2022 Sweetwater 2286 SFL - Birds eating seats

Steiner

Hello.  I'm a former Sweetwater owner trying to help out a dock neighbor.  They just bought a 2022 Sweetwater 2286 SFL tritoon, brand new.  No one has even sat in the front seats yet and he hasn't even applied vinyl protectant yet but crows (we think) started attacking it this past week and have destroyed the seats...primarily the seatbacks/tops but not the rear lounge.  It has the bayside slate quilted vinyl that feels almost like suede it's so soft.  It seriously makes me want to cry because it was a really big purchase for them. 

His boat is docked with mine which is a 2019 G3 Suncatcher and there are two more older pontoons right next to ours.  Additionally a 2019 Bentley tritoon and older Hurricane also dock by us when the owners are at the campground.  I previously had a 2017 Sweetwater 2086C that was docked in the same spot for 2018 and 2019, and our G3 has been docked there since 2019.  We keep our boat in barn type storage by the lake and only have the boat docked when at our campground which is once every two weeks, which is the same for our neighbors other than the two old pontoons which haven't moved in about four years.  His new Sweetwater is the only boat that has been attacked and there are many more boats in the campground and we haven't heard of any other problems.

Has anyone heard of this recently?  My wife's friend said she's seen an article about something like it.  I know that greenies and lobbyists are pushing soy for replacing petroleum products in foam and vinyl products (we use some at our factory).  I also know Toyota has been sued twice already (unsuccessfully) due to the increase in rodent damage to wiring harnesses since they switched to soy based wire insulation.  It has to be something with the product....

Thanks for any help or info.  

[Deleted User]

Hello. I have seen this problem before on RV rubber roofs. It tends to be vultures that do the damage. Where is the boat located? If it's Indiana or a neighboring state it is probably turkey vultures. The RV's I've seen damaged were from Vultures in Arizona. I've read many studies on vultures and rubber/vinyl damage and there is no conclusive reason why they attack the rubber. The old theory was that the oils and or fats used in the production would emit an odor in extreme heat however that doesn't seem to be a solid theory as vultures have a horrible sense of smell and are usually visual scavengers. 
Can you please have your neighbor send me a DM and I will see if there is anything we can do to help them at Godfrey?

Steiner

JPontoon said:

Hello. I have seen this problem before on RV rubber roofs. It tends to be vultures that do the damage. Where is the boat located? If it's Indiana or a neighboring state it is probably turkey vultures. The RV's I've seen damaged were from Vultures in Arizona. I've read many studies on vultures and rubber/vinyl damage and there is no conclusive reason why they attack the rubber. The old theory was that the oils and or fats used in the production would emit an odor in extreme heat however that doesn't seem to be a solid theory as vultures have a horrible sense of smell and are usually visual scavengers. 
Can you please have your neighbor send me a DM and I will see if there is anything we can do to help them at Godfrey?

Hi, and thank you.  We boat on Lake Keowee in SC.  We've got turkey vultures in SC but I'm not sure if that's what got his.  Our campground has several boats that stay out on the docks all summer or even all year, and more show up throughout the summer for days at a time.  It's a campground of about 100 permanent campers so kinda like mini vacation or weekend homes.  This is the only problem I've heard of like this here.  When I was searching about it I did find some stuff on foam roofs having to be bird proofed because of pecking, and a thread from a guy who had vultures get in his new bass boat, tear off the cover, and shred the seats and carpet...while it was lifted to the top of his boat house.  Tore the covers off his neighbors'boats, too. 

I did find a mobile leather and vinyl repair guy.  He's waiting to hear back about when he can look at it, and if he can this weekend I'll pull his boat out of storage because he won't be around.  
https://www.fibrenew.com/anderson-foothills-seneca/
https://g.page/fibrenew-foothills?share

I texted him this when I first posted it and he said his first thought when he started reading it was "Dang someone has the same problem as me!" I'll text him to make an account so he can message you.  He's a fire chief in a small town in NC and they have some wild hours so it might be a little bit.

Thanks! 

Steiner

So my wife has a friend in Ohio that has been at Kelleys Island for the last week.  One of her friends owns a marina there and said they have had a huge problem with birds pecking seats there recently and it's all been newer boats two years old or less.  They believe it is the foam.