Issue 27: Nov/Dec 2002
CLEAR WINDOW PLASTIC IN SPRAYHOODS AND SAILS TENDS TO deteriorate much faster than the yacht acrylic or sailcloth it’s sewn onto. First it yellows, then it becomes brittle, and eventually it cracks.
If you have a hefty sewing machine, you can replace the plastic yourself. There’s only one trap to fall into: if you unstitch and remove the old plastic before sewing in the new, you’ll almost certainly distort the surrounding fabric and end up with a wrinkly window.
A sailmaker friend gave us a crafty tip for avoiding wrinkles when we replaced Siandra’s sprayhood (dodger) windows not long ago. “Leave the old plastic alone,” he instructed. “Cut the new plastic to the exact same shape, then sew it over the old plastic, keeping the two layers nice and flat as you go. When you’ve finished sewing, pull the old and new plastic apart and carefully cut as much of the old window away as possible. You have to leave the edges of course, because they’re stitched in between the new window and the surrounding fabric, but if you do a neat job of trimming, you’ll never see them.”
We tried it and found he was right. The old edges are invisible, and the new window is see-through and wrinkle-free. With a bit of luck that sprayhood will last us another five years.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
