Sunbrella® Horizon® marine vinyl is engineered to maximize durability, stretch and recovery, fade resistance and reduce pink staining, so it needs replacement less frequently. Photo: Sunbrella Driven by ethics, increasingly stringent regulations and demand by customers, marine fabricators continue to fine-tune their raw materials, products and practices to be gentler on the environment. Some industry [...]

Like everything else COVID-19 hit, the pandemic delivered a blow to workplace leadership development. At the same time, the pressure on leaders to deliver outstanding results hasn’t abated, often leaving millennials who are stepping into more senior roles—and Gen Zers who will begin doing so—struggling to develop their “managerial instincts.” Today’s leaders not only need [...]

A wall displaying nearly 30 years of industry awards marks the entrance to Mike’s Marine Custom Canvas in Virginia Beach, Va.—a testament to the shop’s history of quality and craftsmanship.  An idea sparked during a conversation between Dan Johnson, owner of Mike’s Marine Custom Canvas, and an industry colleague at a Marine Fabricators Conference helped solve [...]

ID 173732994 © Svetlanais | Dreamstime.com Zippers can feel like a wild beast that can never be tamed,” says Mike Boatman, owner of Boatman Marine Canvas in Oklahoma City, Okla. “When you start working with zippers for the first time, you find out really quick that it’s not as simple as sewing the zipper onto [...]

Sponsored by the Marine Fabricators Association (MFA), the Fabrication Excellence Awards contest is designed to recognize excellence in marine fabrication. The entries are judged by a panel of certified marine professionals. Awards of Excellence and Outstanding Achievement Awards are given in each category. The MFA recognizes two Awards of Distinction, chosen from the Award of [...]

Charlton’s Marine Canvas is seeing strong demand for sunfly shades, which are becoming increasingly popular with customers who desire more shade on their boats but don’t want a permanent structure that gets in the way. Photo: Charlton’s Marine Canvas The owner of a Ranger Tug wanted a full permanent top along with an enclosure on [...]

ID 211011275 © Valiantsin Suprunovich | Dreamstime.com Death and taxes may be certain, but for those who own boats, so is canvas damage. For many marine fabricators, the industry is becoming increasingly complex due to computerized patterning software, innovative high-tech materials and tools, and advanced methods for accomplishing just about anything. But most shops still have a hand [...]

The Time Standards Manual was developed in 1996 by the Marine Fabricators Association (MFA), a division of the Advanced Textiles Association, to serve as a benchmark that shop owners can use to set fabrication times, with which they can generate competitive labor costs. The manual is an ongoing project that continues to grow and change [...]

The right industrial sewing machine can make or break a shop owner’s success in the exacting, often fast-paced world of marine fabrication. Making the correct choice can streamline production, increase profitability and minimize unnecessary stress. Photo: © Evgeniy Parilov | Dreamstime.com Every fabrication shop owner knows that choosing the right industrial sewing machine can make [...]

When securing one thing to another thing, the project often dictates the method, which is why in most shops you’ll find an array of attachment tools and hardware. Still, some are relied on more than others, inspiring us to wonder—what fasteners and attachment tools can’t marine fabricators do without? Here’s what they told us.  Stayput [...]