New Canvas for a boat

[sail sfbay]

Originally Posted by SVSweetestThing

.............quotes for a dodger and bimini and quotes are coming in upwards of 10K+ (38 ft boat)............ Are these crazy high prices or the norm? What have you all paid for high-quality material for the same?...........

That price is about right based on my canvas cost for a Hunter 386 and Hunter 46 2-years ago and in both cases the frame was reused in the San Francisco Bay. Canvas was Sunbrella and glass was Makrolon and recommend padded dodger covers that contact the glass. Boat canvas is labor intensive and custom fit. A hardtop dodger will add cost up front but will reduce replacement dodger cost.

[Scubaseas]

You might try looking at or talk to the good people at Island Nautical. No relation to them other than having bought dodgers from them in the past.

Island Nautical Canvas

My new to me 42' boat had a quote for $10K for canvas with screens and curtains. I'll do it myself or hard dodger it for that kind of money. The pricing you are getting maybe "we're busy" here's huge estimate or "we really don't want to do it" price.

[TravelinLight]

Originally Posted by kenL

I need a new dodger and enclosure made for my 38 foot sloop and am considering using 1/4 inch thick Starboard to make a hard dodger and bimini. The stainless tubing is already there. I have done other projects with it and found that with a heat gun the material can be bent around a curve quite easily and the final shape could be trimmed after shaping. The material can be through bolted to the tubing. A thicker edging could be made where snaps or toggles for windshields and side panels need to connect. The 1/4 inch material is not heavy and can be had in 54x96 sheets for $200 or so. Has anyone out there heard of using Starboard for this.

Check out the Youtube channel Free Range Sailing They have almost a step by step video on both of their dodger builds like this.

[JPA Cate]

In case the OP might be interested, here is a link to a thread about making one's own hard dodger: https://www.cruisersforum.com/.../su...-construction- please-127763.html

By the way, the OP's question for input has shown up in the Multihull forum, and if it is here, correctly, rather than in the Monohull forum, said dodger will vary considerably from one for a monohull, which may affect the costs involved, as well.

Ann

[Emoyeni]

10,000 reasons why I will be building a hard dodger for my boat.

[seabreez]

Originally Posted by SVSweetestThing

Hi All,
I don't want to upset anyone when I ask this as I'm coming from a place of not doing this before and was just in sticker shock.

in the process of getting quotes for a dodger and bimini and quotes are coming in upwards of 10K+ (38 ft boat).

If It's justified, I'm willing to pay the price, I just have no experience and cant tie the price to the value. You could buy a decent car or boat for this price

We had a top made for a 24 foot Limestone Cruiser and paid 6000$. That included all new stainless frame, a top of Sailrite, all new clear view side curtains, new screens, a windshield cover and a tonneau cover for winter storage. We were very happy to have it done professionally. It is now 8 years ago and when travelling, we always get comments on how good the top looks and the fit is excellent and still is very good to remove and reinstall after all that time. This was a very good investment. It was done in Thornhill Ontario, five hours from where we are.

[mvweebles]

Marine canvas market in SF Bay Area is pretty competitive. And small business costs are pretty high. My hunch is that when you examine the construction details of professionally made dodger, you will better understand the talent a seasoned pro brings to the design and construction of a well crafted dodger. I've had Thompson Walking Foot machine for 25 years and have done a fair amount of sewing. For a dodger, I would not be satisfied with the quality I could produce.

By the time it's all done including the measurements and admin work, having over 100 hours of labor is not out of line.

Peter

[Tortuga's Lie]

$10000 seems a bit high to me. Does it include a full enclosure? If it does, the price may be competitive for California but here on the Chesapeake, I paid $7000 for a doger/bimini/enclosure from one of the "Best of the Bay" shops; this is for my 41 footer with a 13.5' beam, I had existing frame work. They used Sunbrella and Stratoglass.

In the future, I would like to have a radar arch built with an integral hard bimini, the dodger is not real deep so that would likely remain fabric and a connector panel to the hard bimini.

[mjgill1]

Originally Posted by Sailor647

$10,000 is in the ball park.

Here's why:

* Labor - I worked as an apprentice for a canvas company in 2015 and was able build our dodger and bimini on the weekends. (With their instruction and guidance.) Their shop rate they charged customers labor was $75 per hour. The shop rate covered the sewer's staff's pay of $15 per hour, plus all the insurance, taxes, business expenses, utilities, etc.) The owner was making a living, but he wasn't getting rich by any means.

Nailed it. It costs $75/hour to pay someone $15/hour due to all of the punitive costs of doing business. These costs may vary slightly depending on the state of the mafia...I mean govt. in the area of the shop. On the one hand it's a sad state of affairs. On the other hand, it drives people to become more self sufficient and do things for themselves or outside of that system. Facts and Philosophy.

[SVSweetestThing]

Thanks all for the responses. I had never had a dodger/bimini built before and was in a little shellshock when we hit the 10K price point for a pretty standard build. Definitely not going to DIY this though as I want it to turn outright.

[guyrj33]

10K, that’s incredible it’s hard to imagine is somebody spending a months worth of labor building a dodger.
I did decide to sew my own and I’m glad I did.
It’s not perfect, some of the seams wander a bit and I’d make minor adjustments if I do it again.

[Emoyeni]

Originally Posted by guyrj33

10K, that’s incredible it’s hard to imagine is somebody spending a months worth of labor building a dodger.
I did decide to sew my own and I’m glad I did.
It’s not perfect, some of the seams wander a bit and I’d make minor adjustments if I do it again.

$10,000 GOOD LOOOORD THATS EXPENSIVE!

[chris mac]

As I mentioned earlier, we ordered a hardtop instead of building a new vinyl bimini.
The actual hardtop, not including frame, is under $8000. Frame is estimated 3-5 k
So not much more than new vinyl, kinda crazy!

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by SVSweetestThing

Thanks all for the responses. I had never had a dodger/bimini built before and was in a little shellshock when we hit the 10K price point for a pretty standard build. Definitely not going to DIY this though as I want it to turn outright.

Well, if you can afford to spend $10,000 just so your dodger "turns out right" more power to you, I spent about $450 to build my own and it's fine, but money comes dear to me.

By the way, I spent $5000 for a high end used luxury used car with 46,000 miles. It has leather seats air conditioning, power everything, computer everything, goes easily over 100mph, the back seat is like a living room, everything works, and was in mint condition. Boat stuff is a total rip off.

[Emoyeni]

Originally Posted by wingssail

Well, if you can afford to spend $10,000 just so your dodger "turns out right" more power to you, I spent about $450 to build my own and it's fine, but money comes dear to me.

By the way, I spent $5000 for a high end used luxury used car with 46,000 miles. It has leather seats air conditioning, power everything, computer everything, goes easily over 100mph, the back seat is like a living room, everything works, and was in mint condition. Boat stuff is a total rip off.

Took a look at your blog, pretty cool stuff! Do you have a photo of how your dodger turned out?