T&T: prices for a custom dinghy cover

[Faure, Marin]

>Does $1,300 for a Sunbrella Dinghy cover sound exorbitant to you?

Yes, but it's actually a pretty realistic price from a high-end canvas
shop.  Figure labor & overhead at $100 an hour, that's 13 hours to
measure, cut, sew, put in fasteners, etc.  How long would it take you to
do the same job?

I'm not defending the price, just saying it's realistic at one end of
the spectrum.  Some shops will have lower labor & overhead rates.

Sunbrella is an outstanding fabric--- it will last far longer than even
the manufacturer's claim depending on the environment it's in.  What
usually gives out are the seams, not the fabric.  There is only one
thread that will really stand up to weather, UV, chemicals, etc., and
that's Tenara, a brand made by the GoreTex folks.  My wife has a 100
pound Brother industrial sewing machine with a motor that weighs another
100 pounds.  It's the first sewing machine I've ever seen that has a
lube oil sump and oil pump.  She does all the canvas work for our boat
and we just bought a bobbin of Tenara to try.  It ain't cheap--- over
$100 for a single bobbin.  But it apparently lasts damn near forever.
If you can keep the seams from ripping out, the fabric itself will hold
together for a long time.  The covers I see in our marina that are
shredding themselves in the winter storms all started to fail at the
seams.  When the fabric starts flapping around after a seam has gone,
that's when the fabric itself starts to fall apart.

So regardless of where you have your cover made, make sure it's a shop
that uses Tenara thread.  Everything else is a compromise and the seams
will fail sooner rather than later.

______________________________
C. Marin Faure
GB36-403 "La Perouse"
Bellingham, Washington