Stainless Steel Boat Frames Archives | Chicago Marine Canvas

July 7, 2022November 30, 2023

Dodger, Bimini and Frame Adjustment

Our team recently undertook an exciting project to update the dodger on a Jeanneau Yacht, customized to meet the specific needs of our valued customer. Dodgers are undoubtedly a perfect addition to any boat, much like bimini tops, providing protection and enhancing the overall boating experience. In this case, we focused on increasing the height of the dodger to ensure optimal functionality and comfort for the customer.

One of the notable features of this updated dodger is its windows, which are crafted from a polycarbonate semi-rigid material. This choice offers several advantages, including exceptional clarity that allows for unobstructed views of the surrounding environment. Furthermore, the material’s impressive durability guarantees that it will withstand the challenges of marine environments, while also providing effective rain protection. With this dodger in place, the customer can confidently enjoy their time on the yacht, even in adverse weather conditions

In addition to the top-notch materials used for the windows, we pride ourselves on the quality of the entire dodger construction. The thread and fabric utilized in most of our projects are of the highest caliber, ensuring longevity and strength.

We encourage you to visit Montrose Harbor to see the impressive results of this dodger update. You’ll find this project to be a testament to our expertise and dedication to meeting and exceeding our customers’ expectations.

December 16, 2018December 4, 2023

Winter Sailboat Cover – Cal 25 Sagatuck, MI

The owner of this Cal 25 contacted us to have a winter sailboat cover made for their boat which was being moved to Sagatuck, MI. The winters on the great lakes can be cold and snow fall totals can be in excess of 12″ per event. Instead of draping canvas over the boom and the rest of the hull we fabricated a heavy galvanized steel frame that would sit over all of the rigging and then rest outside of the lifelines. This would ultimately keep the cover off the Cal 25 sailboat itself but also allowed over 6′ of headroom underneath the cover to perform any maintenance or prep work before next season began.

The frame itself acts as a skeleton on top of the boat with a spine and then ribs supporting the winter sailboat cover. For practical purposes of installing and removing, the spine is broken into multiple pieces and joined. Each rib is fitted to spine with a through joint tightened down via screws. The equally spread out weight of the frame assists in stabilizing itself making it an extremely solid support structure. With rubber tips at the bottom of each rib the hull is protected from scratching.

The cover is split into a large forward and aft section adjoining together with a doubled up zipper and velcro flap. With the mast remaining up, we made small collars for each line, nine collars in total. The aft has an oversized access door that fully zippers down allowing large items to be moved in and out with the cover in place.

The beauty of our designs is the ease and quickness that the frame and cover can be installed. The frame is marked as to which pieces goes where and can be reconstructed in 30 minutes. The cover is then unfolded with all of the zippers securing around the mainstay lines. The collars to take time to zipper up and tie off but the install of the canvas should take another 1 hour. The bottom of the cover has connectors for lines made of webbing and not grommets which can scratch up the hull. It may take another 30 minutes to completely tie down the cover to the sailboat’s cradle. The goals is to have an easy to install / removed winter cover that be installed by 1 person in an afternoon.

September 15, 2017May 2, 2019

Full Enclosure & Sunpad

For this Sea Ray 500, the bridge was constricting the captain, so we raised the framing 6 inches for more headroom.

We also made a new aft frame for this boat so that the customers could have more shade with their new enclosure. We brought the pole out further towards the back of the boat, so that the bimini could be wider then their last cover.

After we did some adjustments on their framing, we went and took measurements with our 3d measuring device. Then our designer went back to the shop and started working his magic designing a custom enclosure.

Sea Ray 500 Custom Full Enclosure AFT View (Strataglass Roll Ups)

For this project we used Sunbrella fabric in Captains Navy, GORE tenara thread in black, Lenzip zippers. Both GORE tenara thread and Lenzip zippers have a lifetime warranty. That means they are guaranteed to last longer then your canvas and that the sun and water will not eat away at them!

For the forward windows we used Makrolon, which is made out of a polycarbanate that makes these windows semi-rigid! For the aft windows we used Strataglass. We did roll ups for some of the back windows for air flow when the cover is up. To ensure no water leakage in the roll up windows we used Lenzip’s waterproof chain zipper.

Sea Ray 500 Custom Sunpad

We also designed and sewed up four separate custom sunpads for this boat. We used Captains Navy Sunbrella upholstery fabric to match the new closure we created for them! These cushions have an Oyster Sunbrella piping around the edges to help create the illusion that these are all one long cushion! They also have two easily removable headrests that have pockets in the back of them for storage so that things don’t go flying away when you are out and about. They are attached to the boat with custom velcro straps that wrap around poles located down each side of the center of the boat. These cushions aren’t going anywhere but where the boat takes them!

Sea Ray 500 Custom Sunpad Detail Of Head Rest

They are made out of active foams dryfast foam. Dryfast foam is an open-cell foam that allows water to go through the foam instead of absorbing it like other foams. These cushions will get dry way quicker if they get wet out on the water or soaked after a rain storm. They also have a white screen on their underside to also help with water drainage along with a large horse shoe shaped zipper for easy removal if the customer wants to throw these in the wash at the end of the year.