Has anyone used sundancercanvas.com?

[Jim Fennell]

Hi,

I see that sundancercanvas.com is now accepting orders. I received a quote from them and am interested in learning more about the company. But there's not a lot of information available on the net.

If you've worked with them, please let me know how it worked out.

Thanks, Jim

 

[JimG]

I'm not positive, but I believe these guys are resellers for Great Lakes Boat Tops.
@KevinC ?

 

[Jim Fennell]

They're quoting lead times of 4-7 weeks from order placement and Great Lakes still isn't producing outside orders yet. So, I'm not sure if they're a reseller and am looking into the options.

We want to get this done before the start of next season.

I'm not positive, but I believe these guys are resellers for Great Lakes Boat Tops.
@KevinC ?

 

[Pirate Lady]

Why not use a local guy? I always use local, they can come to boat, take measurements, show samples of the products, make fitment adjustments.
I would never order canvas online.
Its like ordering a suit online or getting fitted by a tailor.

 

[JHornsby3]

For the most part, I love dealing with local shops. But. Yes, there is only one time I ran from a local shop. I asked about a top for the lake boat. $6000 for a bimini that connects to the windshield was a bit much. And when I asked about a replacement for what is on the 300DA, he told me that he refuses to have to climb a ladder to take a measurement or drive anywhere to do any work. So this one time, local just won't work.

 

[HawkX66]

Hi,

I see that sundancercanvas.com is now accepting orders. I received a quote from them and am interested in learning more about the company. But there's not a lot of information available on the net.

If you've worked with them, please let me know how it worked out.

Thanks, Jim

You'll find a lot of us have purchased from KevinC on this forum. He works for Cove Marine. Great guy, proven and gives a good discount for forum members.
He just confirmed my new bimini enclosure for me today. November 3rd is the estimated ship date.
Give him a chance at your business. He's earned it. I don't think you'll regret it.
Local guy? Now that's funny for me Pirate lady. $8k was my most recent local guy quote. Uh, nope... KevinC is local... to somebody lol

 

[Pirate Lady]

For the most part, I love dealing with local shops. But. Yes, there is only one time I ran from a local shop. I asked about a top for the lake boat. $6000 for a bimini that connects to the windshield was a bit much. And when I asked about a replacement for what is on the 300DA, he told me that he refuses to have to climb a ladder to take a measurement or drive anywhere to do any work. So this one time, local just won't work.

That guy was nuts.

 

[JHornsby3]

That guy was nuts.

Bat crap crazy.

He just sits in the shop he rents and does a bike seat every now and again. Must be a full time job sitting and counting his snap collection.

 

[Blueone]

For the most part, I love dealing with local shops.

Try dealing with a local shop….. the good ones are to busy for you. I have been looking for a 1-1/2 years to have about $1,500 done on the boat. My boat neighbor recommended one of the better shops in my area. I called them no return call. So stopped in… first thing they asked is what do you want done. I explained and said heated storage just do before spring. They said we will call you…. No call… I called back twice ….. crickets.
I think they are cherry picking…. Problem is the $1,500 cherry isn’t going to forget

 

[PlayDate]

I have a Sailrite sewing machine I use for the small pieces and the Isinglass. The big pieces I take off the boat and take them to a local canvas shop that I have used for 20 years. They use them as a template to make the new canvas and I fit the new canvas on the boat. I keep an older canvas set around to use it while they are making the new canvas.

It keeps the cost down dramatically because at least on my boat there are only four sections of canvas. The most expensive is the main canvas covering the cockpit area. They make whatever adjustments I need done at no additional cost which again makes the job affordable. Just as an example. The main piece I mentioned was $600 in 2004 and $1000 in 2012. I expect the new replacement to be around $1,300 next year.

My slip mate hired a company and spent $5k to redo his camper canvas on his 32' Four Winns. They did a beautiful job and it was far more complex.

 

[Tripsdad]

You'll find a lot of us have purchased from KevinC on this forum. He works for Cove Marine. Great guy, proven and gives a good discount for forum members.
He just confirmed my new bimini enclosure for me today. November 3rd is the estimated ship date.
Give him a chance at your business. He's earned it. I don't think you'll regret it.
Local guy? Now that's funny for me Pirate lady. $8k was my most recent local guy quote. Uh, nope... KevinC is local... to somebody lol

+1 for KevinC
Kevin made a cockpit cover for me last year and just repaired and made some modification to my slant back. He’s busy like everybody else but answers the phone and returns calls.

 

[Pirate Lady]

Try dealing with a local shop….. the good ones are to busy for you. I have been looking for a 1-1/2 years to have about $1,500 done on the boat. My boat neighbor recommended one of the better shops in my area. I called them no return call. So stopped in… first thing they asked is what do you want done. I explained and said heated storage just do before spring. They said we will call you…. No call… I called back twice ….. crickets.
I think they are cherry picking…. Problem is the $1,500 cherry isn’t going to forget

sorry hear that. Shout out to Lamar Canvas on Back River Neck road, excellent work, ya, busy, signed contract November, canvas done January, in time for launch in early April, plan ahead.

 

[KevinC]

Thanks to all who have to referred me here and I wanted to step in to expand on a couple of points (sorry for the length).

First I want to mention that we are a family run business and that we distribute Great Lakes Boat Top (GLBT) products around the country and have shipped internationally. We also run our own fabrication shop making a limited number of custom items (because of time constraints) as well as other products that we produce and sell like our popular adapter panels for making the installation of new smaller radios in the place of Ray215 a simple and clean DIY project and our sunpad filler cushions, helm covers and fly shades for the 340SDA.

I would like to say our business (Cove Marine) started because of our own boating needs and the nice people at GLBT. Years ago I purchased new canvas from them and installed it myself. Of course people asked where I got the canvas from and what the process was. I probably referred them 10's of thousands of dollars worth of business. After some time we started installing for others and then reselling for them and like that our business was born from our love of boating. I will also note that while most of you who know me personally know this - I have owned an run IT business for many years also (that is my background and where I earned my undergraduate and graduate degrees).

So, to @Pirate Lady 's point of never wanting to order online and preferring to use a local canvas shop. He does have a point and something to be said about using a local shop - they can and hopefully will do whatever you want. I know we try our best. Quality however is up to the individual shop (and sometimes the individual worker). Working with companies like GLBT however provide a different experience. Since they work from the original patterns that were used for making the products for Sea Ray (as well as others) you know the quality and design of what you are going to get - and - nothing else. For the most part there are no options or customization available. They will accommodate simple requests like custom canvas colors, leaving off the snap extrusion on visors that have been converted (or will be) to snaps and studs, and even sewing solid aft curtains if you want to omit a window. Not much else beyond that.

The benefits that GLBT offer are the same as buying any factory replacement item - you know what you are getting. For owners looking to add a camper (on a model that had one available - and NO the 320DA/340DA/340SDA did not) you can simply order one - frames and all. If you need one panel - it can be replaced without anyone ever having to come to the boat and measure. The same goes for the remaining items cockpit covers, aft curtains, etc.

They also offer a guaranteed fit (if the boat is one they have patterns for). Unfortunately this leaves out most Arizona built boat (SERA....) and many Palm Coast boats (SERP...) because patterns are not available. I have worked with some owners to provide canvas from Tennessee built boat patterns and some had good luck and others needed to be adjusted. This was all discussed and disclosed in our preliminary discussion.

Now, on the other side, these canvas components are for the most part all produced to order and are sewn together in Tennessee by real people - and sometimes problems occur. There are instances where panels have needed to be remade because of a bad cuts (material must have shifted) or repaired (like do to binding edge missing the raw canvas edge). I have seen and dealt with this and been involved with them standing behind claims made over a year later. The biggest problem I see is poor installation planning by installers (I can understand a user but not a professional being paid). I recently had a client have an installer come out and just say the canvas will not fit. Eventually another installer came out and from what we can see did not properly align the front enclosure leaving a gap on one side blaming the production.

Up until recently (when the world turned upside down), time and convenience was a big selling point for GLBT. Previously I could quote a boat and have a full set of canvas produced in approx 10 days. No boat visits (unless we were installing), templating, etc and no delays because of bad weather or other scheduling issues. Today, they are once again allowing us to place orders and allowing me to quote 4-6 weeks as the estimated production time.

Many people also come to us because of price. Some just to compare against others online and some to compare to the other local shops. I had one client a couple years back that came to us looking to add a camper. IIRC it was a 300DA and wanted to color to match. After talking, I provided him a quote for all new canvas which he eventually ordered. When I asked him why he said he really wanted to do a complete color change and that our full quote including the new camper and framing was still less than the others he was quoted elsewhere locally. That worked out well for all.

We also like to actually talk to customers and review pictures. I had one customer come to me via CSR looking to order canvas. He simply wanted to get the discount (I don't blame him) and already had the quote from GLBT. Should have been a nice simple sale until we talked and I realized he had an extended sunshade frame the a previous owner had custom fabricated. Knowing this I saved him from spending 1000s of dollars on canvas that would not have fit and probably lots of aggravation. So while this is an "online" purchase please don't just add to cart and hope for the best. I am proud to say we have successfully provided covers from Hawaii to Maine and from South Florida to Canada and have many happy customers.

As was previously mentioned we are family run and sometimes things do fall between the cracks (or get lost in your spam folders) when we respond - but - I rarely miss an opportunity to talk someone who has a question.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[Groucho]

You'll find a lot of us have purchased from KevinC on this forum. He works for Cove Marine. Great guy, proven and gives a good discount for forum members.
He just confirmed my new bimini enclosure for me today. November 3rd is the estimated ship date.
Give him a chance at your business. He's earned it. I don't think you'll regret it.
Local guy? Now that's funny for me Pirate lady. $8k was my most recent local guy quote. Uh, nope... KevinC is local... to somebody lol

100% Agree. Kevin will take the time with you as well as help you with your order. His prices are normally lower when ordering and he passes on the savings. I have ordered from him 3+ times and each was a pleasure.

 

[Jim Fennell]

Thanks everybody for your input. I spoke with Kevin and placed the order with Cove Marine a couple days ago. Look forward to working with you Kevin.