Freeman 23 - Anne

F23 flittermouse wrote:The bottom mud is nice and soft on the Broads, you have to be very unlucky to do prop damage

Definately stone/shingle, lots of clattering/ringing noises 

Anne got her new canopy today 

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All I have to do now is pay for it 

Photos!!!!!!!

I was in the (somewhat painful) process of adding one...more to come

Vert smart!!

Looks good

Agree, Jealous......waiting for quotes, apparently order over winter with a well known Norfolk company (Not Hyde   ) and get VAT off, so I'm being told !

very smart ...

That firm in Norfolk is one of the best. Many years ago I had a query and found myself on the phone with a member of the Jekyll family in person who kindly posted me a packet of the nylon whatsits I needed FOC. You don't forget.
Years ago I bought a pair of loafers made by Loake Bros of Northampton. A decorative buckle fell off. When I phoned them in my lunch hour, and theirs too, it was answered by a Mr Loake in person. How often do you get to speak to a director of a PLC? The buckle was replaced and I've never ceased wanting to recommend their firm and their shoes on account of the experience. I like the idea that the boss will cover the phones and thus be in contact with customers. Directors and general managers usually never actually speak to a customer and they normally have a personal number when phoning in to ever know of any usual difficulty of getting through! Off topic but ,,,
And the new hood looks strikingly Blue! You'll be easily recognised. No need for your Forum burgee!

Stephen wrote:.      That firm in Norfolk is one of the best.

And I believe one of the most expensive ! We shall see, not the only quote awaited

I have a canopy made by them..... it's three seasons old and was covered over the winter for the first two and the boat dry stored last winter. I keep it clean and proofed ,,, the stitching is coming undone in several places and I am a little disappointed as it cost a lot of money . I will be taking it back to them at the end of the season I will keep you posted on their response .

driftwood wrote: ,,, the stitching is coming undone in several places and I am a little disappointed as it cost a lot of money .

That's quite ironic, I was told( by a competitor so thought it was just sales blurb ) that the thread they use is not the best ! I still think this is a bit of sour grapes on the others behalf, I can't see a company economising on what must be a small part of the total cost but a large part of its long term quality. Their response to your problem will be eagerly looked forward to Mark.

PS My existing PVC hood made by the company under discussion is of indeterminate age, I've had the boat 4 years and it wasn't new by a long way then, the stitching in some of the more stressed parts has had some repairs done and could do with some more now. In general with others experience it seems the fabric does tend to shrink or stiffen with the ravages of time, which does put the stitching under duress, hence the desire to renew in the near future.

Looks very nice Pat. A really nice fitting canopy makes all the difference. Like the blue.

Mosquito net - what a great idea!!

Simritdave wrote:Mosquito net - what a great idea!!

Not sure where it came from the canopy maker looked a little [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] when I said that's what I wanted, even said it would be really hard to do.
When I explained further it was a [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] moment, I have to say he made a cracking job of it

That company from Norfolk made a canopy for a boat in our club/marina.... it almost ended in court.  Solicitors were involved..... not a very good job, sadly.  2 to 3 inches out in places.....

When I wrote on this topic mentioning the firm favourably I'd forgotten they did make a hood for me once, from scratch for a vintage boat, and it impressed me that Mr J came in person to measure up, to Windsor!
It wasn't just for me he explained - they toured round when they'd made enough appointments. We were very pleased with the result but that was so many years ago not necessarily the same today. I suppose for the likely outlay it would be worthwhile asking to be first shown examples of their recent work even if involving an all-day journey to Norfolk. Might also give you ideas for improving the design you had in mind.

Canopy makers are like Marmite ! You love em or hate em. It seems for every satisfied customer there's a complaint one. And its not always price that dictates this anomaly, the cheapest I've found are based in  Cornwall (no visits obviously, they want my old to copy) and the dearest (hearsay at present till I get my quote) are the ones at Wroxham Norfolk.
I suppose the way to go is to specify down to the last cringle and make sure they are aware of your requirements, the quality of the stitching shouldn't normally be an issue, it is the fit and the fixings that give the canopy its edge.
Prof, yours looks a treat, I'm still debating PVC or Acrylic. From the picture you seem to have gone for tie downs behind the zipped flap, presumably with elasticated cord from there to the front ?

One of our local canopy makers is using a new fabric.  It is a modern tech fabric.  It is as light as acrylic canvas and benefits from the waterproofness of vinyl.  It is light grey inside, even if blue outside.  It has a carbon fiber style weave on the inside.  I'll try to get the trade name for it.  It is proving very popular.  It also has a long life expectancy.

F23 flittermouse wrote:
Prof, yours looks a treat, I'm still debating PVC or Acrylic. From the picture you seem to have gone for tie downs behind the zipped flap, presumably with elasticated cord from there to the front ?

They're just Velcro on covers, you peel them off rather than roll then up
There's a mosquito net on the back panel that's an extra layer, both it and the rear panel are zipped, and they both latch to the turnbuckles on the transom.

I was of two minds for material, less condensation from the canvas sold it to me in the end. Hopefully we'll get out on the boat next weekend, so I'll let you know how we find it compared to the vinyl.

Thanks Prof, wasn't what I was questioning but good to get ideas on others thoughts.
The inner blinds are an excellent idea and with the velcro attachment should be easy to use, just tell Sandra and Katie to wear a hat , hair can pull on the Velcro especially if the hook side is the one on the side / rear fixed panels.
The mossy net is a nice touch too,  my old canopy has a separate net panel with poppers round it, never have found where it was supposed to fit to this day !

My original query was re the side panel bottom fixings, Freeman I believe supply the elastic cord option to the whole cockpit side, my "newer" old is Jeckles with individual bungee /ball ties, my "old" old has the continuous elastic. The continuous elastic won't work where you have roll up side entrances which it looks as if you have, sooooooo the question is........are the sides held with continuous elastic from the entrance to the front with what looks like a couple of individual ties on the rear section ?
Sorry if my ramblings don't make sense !

Derek,  my canopy (and winter cover, come to that), was made by a chap, whom I have known for may years, now semi retired, lives in Gorleston.  If you want to try him, it's Henry Patrick 01493 668392

Ah, gotcha

There's elasticated cord for the door and a seperate one for the fwd section. The rwd section behind the door has the twisty turnbuckle things. The fwd zip on the door goes all the way up, so you can take the door and rwd section out, leaving the fwd section in place....if that makes sense

Prof Pat Pending wrote:Ah, gotcha
There's elasticated cord for the door and a seperate one for the fwd section. The rwd section behind the door has the twisty turnbuckle things. The fwd zip on the door goes all the way up, so you can take the door and rwd section out, leaving the fwd section in place....if that makes sense

Completely thanks, I had a zip out entrance door added to the starbrd side panel only, mine has both zips to the top so it can come out independently from the front or back section, so I was wondering how to achieve the bottom fixing without reverting to individual ball loops on a new one, your method seems to cover it well.

Simritdave wrote:Derek,  my canopy (and winter cover, come to that), was made by a chap, whom I have known for may years, now semi retired, lives in Gorleston.  If you want to try him, it's Henry Patrick 01493 668392

Thanks Dave, will give him a try and let you know how it goes.