What the heck is wrong with canvas people?

Florida is a seasonal boat spot.

No company can staff for the peak season , and survive the many dry months .

ASK other boaters who does the "best" work , and get on line with them.

A personal visit to the shop you select is far better to get on line than a mere phone call.

Drifting a bit; there is a merit badge in Boy Scouts, Personal Management, required for Eagle. When I was running a troop I would teach that badge and at some point hand the boy (usually about 14 or 15) a $20 bill and ask him if he'd rather have that or the next hour. They always close the $. Then I'd take the 20 back and ask them to perform a simple task for which I'd pay them $20, might take them 30 minutes to an hour. Then we'd talk about how they could earn an hour. Most got it; I hope they remember it.

At one large marina they had an approved contractor list. 2 complaints and they were off the list. The contractor I picked was responsive, competent, and fairly priced.

Just an update here, as to how I'm coming along. I ended up getting 7 bids, 3 more than I intended. Three of the contractors I contacted near the beginning took so long to get bids to me that I crossed them off the list but they finally got back to me after the other four bids came in.

I ended up going with Scrimsher Yacht Canvas, he was actually the first guy I spoke with and he came highly recommended. He got his bid in to me quickly and he was priced near the lowest.

He originally told me the job would not be done until Mid May, but two boats in front of me on his list were delayed and he moved me up. It's almost done now, I'm happy so far. I'll post pics when finished.

BTW the bids ranged from $6,200 to $14,800, exact same materials for all bids.

Thanks for the follow up, pics when finished would be sweet

As FF posted, no small business can balance out their workload, especially something seasonal like boat repairs. The smart thing to do is to contract for non-emergency work during the off season.


As for "Sew it yourself.", like most trades, canvas sewing takes some skill, training, experience and equipment. I've sewn things like seat and equipment covers myself, but the results are not as pretty as if I had paid to have a pro do them. I wouldn't take on something as difficult and visible as an entire bimini top.