DIY tarp?

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ChasB

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My tarp going over the flybridge is fraying and has shrunk quite a bit. It's decades old. I've been quoted £750 for a replacement. Ouch.

Maybe I can do it myself? :oops: Anybody else had much luck with this? It doesn't have to be regular tarp material, but tough enough to last a few seasons. And it can be a bit basic, without the 3 zips the current one has.

I can see the current brown cloth one is made from 3 sections 1m wide. I think that may be a bit challenging for me! So maybe some kind of material that comes in larger pieces? Perhaps 3m x 3m? 2.5m square might just do it. Not on the boat just now.

Thanks! ;)
 
I'm assuming you're talking about more of a fitted cover rather than just lashing a tarpaulin over the top of the boat?

Should be DIYable if you can learn to drive a sewing machine, which isn't hard. You'll want an old cast-iron framed one to sew canvas, mine was about £50 on eBay. Cheap modern ones are plastic and not strong enough; strong enough modern ones are too expensive.

Acrylic canvas also from eBay, and "V92" thread. Also any zips, velcro, clips, and other accessories you might need.

I don't think you'll find any 3m wide canvas, but 150cm should be available allowing you to just have one main seam instead of two.

Making a pattern first out of cheaper material stuck together with tape or glue would be advisable.

Pete
 
£750 is not a bad quote these days for a hood - which is possibly the better description of what you want. ie it has to stay in place when the boat moves. Yes?

Your alternative is to get material as prv describes above and offer it up to the frame, pin it or rough hand stitch it to the correct tension (if it flutters it will disintegrate - you know that I trust) When satisfied take it to a sailmaker and ask them to run up the seams for you. Bet you this will work better than you learning how to manage an old machine.

Whatever you do, you're in for at least £200 all in for something that stays in place and doesn't take bucks off the value of the boat.

PWG
 
Yeah, £750 for a fitted cover istrikes me as a good price.
DIY will cost a fair bit for material that will hold its shape, look good, resist UV and weather and be robust enough to give you another decade or longer.
That said, I've used 280g per sq m tarpaulin off ebay and amazon, cutting to shape and making seams with good quality double sided tape (no sewing), adding extra eyes and using bungee and plastic hooks to make covers that have withstood heavy weather for a couple of winters. They look ugly but do the job.
 
peter gibbs said:
£750 is not a bad quote these days for a hood - which is possibly the better description of what you want
Click to expand...

I don't think this is a hood with a frame, rather just a cover to protect the flybridge from the elements when not in use. Think like a short, wide mast-down dinghy cover.

Pete
 
If you have the original to work from you are more than half ways there from a DIY point of view... As already said cheap machine an some cheap fabric to practice, if it does not work-out then you have wasted 100 quid? but if it does you might find more bits to do...
 
Thanks everyone. Some useful tips there. I've been putting this off for years! rather surprising that the old trap (flybridge cover) has managed to survive all this time. It was made in 1982! But it has shrunk quite considerably. I've had to do some temp seam mending and used a glue gun with surprisingly good results, but not nearly good enough for a long haul.

Because of covid affecting my work I'm having to sell the boat, and the cover is a dilema. So do I spend £750 to make it more sale-able? Even though it doesn't actually add any value?

Maybe cleaning the old one up, a bit of repair, and adding a stretch of extra fabric to make up for the shrinkage might do the job? The fabric itself is in good shape, but the stitching is giving way. It's an option. I'm there again today and will have a think.

What's a good tarp cleaning product?

Such a shame the boat will look at its best just before I sell it. I should have done all this years ago and enjoyed the results for myself. Life, eh... ?

Have to dash now - I'm replacing a portlight with a cracked frame. Gotta do it before the weather changes tomorrow! :oops:
 
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ChasB said:
Thanks everyone. Some useful tips there. I've been putting this off for years! rather surprising that the old trap (flybridge cover) has managed to survive all this time. It was made in 1982! But it has shrunk quite considerably. I've had to do some temp seam mending and used a glue gun with surprisingly good results, but not nearly good enough for a long haul.

Because of covid affecting my work I'm having to sell the boat, and the cover is a dilema. So do I spend £750 to make it more sale-able? Even though it doesn't actually add any value?
Click to expand...

Silk purse and sow's ears spring to mind. Best remove the tarp altogether, at least before viewings.

A tarted up tatty old tarp will register in a prospective buyers mind as a job to be done, money to be spent, and make the boat look that bit more tatty.

An absence of a flybridge tarp might or might not register. It might or might not be subject to negotiation. But at least it won't detract from the first impressions.
 
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