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I am considering adding a bow cushion to my 2015 Montauk 170. A local marine upholstery shop on the Gulf Coast gave me a price of $1,300 for a custom-made cushion using marine vinyl with a foam core, with zippers, snaps, and Velcro.

Q1: Am I right in thinking $1,300 is too steep?

I see that some recommend Specialty Marine, and they appear to be more affordable, however I am not sure the 170 bow cushion on their website would fit my 2015 model as its advertised as fitting 2002-2007.

This cushion will not be used all the time. It will only be in used when my kids and wife are onboard.

Rotate wrote:Q1: Am I right in thinking $1,300 is too steep [for a custom-made bow cushion for a 2015 170 MONTAUK from a local artisan]?

There is little basis for readers to know the quality of the work that your local artisan will deliver for $1,300. But in the post-Biden inflation era, just about anything custom-made for a boat costs almost twice as much as it did five years ago.

One way to assess the value of the local guy’s work is to see how much backlog he has. Really good artisans crafting custom boat products often have a six month or longer backlog of work.

$1,300 is steep for one cushion. Do you have the old cushion to use as a pattern for the new? Another option is to get some red board from Lowes and make a pattern for the front deck and locate the existng snaps. I can do the foam, the vinyl the loops, and zippers. You will need to do the snaps onsite but I have a tool for that. I may already have enough white vinyl left over from my project. You pay for the materials needed and I will will estimate my time and labor at $500.00. If it's less, I'll cut it down. If it's more, then you should have used the $1,300.00 guy. I don't do this for a living but picked up the skills from my dad who is an upholsterer. Lastly, where are you located? I am in North Florida.

Guess not. My offer is rescinded.

FNO: I am located in Texas. Currently I do not have a cushion.

[The upholstered cushion vendor I mentioned above has] no back log, so maybe I dodged a bullet.

I have purchased [some type of cushion called an] "ocean tamer bag." Its cost was [about the quoted price for a custom cushion divided by four, or $1,300/4 =$325].

I ordered one [unclear, but may mean an off-the-shelf cushion designed for another boat] for my [1971—use four dights for year] KATAMA from Specialty Marine. The quality was “great”. [The time for delivery was] “quick.” The cost was about [$345 before shipping].