Bulwark Cap Rail Covers

The Caribbean sun is doing a number on the teak.  Before I start varnishing I want to at least know that it will be protected when I am not there.  Here are photos of the covers I constructed.

At home, where I had the sewing machine, I created the basic foundation for my covers.  For each side I made 7-inch wide strips, double-hemmed on each side, 42 feet long.  For the stern, the strip was 9 inches wide and only 10 feet long.  I used Sunbrella fabric and V-92 thread.  For sewing the double hems I spooled the fabric off a broom (as shown in picture).  The spool kept the double hem folded and allowed it to easily feed into the machine.  I used Sailrite advice and videos from their website and was inspired to buy a Sailrite machine after struggling through this project with a less suitable machine.

The cap rail is interrupted by three stanchions on each side and two in the stern.  I cut openings for each stanchion, but had to do that at the boat. I had pre-made the velcro pads at home on the machine but at the boat I had to hand-sew them in place.  Each one took me about an hour to hand sew.  I did them at anchor with a cocktail after the kids had gone to bed.  (My new Sailrite will come with the Monster Wheel for hand cranking).  This picture also shows some of the creative ways I found to attach the covers to the boat so that I could limit the number of snaps.  There is a loop of webbing around the mooring post and a tie through the hawse pipe.

I was able to limit the use of snaps to four on each side and two on the stern.  The reason to limit snaps is that the sockets are screwed into the fiberglass, are not as pretty and will corrode.  This picture shows my how I hung the water bottles directly opposite the snaps to avoid pulling the cover off.  The snaps are positioned to put slight tension on the fabric.

I cut slits for the ladder attachment points.  I tried to do most cuts with the hot knife. but found that cutting with scissors and singeing with a lighter also worked.  Here again I can attach the cover with a tie through the hawse pipe.

I avoided snaps in the back by tying the corners together (Kate's idea).

When I made mistakes I kept going.  Here I cut the opening for the back stay in the wrong spot and just patched it

I hung bottles filled with seawater on outside so that I did not need hardware on the outside hull (thanks to Tom from Nomad for that idea).  I used a constrictor knot around the neck of the bottles and tied them to the grommet with two strands.  The line through the grommet should prevent the grommets from hitting the paint in the wind.

More bottles hanging.  I used one bottle for the corner.

I thought it was clever to use one bottle in the corner.