canvas seat covers

[CLH]

Still trying to work through the canvas setup on the 460 DA I bought last year.

She stays in a covered slip year round. For the winter I have no problem putting the large canvas over the entire cockpit.

But when spring comes I'd like to remove that cover for the season. The thing is that we do get a fair bit of road dust from the highway that runs by our marina and I'd like to protect the nice vinyl seats. I thought I would have a canvas person make covers for the 4 seats, but then I thought there might be something I can buy off the shelf. Just simple canvas covers, preferably secured by elastic so as not to put more holes in the boat for snaps.

Thoughts?

Cheryl

 

[Island Time Buffalo]

I am doing something similar with my 380. I am having all the rear seats and back rests re-upholstered and I have a big 'ol dog who is usually wet and always has claws - so I want to protect the new vinyl from him.

So I took the cockpit cover (which is like new and I never use) along with the seats and headed down to Amish country. They are doing the vinyl, and then they are cutting up the canvas to make removable seat covers. I intend to just have them stay in place by friction as it's pretty tight where the seats abut the fiberglass uprights and he is leaving a decent overlap in the rear to 'tuck them in'. But if need be I will install either snaps or maybe velcro if I can engineer it neatly.

But to your point, I looked into pre-made covers and came up short.

 

[CLH]

Thanks- well at least I'm not "losing it" (well that may be up for debate). I, too, have a big hairy dog and I've about given up on keeping him, his hair, and the sand and saltwater he drags in, off of the exterior seats. ! Good luck with yours

 

[fwebster]

I have the same problem with dust except mine is from forklift exhaust at the marina as they launch smaller boats from the barns. We were going to have covers made for the cockpit seating, but tried old sheets first. We quickly saw that every time you uncover the seating, you spread a good bit of what was on the covers all over the cockpit. We actually bought some discounted sheets because we realized we would have to launder whatever the covers were and sheets are a lot easier to handle than canvas. Sunbrella is expensive and heavy so youd probably have to wash them in place on the seats; with sheets, we just bag them and take them home and wash them in the washing machine, then cover the cockpit seats when we leave town again.

Might not work for you, but is was the most practical approach for us..........

 

[CLH]

THANKS Frank! I was actually laying awake thinking about this in the night and I thought the same thing, that due to the dusty residue, the covers would need routine cleaning too. I thought that sheets might work at least as an initial fix, I figured I could tuck them into some places and sew/staple on weights in any loose corners to keep them in place.

Cheryl

 

[bduncan1231]

I use a few 9x12 painters canvas drop cloths to cover my seats. They're lightweight and fold up small when you are ready to head out. They're not pretty but do a great job of keeping the nasties off my seats.

 

[Doc O Rock]

I keep the camper top on when I'm not there. Our boats get covered with jet exhaust soot from Selfridge Air Base. I can take the camper top off in 5 minutes.

 

[fwebster]

THANKS Frank! I was actually laying awake thinking about this in the night and I thought the same thing, that due to the dusty residue, the covers would need routine cleaning too. I thought that sheets might work at least as an initial fix, I figured I could tuck them into some places and sew/staple on weights in any loose corners to keep them in place.

Cheryl

The problem we found with sewing sheets together is that the size gets close to unmanageable when you load them into a washing machine or dryer. I use velcro strips to join larger pieces together. Curtain weights work but will rust, and I found that just tucking the sheets into the upholstery or under hand rails works pretty good. One other thing we learned is that cheap sheets or painters cloth have larger weave and will allow dust to migrate thru the fabric so the larger the weave, the more frequently you have to wash them covers.

Good luck with it........

 

[JVM225]

The problem we found with sewing sheets together is that the size gets close to unmanageable when you load them into a washing machine or dryer. I use velcro strips to join larger pieces together. Curtain weights work but will rust, and I found that just tucking the sheets into the upholstery or under hand rails works pretty good. One other thing we learned is that cheap sheets or painters cloth have larger weave and will allow dust to migrate thru the fabric so the larger the weave, the more frequently you have to wash them covers.

Good luck with it........

I like the idea of the sheets. Especially how easy it is to store and wash them. I've got a guy with a diesel powered sport fish diagonally across the canal from me. The thing blows black smoke exhaust and he idles it for up to an hour at a time at the dock usually covering boats downwind in soot. The guy is a total tool and covering my seats with sheets is a great idea.