A COVER WILL PAY FOR ITSELF IN IT'S LIFETIME
As any Minnesota boat owners knows, boat covers can take a real beating. Especially if you leave them outside during the winter months: the elements; curious animals trying to scratch their way through the cover and into the nice dry boat; leaves, branches and occasionally limbs falling on them and perhaps piercing them. You might make temporary repairs to the greatest damage with a strip or two of duct tape, but making permanent repairs during the boating season, even before the first launch, will ensure a long life for your boat’s cover. At Canvas Craft we can repair any Minnesota boat cover or create a custom solution for you if needed. If you’re looking to do this on your own here is a 5 steps process.
Remove the boat cover and allow it air dry thoroughly. This step is particularly important whether you plan to use an adhesive repair patch or sail repair tape to do the job, or you plan to sew the rip.
Decide whether to use adhesive patching you get with your repair kit or a sewn repair. Do not use adhesive patching if you decide to make a sewn repair. If you choose adhesive patching, apply the adhesive patches or sail repair tape to the outside of the cover for maximum protection. Remember that adhesive patches will shrink somewhat over the course of time. While this will pull the edges of the tear or hole together, it also means that the patch will pucker and be a weakened place in the cover.
If you decide to make the repair by sewing rather than using the adhesive patches, sew the rips in the cover. Such repairs are best made with a baseball stitch or double last stitch, although any stitch will do. The simplest is the double last stitch, done on the inside of the cover. Start by trimming the edges of the tear, then sew with sailmaker’s needles and heavy synthetic thread; if the material is difficult to push the needle through, use the sailmaker’s palm. Put the needle through the material just above the turn of the edge, then turn and put the needle back through just below the top of the turned edge, to begin seaming the tear as a “last.”
Continue stitching until the length of the “last” is stitched from end to end.
Lay the “last” flat on one side of the repair and use the same stitch to sew the last to the surface of the boat cover. You may wish to use a waterproof compound to coat the finished repair.
Or you can call us and we can repair your upholstery for you. Might be easier but hope this is helpful.