• Restyled sleeping cabins

    Published On: May 1, 2016Categories: Interiors & Upholstery, Projects

    Interior sleeping cabins on a vessel have always been my favorite projects. I enjoy researching options and ultimately providing customers with tidy solutions that offer easy accessibility. Cabin spaces and mattresses come in all shapes and sizes. One of my clients claims to sleep 14 people on his 54-foot Bertram with only three interior cabins, [...]

  • Lazy Jack – stack pack sail covers

    Published On: March 1, 2016Categories: How-To Articles, Projects

    Click on the images in the gallery below for a step by step guide. These names are some of the descriptions for a process of suspending sail covers. I started making these Lazy Jack covers 20 years ago, as a progress/advance of the Lazy Jack rope system, designed to help flake a main [...]

  • Elegant performance in stripes

    Published On: March 1, 2016Categories: Interiors & Upholstery, Projects

    Stripes come in every color, shape and size. A two-color stripe can even be juxtaposed to form an eye-catching pattern. Striking stripe patterns can be matched or combined with solid colors to provide dramatic effects for your next project. Stripes are more popular than ever. Sunbrella likes them so much, subtle as well as dramatic [...]

  • Window treatments to WOW your customers

    Published On: January 1, 2016Categories: Interiors & Upholstery, Projects

    Roman shades are a popular choice because they give a yacht interior a very soft yet refined look. This article presents options for the perfect look and fit for those challenging yacht windows. A bit of experience will help, but don’t be daunted by the encounter; just reading this page likely means you [...]

  • Ready to share 35 years of fabrication experience

    Published On: January 1, 2016Categories: Management, Projects

    Dave Elliott's shop is located at Manly Boat Harbour, Brisbane, Australia, where the local marina is home to four yacht clubs and 1,700 boats in the water and 400 on land. In this series of articles, I will be introducing you to another talented fabricator, Aaron Stroud-Smith from Canvas Barn Marine Trimming, located [...]

  • Child’s play

    Published On: September 1, 2015Categories: Features, Interiors & Upholstery, Projects

    Even when piloting the boat, the needs of children present a new kind of opportunity for marine fabricators. Kid-friendly boat interiors balance durability, safety and plenty of fun. Kids are fun and adorable. They’re also clumsy and messy. So when boat owners decide to spend time on the water with their children and [...]

  • Cushion security issues

    Published On: September 1, 2015Categories: Interiors & Upholstery, Projects

    I love going to boat shows, especially to investigate how all of the new boats keep their cushions attached. Traditionally cushions were snapped or screwed through boat rails and/or secured via T-nuts or spider bolts to wood bases. Now there are such options as ridged plastic Velcro found in industrial-supplies stores. Meanwhile, top-of-the-line vessels push [...]

  • Bringing back Acania

    Published On: September 1, 2015Categories: Features, Interiors & Upholstery, Projects

    Faithful restoration brings back the style of the roaring '20s. Back in the 1920s and ’30s, large, luxurious cruising yachts were status symbols—often produced for the wealthy who sought to entertain and delight their guests in these elaborate vessels. When built, they earned accolades aplenty—even The New York Times published articles touting the ordering and [...]

  • Working with pattern angles

    Published On: September 1, 2015Categories: How-To Articles, Projects

    This article is a preview of our hands-on presentation at the Marine Fabricators Conference this coming Jan. 14-16 in Clearwater, Fla. I want to talk about manipulation of pattern angles for both better quality and less time spent patterning. I will attempt to simplify and not talk about one-step patterns here. Most really large jobs [...]

  • Kid-friendly interiors

    Published On: August 24, 2015Categories: Interiors & Upholstery, Projects

    Marine fabricators emphasize durability, health and safety when designing kid-friendly boat interiors. Designing boat interiors with families in mind requires special attention. Marine fabricators first must understand how customers intend to use their boat before making suggestions on fabric choice, lodging and storage solutions that will meet all of their needs for having children onboard. [...]