Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 24

emember the old adage that the only sure things in life are
death and taxes? For marine fabricators, the list might include
a third one-boat covers.
Tony Troxell, co-owner of Fine Line Canvas & Upholstery in
Fountain, Colo., makes about 100 boat covers a year. The
annual count for Ben Lange, proprietor of Wyoming Canvas in Wyoming,
Minn., is " in the hundreds. " At Mister Sew-N-Sew Custom Boat Canvas in
Waterford, N.Y., owner Charlie Kees is so busy with boat covers that he's
started taking reservations for next year.
For those fabricators who have spent a
career making boat covers, it's often more
of a passion than a job. Kees is still in the
business at age 70 and fi gures he still has
a few more years left. " Twenty-fi ve years
sounds kind of nice, " says Kees. " But I'll
keep doing it as long as I still get a kick
out of helping people, helping boaters
have fun on the water and still like turning
a roll of fabric, " he adds.
Troxell considers making a boat cover
to be as much of an art as a science.
Like other fabricators, he sometimes gets
a customer in the door who expects the
shop to have an array of covers sitting on
the shelf, instead of the custom covers he
makes. " If they want a generic cover, I tell
them they can go to Amazon, " he says.
" I really try to educate the customer on
the difference between what I'm doing
and what someone else might do. A lot
of people will chain stitch their materials
together and run all their panels starboard
to port, " he says. " I run all my panels fore
and aft with a center seam stitched and
topstitched. I'm running my goods for a
great product; I'm not running my goods
to save a dime or increase my profi t. "
One choice fabricators need to make
is whether they will do covers only in
the shop or on the water as well. Troxell
is a little in between. " We're near Lake
Pueblo, and I've worked on some boats
down there, but I've tried to frown on it, "
he explains. " Almost all our boats come to
us. Most of the marinas are going to ask for
a cut, so I typically try to get the customer
to fi nd a trailer and plan on doing a winter
job, bringing the job to us. In our facility,
I can get a 50-foot trailer and boat in, so I
can work on it year-round. I think the job
turns out much better. "

Marine Fabricator September/October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Marine Fabricator September/October 2022

Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - Cover1
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - Cover2
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 1
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 2
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 3
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 4
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 5
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 6
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 7
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 8
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 9
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 10
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 11
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 12
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 13
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 14
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 15
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Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 17
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 18
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 19
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 20
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 21
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 22
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Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 24
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 25
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 26
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 27
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 28
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 29
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 30
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 31
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Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 33
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 34
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 35
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Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 37
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 38
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 39
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 40
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 41
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 42
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 43
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 44
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 45
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 46
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 47
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 48
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - cover3
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - cover4
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - MFConf1
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - MFConf2
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - MFConf3
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - MFConf4
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - MFConf5
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