Canvas Material Question

[Jolly II]

With the boat in the barn for the winter I'm gathering up all the materials for replacing the canvas on my boat. My question is about material. I'm looking at the Sunbrella products. Either the standard Sunbrella material, or Sunbrella Plus(treated with acrylic). I do fish some rainy days, anything from a drizzle to a down poor. I keep my boat on the trailer in the barn so the only bad weather it will see is when I'm fishing, or when I've got it in a slip on fishing trips.

Just looking for some input on what some of you guys have on your boats. There is a price different between the two, and there are more colors to choose from with the standard material.

Any input will help. Thanks in advance.

[big easy]

I had all new canvas work done on my 23 Seacraft last year,and had all the work done with Seamark Sunbrella.It's sunbrella with a coating of acrylic on the backside of the material.

It is the best stuff that I have used and I've had several boats with regular Sunbrella,Top Gun,and others.

It is extremely durable and completely waterproof,yet very flexible.It is very heavy however,but after using it,I would never use anything else.

The regular Sunbrella is nice,and very light weight,But the Seamark Sunbrella is almost as soft,and it's much more durable.I would strongly recommended it.

If you want to see what it looks like,you can take a look at my boat in the spring at the Boat Doctors in Olcott.I may have a very small piece of it kicking around the house,and could stick it in an envelope and send it to you.

Here's a couple pics of the boat

Try this http://www.haartz.com/en/Products/Marin ... _cloth.asp

or this http://www.perfectfit.com/17624/154114/ ... la-60.html

or this http://www.scalisemarine.com/Seamark.htm

[Jolly II]

Thanks Big Easy for your input. I'm in the "doing my homework" part of this process. I've have seen the material that you have on your boat, it looks like awesome stuff. Looks great on your boat. I have to add, Nice Ride!!

I'm currently looking at the step down from the supreme and go with the Sunbrella plus. Two reasons... the main one is, although my sewing machine is heavy duty, I don't think it will drive the thread and needle size needed for the supreme. The second is that my boat, when not on the lake, is in my barn, therefore the only weather and sun it's goin to see is when I'm fishing. I think the base sunbrella is just too light. So that's my reasoning in deciding what material.

On another note... My wife and I just moved up to Bergen from the southern tier. I'm looking forward to do some more fishing on the west end of the lake, from the Oak, Wilson, and of Course Olcott. I've fished all my life in the Sodus area, only making to the west end on occassion, and to fish the Niagara ProAm. Looking forward this year to making a regular trip on the west end, and learning a new area of the lake. I'll keep a look out for your boat when I fish out of Olcott. I'm in a tan 21' Sportcraft. No name on the boat yet, but hopefully this summer there will be.

Thanks again for the input, I appreciate it.

[FISHSTALKER]

Something I would recommend that you have added when having new canvas made is Velcro sewn in between the snaps where the top meets windshield, windows and enclosure. It keeps the wind and water out.

I chose the heavy duty Top Gun material. It is the same stuff that truckers use to cover their trailers. This photo is where the cabin drop down connects at the side.

[Jolly II]

Fishstalker,

That's a great idea. I will look into incorporating something like that into the new canvas.

Thanks!

[big easy]

I had the Top Gun Material on my last boat,used it for the top,aft curtain and the travel tonneau cover.It was a strong as nails,and held up extremely well.

I went with the Sunbrella Seamark,only because I like the softer feel,and they had the color I needed.Both Top Gun and the Seamark Sunbrella Seamark are superior fabrics.