I looked around at what other people had on their boats. I liked the synthetic fabric on one boat in particular. Very light and breathable. They got their fabric at a Home Depot. I went on Amazon and searched for shade fabric. What I found claims to block 95% of UV rays. It came in 6 foot width and about as long as you wanted in 5 foot increments. I ordered two at 25 foot length.
It finally arrived. I took a piece to the boat and did a basic layout. It seemed pretty simple. I would know when it was done
I rolled it out on the ping pong table I have been using to cut out material, etc.
Next was a little sewing.
I do seem to be getting the hang of it. Grommets came next. I opted for the big plastic ones the other boater had used. Their covers have lasted over 3 years, seems good enough for me. I did have a little trouble getting some of them to snap together all the way. I finally used a large c-clamp. It snapped them together nice and tight with no effort
Then trying out my first cover.
It seems good enough. I left it a little shorter up front to facilitate going forward. Perhaps next time I will not.
I still needed a bit more shade further back. I had debated on making each side into one continuous piece. But...the booms swing a bit differently, and are a different height. It seemed that separate pieces may work better.
Good enough. Besides, I can always change things next time. Needs a little adjusting. Also hard to believe they are the same width. The shade makes a huge difference. The bottoms are attached with bungy cord and S-hooks. Everything for this project came up to just a few dollars over the $100 mark.
In other news. I start upholstery school July 18th(about 2 weeks).
I will be in school a year. It is 4 days a week. About 300 miles from Mary Lee. So...once again, life will keep me too busy to spend a lot of time on Mary Lee.
The process of getting me recovered, to a point where it is finally beyond just struggling to get through each day, has been an all consuming chore(to say the least). I bought Mary Lee as a way to force the fight, so to speak. It had to be something "out of the box" that I really wanted to do.
As I finally began to see a real improvement in my recovery, I realized, that I needed to find something that I would enjoy doing. Something that could be boating related. Flexible enough in hours that it could work with boating. I also have those days when I hurt too much to do anything.
I had an interest in upholstery long before I got hurt. Liking it will make a big difference. Being able to see projects finished nicely suits me to a "T".
I think I could use sewing to fund a circumnavigation (if I so choose).