2023 Archive : Sea Ray Bowrider & Screen

Project Details

Fabric 1

Boatmaster RECacril Acrylic Canvas Captain Navy
Producer/Manufacturer: Reid & Twiname Ltd
Primary Use: Main Fabric

Fabric 2

Durables, stainless steel eyelets, side release buckles
Producer/Manufacturer: Reid & Twiname Ltd
Primary Use: Hardware/Findings

Please describe the project specifications

The client (based in Christchurch) had bought a boat online sight unseen, with the intention of ferrying across to our part of the North Island to pick it up.

He wanted a cover and engaged us to quote the job because he wanted to be able to just get the boat home and get it straight onto the water, rather than waiting around getting the cover done once he'd got it back to Christchurch.

We had a window to complete the job because he had already booked his ferry crossings! Which in turn was completely blown out anyway since the seller of the boat took it into get a WOF, and the wheels fell off the trailer as the nuts has been left off - setting the project back by two weeks.

While the wheels were sent out of town for repair, the boat was in a mechanic's workshop across town and able to be worked on from there.

The initial work therefore was to template the cover from the mechanics workshop, fabricate it and fit it by the time the trailer was roadworthy (and meet the client's new ferry ticket timetable, which he'd gone ahead and purchased already, again).

The specifications were to design, fabricate and fit a boat cover with the following attributes:
- Bow rider to be connected to the windscreen back cover
- Fabric colour to tie in nicely with the blue of the boat
- Eyelet for centre pole to go through

What is unique or complex about the project?

This job stuck out for us as a real tricky one to coordinate, and that ended up having a finish we were really proud of.

Working with a client who was in the South Island was challenging and so to communicate we did a lot of phone calls and shared videos back and forth at the various stages. We also ended up being a bit of a go-between so that the client could see the condition of the trailer to help his tense dealings with the boat seller.

When the boat was in the mechanics across town, we traveled there and decided we should template the entire cover from there. We were trying to plan ahead, so that when the boat was roadworthy again and we could bring it to the workshop, our scope of works was a lot less. This was all in aid of meeting the client's next ferry crossing.

It was a challenging work-around in that we had to carry it out in a mechanics workshop after all, and not a canvas fabricator’s workshop. And we had an even more limited window to finish the job.

Lucky we had pre-templated the job!

We carried out specific tailoring around covering the windshield – he wanted a full glass cover road cover, so we created tailored panels. With these we tailored the entire cover to suit to protect the windshield, and fully cover the bow rider.

With the client only able to look at videos and pictures, the colour choice was ultimately ours to make to ensure it matched the boat's blue colour as closely as possible.

There were some limiting niggly factors to the templating and fabrication, including having to work with the existing fittings and their placement. Where they had pulled out of the fibre glass we had to reinstall the fittings accordingly.

At the same time as this was happening, issues were arising between the boat seller and our client, as to who would pay for what, and our bill was up in the air.

Once completed we took a video of the completed scope of works (bow rider cover, and road cover) to send to the client for sign off. He accepted and paid the balance, though had unfortunately missed his ferry due to adverse weather events (stuck in Picton). He then asked if we would engage a tow truck company on his behalf, to transport the boat to the ferry terminal for him.

We bent over backwards to make all of this happen, and felt our service was second to none!

At the end of the day the client was hugely appreciative and when he finally got to see the boat in the flesh and got it home, he was thrilled with both the service and the bow rider & shield cover.

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