We had 5 yards of Sunbrella and one scrap in Skipper's fabric stash, so we crafted a cockpit cover for our O'Day Day Sailer II CYANE. It works as both a mooring cover and a mast down cover, it drapes over the boom when the mast is up. We had used an 8x10 plastic tarp for many years, it kept the big chunks of pine needles, tree bark, bird poop and leftovers from osprey meals out of the cockpit. Those tarps would last maybe a year, we expect to get many years out of this cover.
5 yards of Sunbrella plus some scraps, cut up to make a cover measuring approximately 8 foot wide x 10 foot long. It would have been better with about 6 yards in one piece.
We had 2 5 foot wide panels that were just under 8 feet, so we sewed them together to make an athwatships seam, then used the scraps to make port and starboard doubled strips for grommets. Skipper sewed a single straight 1/4 inch seam, then flipped the fabric over, folded the seam under and sewed that down with a zig zag on her Sailrite LSZ-1.
These little clips work great to keep the fabric edges together.
Lining up the seams.
1 1/2 seam on the bow and stern edges, because we might add grommets there. The iron presses a nice seam to use as a guide when stitching the fabric.
Bow and stern edges.
We used a #2 cutter to cut the holes for the #4 grommets, eased out the hole with a few tiny scissor cuts. With that 3 pound mallet it only takes 2-3 hits to cut 2 layers of fabric. The self healing pad is an essential part of the grommet installation system. All parts sold by Sailrite.
#2 grommet hole cutter.
For marine applications we buy spur grommets, they have teeth that grip the fabric better.
4 faces of the #4 spur grommet, note the teeth on the outer ring. Spur grommets feature metal spurs inside the rim to grip the fabric so they won't easily pull out. A spur die set is necessary for setting spur grommets, different from regular grommets.
Male part of grommet goes onto the anvil.
Be careful to not to cut the hole too big, the fabric should fit tight.
Outer ring placed.
Insert the mandrel and give it two whacks with the Barry King 48 oz mallet. The nylon head, leather handle and rubber mat absorb most of the impact vibration so it is easy to set a lot of grommets.
Inside face of grommet, the Not As Pretty Side.
Outer side of grommet, the Pretty Side.
Spoiled.
Will probably switch over to soft lines for tiedowns, run side to side.
1971 O'Day Day Sailer II CYANE. She's been in the family since 2000, Capn Jack and Miss Adrienne snagged her over in Alabama. She came into our fleet in 2011.
Suzuki 2 1/2 outboard pad on the starboard transom. Capn Jack designed the trailering mast crutch.
Log of CYANE
Thanks for the motovation.I need to make a similar cover for my American 18.
ReplyDelete