The Canvas Shop

Yes that is a DAP plaster of pairs bucket and duct tape both are essential items for any canvas shop. Duct tape because sometimes you need more hands and the bucket just happens to be the perfect size for stretching winch covers specifically Barient 21 and 22 size winches.

The early projects I began with some left over duck cloth from my previous boat. The duck cloth was inexpensive in comparison to the outdoor canvas and I had it laying around. For a few prototypes it has worked well but the prototypes are already showing signs of fading and breaking down in the sun and I will have to replace them sooner than the projects I have done later this season.

I started making a depth finder cover and 2 winch cover for the 21's on top of the cabin from the old duck cloth. The depth finder cover fit perfectly but the winch covers took a bit more coxing to get them on . Thus the introduction of the DAP Bucket for the 22's I made later with outdoor canvas.

The outdoor canvas is far superior to the duck cloth having used both now and seeing the results of the sun on each I highly recommend going with the outdoor canvas but one word of warning if you iron the outdoor canvas be sure to use a iron set on very low heat as their is some sort of water proof coating that will melt off if your iron is to hot.

My other canvas projects this year have included a main hatch cover and mast boot cover.
I also laid out and redesigned the tiller cover.

I will probably get a few other things made before the season is up.

A Facelift: Deck Re-surfacing

Before After


The Chaser 29 I own has reached a point that the deck anti-skid needs to be re-surfaced in several areas. Their is some minor flaking on the bow of the boat near the baby stay and further forward near the Spinnaker down hull track. The decking has also become very dull and hard to get clean.

This Saturday I began the process of sanding and taping off the cabin. The sanding process took about 6 hours in the hot sun. I figure this isn't to bad given the amount of deck area covered. Not removing all of the deck hardware also created a significant amount of sanding that could not be done with the sander and therefore had to be accomplished by hand.

Sunday Morning I gathered all my materials and hit the road directly after lunch. I arrived at the boat around 1:30 and mixed my paint. Interlux brightside (Seattle Gray) was mixed-up with intergrip a non-skid additive. As I painted along it became apparent that I was going to run out of paint before I finished. I ended up having my wife to run out and get me a second quart. ;-) I wrapped up around 5:30 by getting two big slivers in my hand as I straddled the dock and the boat to finish the last square on the deck.

Monday afternoon I managed to get back down and pull the tape off. The finished product is a glossy light gray deck that is now safer, much less slick to work on while handling sails and will be easier to get clean.

An Atomic 4 Engine Upgrade.

This Friday I took sometime and did a handy little engine upgrade to my A-4. I installed a Indigo Electronics PVC valve kit. This kit is easy to install and has greatly improved the air quality in the cabin while we are underway. The Kit is just as described on Indigo's web site (www.atomic4.com/)easy and quick to install.


The directions were very clear the only snag I ran into was re-installing the carburetor. Once the spacer plate is in place I could not get the the carb. past the oil sending unit. Not really a big deal as it just took a second to remove the sensor and put the carburetor in place. Then put the oil sensor back.



The benefits of this system have been apparent. The engine seems to be running smoother and the air in the cabin is much better. In all the upgrade took about an hour and a half. It took me a bit of time to tune the idle and get it just right.