kthoennes
Guru
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2013
- Messages
- 2,515
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- Xanadu
- Vessel Make
- Mainship 37 Motor Yacht
Our bimini top, the main roof over the helm, is shot. Seams ripping, threadbare, so worn out that rain leaks through even after a waterproofing treatment because the fabric is turning to swiss cheese. Might be original to the boat in 1996. Need a new one, but -- anybody have a recommendation for a good canvas shop willing to make a new top long distance, without having the boat itself on hand? We have three boat canvas businesses within 100 miles and we've used all three. The work has been -- well, not great and I'm not talking about the fit necessarily because I understand it's very hard to get a nice tight fit without having the boat itself on hand. I understand, it's like tailoring a suit without having access to the actual person for fittings. I'm talking about the work, the sewing, the finish, the anchoring of the zippers, laying the zippers straight, etc.
I did a search on the forum for threads recommending canvas shops, but none that I found talked about shops willing to do new work without the boat on hand. A couple years ago we used J&S Marine in Baldwinsville New York to replace the windows in a couple side panels and they did an excellent job. We were told they did a lot of Mainship work in the past and we were very happy, we just shipped the pieces back and forth to New York. This time though, they said it would be "impossible" to make a new top or any other new pieces without having the boat on hand, even if we shipped them the entire old one as a pattern. I don't even care about color matching all that much, since you can't see the top anyway, unless you're 20 feet in the air. Anybody know of a good canvas shop willing to make a new top without having the boat on hand for the fitting? Thanks very much.
I did a search on the forum for threads recommending canvas shops, but none that I found talked about shops willing to do new work without the boat on hand. A couple years ago we used J&S Marine in Baldwinsville New York to replace the windows in a couple side panels and they did an excellent job. We were told they did a lot of Mainship work in the past and we were very happy, we just shipped the pieces back and forth to New York. This time though, they said it would be "impossible" to make a new top or any other new pieces without having the boat on hand, even if we shipped them the entire old one as a pattern. I don't even care about color matching all that much, since you can't see the top anyway, unless you're 20 feet in the air. Anybody know of a good canvas shop willing to make a new top without having the boat on hand for the fitting? Thanks very much.