One material that I have not seen in shops but is talked about for car
covers etc is Dupont's Tyvek - This is a white material that is very tough -
You see this used for Fedex envelopes and for sheathing houses. It is
apparently waterproof and very light. Anyone know of anyone making boat
tarps from this material? Any experience with it?

Graham

I have no experience with Tyvek as a cover, but it is apparently used:

http://www.widgets.ws/prod/Barts-Wat...at-Covers.html

We use a hevay duty tarp on our boat. Some synthetic textile covered
with PVC on both sides. The kind you see on covered trucks. Definitely not
lightweight, but very durable. I have no idea of the cost, as it came
with the boat when we bought it secondhand.

--
Strange attractors stole my wife

I have no experience with Tyvek as a cover, but it is apparently used:

http://www.widgets.ws/prod/Barts-Wat...at-Covers.html

We use a hevay duty tarp on our boat. Some synthetic textile covered
with PVC on both sides. The kind you see on covered trucks. Definitely not
lightweight, but very durable. I have no idea of the cost, as it came
with the boat when we bought it secondhand.

--
Strange attractors stole my wife

We have used the same heavy oiled canvas tarp cover on our boat for 14 years,
and it is still good to go (although will need to have the stitching redone
next year). These are available from Defender. Sunbrella does not fare well
with abrasion we have found.

Larry DeMers


Graham wrote:

Canvas winter covers are expensive and rot out in about 10 years (Quoted
C$1400 for a 36x22). Cheap woven plastic tarps wear out in a year or two
(Can buy similar size for C$100 - $200)

Has anyone used any other type of cover? One would think that here would be
some type of synthetic fabric that would outlast canvas yet still have it's
weight and abrasion resistance.

We have used the same heavy oiled canvas tarp cover on our boat for 14 years,
and it is still good to go (although will need to have the stitching redone
next year). These are available from Defender. Sunbrella does not fare well
with abrasion we have found.

Larry DeMers


Graham wrote:

Canvas winter covers are expensive and rot out in about 10 years (Quoted
C$1400 for a 36x22). Cheap woven plastic tarps wear out in a year or two
(Can buy similar size for C$100 - $200)

Has anyone used any other type of cover? One would think that here would be
some type of synthetic fabric that would outlast canvas yet still have it's
weight and abrasion resistance.

We generally recommend Surlast. It is lighter in weight than Sunbrella
and is just as durable if not a little more. Restitching every few years
is normal unless you use Gortex thread which is generally more expensive
than you would want for a cover. Fixing chafe points etc is just normal
maintenance for something like a cover. Blue plastic tarps are generally
a poor choice as they tend to act alot like sandpaper, especially if placed
over canvas items like biminis and dodgers. We had a case where one
caused damage when used through only one storm.

Doug

"Graham" wrote in message
...
Canvas winter covers are expensive and rot out in about 10 years (Quoted
C$1400 for a 36x22). Cheap woven plastic tarps wear out in a year or two
(Can buy similar size for C$100 - $200)

Has anyone used any other type of cover? One would think that here would
be
some type of synthetic fabric that would outlast canvas yet still have
it's
weight and abrasion resistance.

We generally recommend Surlast. It is lighter in weight than Sunbrella
and is just as durable if not a little more. Restitching every few years
is normal unless you use Gortex thread which is generally more expensive
than you would want for a cover. Fixing chafe points etc is just normal
maintenance for something like a cover. Blue plastic tarps are generally
a poor choice as they tend to act alot like sandpaper, especially if placed
over canvas items like biminis and dodgers. We had a case where one
caused damage when used through only one storm.

Doug

"Graham" wrote in message
...
Canvas winter covers are expensive and rot out in about 10 years (Quoted
C$1400 for a 36x22). Cheap woven plastic tarps wear out in a year or two
(Can buy similar size for C$100 - $200)

Has anyone used any other type of cover? One would think that here would
be
some type of synthetic fabric that would outlast canvas yet still have
it's
weight and abrasion resistance.

I'm thinking hard about using Tyvek this year to cover my pearson 422. You
can buy it at Home Depot in wide rolls. Dupont advocates using it for
covers, see http://www.tyvek.com/na/covers/english/. It has also been
advocated for sails: http://www.boat-links.com/Tyvek/ and for hiking.

The problems I see are 1) I'm not sure about its abrasion resistance, 2) how
to join it at the seams, and 3) how to attach grommets (I saw an article
that said there is a problem). I have used Tyvek tape (not made of Tyvek -
used to join it) to hold blue tarps together over the winter and it faired
better than any other tape I have used. DuPont gives instructions for
sewing on their web site, but that's not something I want to get into until
I have a workable pattern. Maybe the tape is good enough???

Derek


"Graham" wrote in message
...
One material that I have not seen in shops but is talked about for car
covers etc is Dupont's Tyvek - This is a white material that is very
tough -
You see this used for Fedex envelopes and for sheathing houses. It is
apparently waterproof and very light. Anyone know of anyone making boat
tarps from this material? Any experience with it?

Graham

I'm thinking hard about using Tyvek this year to cover my pearson 422. You
can buy it at Home Depot in wide rolls. Dupont advocates using it for
covers, see http://www.tyvek.com/na/covers/english/. It has also been
advocated for sails: http://www.boat-links.com/Tyvek/ and for hiking.

The problems I see are 1) I'm not sure about its abrasion resistance, 2) how
to join it at the seams, and 3) how to attach grommets (I saw an article
that said there is a problem). I have used Tyvek tape (not made of Tyvek -
used to join it) to hold blue tarps together over the winter and it faired
better than any other tape I have used. DuPont gives instructions for
sewing on their web site, but that's not something I want to get into until
I have a workable pattern. Maybe the tape is good enough???

Derek


"Graham" wrote in message
...
One material that I have not seen in shops but is talked about for car
covers etc is Dupont's Tyvek - This is a white material that is very
tough -
You see this used for Fedex envelopes and for sheathing houses. It is
apparently waterproof and very light. Anyone know of anyone making boat
tarps from this material? Any experience with it?

Graham

Interesting links, I always just thought Tyvek was housewrap.

I wonder how this stuff compares to sunbrella fabric?

"Derek Rowell" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking hard about using Tyvek this year to cover my pearson 422.
You
can buy it at Home Depot in wide rolls. Dupont advocates using it for
covers, see http://www.tyvek.com/na/covers/english/. It has also been
advocated for sails: http://www.boat-links.com/Tyvek/ and for hiking.

The problems I see are 1) I'm not sure about its abrasion resistance, 2)
how
to join it at the seams, and 3) how to attach grommets (I saw an article
that said there is a problem). I have used Tyvek tape (not made of
Tyvek -
used to join it) to hold blue tarps together over the winter and it faired
better than any other tape I have used. DuPont gives instructions for
sewing on their web site, but that's not something I want to get into
until
I have a workable pattern. Maybe the tape is good enough???

Derek


"Graham" wrote in message
...
One material that I have not seen in shops but is talked about for car
covers etc is Dupont's Tyvek - This is a white material that is very
tough -
You see this used for Fedex envelopes and for sheathing houses. It is
apparently waterproof and very light. Anyone know of anyone making boat
tarps from this material? Any experience with it?

Graham