - apart from skinning the daughter and using her hide as a rug!

Reading the first line to the first comma, says it all really.

did you honestly believe 3 x 18 year olds would keep your boat in the condition you would?

forget it move on, bite the bullet, buy teak, ban children from boat,yes I know at 18 they're adult, but they never act like one, when daddy's paying.
I know, mine are 40 and 41, you never stop paying!

 

[rafiki_]

Children or parents. Which are the most:

Worrying
Time consuming
Expensive
Embarrassing

etc

Wouldn't allow either near my boat!!!

 

[Pinnacle]

I know, mine are 40 and 41, you never stop paying!

Sh*t! That is a depressing thought....

 

[FullCircle]

Get the carpet cleaner bloke in , and make sure he is the mutts nuts at it.
My daughter threw our grandsons ribena over our 2 day old front room carpet, just laid at £2.5k, was so frightened of telling us, she pulled the sofa over it, and left it. It dried in, too late for us.
Carpet buggered.

After 2 years, I still occasionally fume, but I would never bring up the subject again.

 

[nickcred]

when did keel hauling go out of fashion

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Have some overcarpets made.

Cheers
Jimmy

 

[Searush]

It's a boat fer Chrissake! It should be designed for muddy wellies, wet feet, oilly hands, eviscerated fish dripping blood & guts - & all the other boaty things people do on board.

Serving food & drinks on passage invariably leads to spillage & breakages - its all part of the lifestyle - isn't it?

Or are we talking whore's palace that never leaves the marina?




(only teasing - so don't burst a blood vessel - but feel free to tease back as & when )

 

[Ripster]

Get a professional carpet man in and it will most likely clean up fine. As has been said its only a bit of carpet. But, c'mon... did you really expect a bunch of teenagers to leave it like new - I doubt it!

 

[AndieMac]

The kids will never clean things to the same level as you will, although their eyesight is remarkably sound when it comes to noticing their own personal appearance .

It's more probable that its going to be your family members friends that cause any messy issues onboard, as they have not been 'trained' by the skipper on all things neat and tidy.

 

[AndieMac]

It should be designed for muddy wellies, wet feet, oilly hands, eviscerated fish dripping blood & guts - & all the other boaty things people do on board.

I get it now SR, is that why the mobos get all the gorgeous women onboard (as per advertising) and the yachts end up with a boat load of blokes.

Its all starting to make sense

 

[bendyone]

It's a boat fer Chrissake! It should be designed for muddy wellies, wet feet, oilly hands, eviscerated fish dripping blood & guts - & all the other boaty things people do on board.
Serving food & drinks on passage invariably leads to spillage & breakages - its all part of the lifestyle - isn't it?
Or are we talking whore's palace that never leaves the marina?
(only teasing - so don't burst a blood vessel - but feel free to tease back as & when )

It's a mobo thing I guess

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

I, too, have light coloured carpets, cream ones. They look a bit tatty and might be replaced with blue that I have spare in the garage. Problem is, its hessian backed pale blue, maybe not the best choice

I have wondered about wood plank effect heavy duty lino, again, some leftover from a new kitchen. At least its easy to clean, but not so warm on your little tootsies in the mornings.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Ho, ho, I've just has 4 teenagers on my boat for 2 weeks. You have my sympathy

 

[strakeryrius]

Ho, ho, I've just has 4 teenagers on my boat for 2 weeks. You have my sympathy

That's reciprocated - you don't expect teenagers to leave the boat pristine, but when they have promised to keep the thing clean you do expect them to make a visible effort.

Think I'm going to try getting them professionally cleaned, so that they are not so heavily soiled, and if they don't come up to an acceptable level then think about replacing it with laminate floor in the saloon where the traffic is heaviest.

Thanks for all the responses guys - even yours Searush - Gin palace indeed!

 

[benjenbav]

I'm sure they'll come up a treat...but teenagers, eh?

My eldest was practising manouevring the car in our drive and I said, well at least you didn't drive over the grass like the cleaner always does.

He said: Dunno why we have a cleaner. Everything just gets messy again.

 

[Ripster]

He said: Dunno why we have a cleaner. Everything just gets messy again. [/QUOTE]

LOL.... that type of comment sounds so familiar.... that and "can I borrow a tenner, I'll pay you back this time..really"..... yeah right!