installing canvas cover

akjack · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 11:41 pm Post subject: installing canvas cover

I ordered a full cover for the back of my 22 ft cruiser from King Canvas. I plan on installing it next month. They will ship it to North Carolina where the boat is in storage. Does anyone have any experience installing these things. Will the cover come with instructions or do I just wing it. How long will it take to install? Any ideas or help would really be appreciated.

CAVU · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:02 am Post subject:

akjack,
Are you talking about a camper canvas with the plastic windows or the slanted mooring cover? The camper canvas would be much harder to install. If King Marine installed all the snaps on the canvas then you would have to install the male half of the snap in exactly the right spot on the boat. In addition you will have to install the plastic track along the top of the cabin to hold the forward edge. The most critical part will be attaching the fitting to the gunwhale sides to hold the end of the bows. If this fitting is in the wrong location the top might be loose or too tight. I wouldn't feel comfortable trying this myself. I would seek advice from a local canvas shop-but then I have no past experience with this. I have the King Marine camper canvas but it was installed by King.

Sea Wolf · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 6:06 am Post subject: Re: installing canvas cover

Chris P · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:42 pm Post subject:

ajack,
Last spring I followed the same path that you are taking. I ordered the camper canvas and cockpit cover from Dave at King Marine and installed them myself on our CD25. I had no experience with this type of installation; had never seen a C-Dory equipped with King Marine canvas in person; and, up to that point , had not drilled a hole in this boat. So I was a little nervous about the whole thing. There were no installation directions, just a hand drawn diagram with the measurements of where to mount the track on the top of the cabin and the pivot fitting on the inside of the gunwale. With no good idea on how to proceed, I called Dave. He was easy to reach and very willing and helpful getting me headed in the right direction. He outlined over the phone the installation process they use along with some tips on locating the spots on the boat for the snaps and drilling the fiberglass. I worked on it slowly over three days for a total of maybe eight hours and had no problems at all. I am very satisfied with the end result both fit and finish. This is a job that can be by almost anyone with some common hand tools and some patience.

Plan C · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:35 pm Post subject: installing canvas

I installed a used canvas on my 22 Cruiser last fall. This was the order of installation:
1. screwed track to top of cabin, at back edge of roof
2. determined the usual position of the supports by looking at other peoples' boats (for 22CD, about 25 inches back from cabin) and clamped supports in place
3. lightly stretching the canvas, I screwed in the male snap-screws where they appeared to need to be, with the canvas telling me for the most part, with a good overlap on the sides.

Somehow it all came out just right. I choose to decide it was not so much to be luck as that the task isn't that tough. With additional advice from King, it should go well.

Dave

akjack · Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:22 am Post subject:

Thanks for the inputs,

Clamping on the supports is a great idea that I had not thought of. I will talk to King when I start the project and get their help. Many thanks to all of you, I wanted to make sure that I was not having a brain cramp thinking I could install it myself. Having the camper cover should make a huge difference on those rainy days.

Jack