Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 28

" I didn't make a black
cover for 25 years. Now I
make two or three black
covers a week. But I think
blue, navy blue, forest
green-those colors take
a beating; they absorb
so much sun that you'll
get a couple of years
less usage from them.
Tan never fades; it seems
to last a little longer. "
Ben Lange,
Wyoming Canvas
The biggest issue Berkey runs into
is making a cover for a boat that's been
customized. " Whatever boat we're covering,
I have to make sure things have
not been added to it, " he explains. " I
require the customer to take a picture
of the boat and send it to me. I've had
people say, 'I need a cover for my pontoon
boat.' Then I see the boat and the
owner has fi shing rod holders mounted
on it, it has a grill and a trolling motor-
and now I have to work around all that
stuff. The cost goes up because there's
just that much more labor. When inquiring
about what the customer wants,
we make sure to ask those questions. "
Digital tools speed the process
While many fabricators still make boat
covers measuring by hand, some, like Rob
Kotowski, owner of Lake Shore Boat Top
Co. Inc., in St. Clair Shores, Mich., have
gone digital. " We use a Prodim digitizer,
and for some projects we do a lot of 2D
and 3D CAD design as well, " he says.
" Every job is its own animal. "
Once Kotowski's shop patterns a
cover, he says, " we have a process that
turns almost every job into a production-style
process. We're not doing 20
or 30 of the same covers for the same
model of boat. We are reaching a client
base that is looking for something special
to make it their own. But the digital
process allows us a starting point. "
Once a boat is in the shop's digital
library,
Kotowski can now " mass
produce " the enclosure for that boat
for years to come. " If a customer loses a
panel or something damages it, as long
as something hasn't been changed or
altered too terribly much, we have the
ability to produce it again. "
One challenge boat cover makers face is
when owners customize their boats. " Whatever
boat we're covering, I have to make
sure things have not been added to it, " says
Rick Berkey of Rick's Custom Marine Canvas
and Sail Repair, Cornelius, N.C. Photo: Rick's
Custom Marine Canvas and Sail Repair
28 Marine Fabricator | September/October 2022

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
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 16
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
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 23
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
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 32
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 33
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 34
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 35
Marine Fabricator September/October 2022 - 36
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
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-may-june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-march-april-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-tips-and-trends-supplement-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-january-february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-november-december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-september-october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-july-august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-may-june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-march-april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-january-february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-november-december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/ata/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-september-october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-july-august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-may-june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-march-april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-january-february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-november-december-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-september-october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-july-august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-may-june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/marine-fabricator-march-april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0121MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/1120MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0920MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0720MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0520MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0320MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0120MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/1119MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0919MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0719MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0519MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0319MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0119MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/1118MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0918MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0718MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0518MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0318MF
https://www.nxtbook.com/ifai/marinefabricator/0118MF
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com