1 June New dinghy seeks new chaps

Chaps, or protective cover, for the new dinghy was a priority when we reached Les Saintes. Our plan is to spend a month here, specifically at our favourite island, Ilet a Cabrit, which is only inhabited with feral chickens, goats and cats. Half a mile from the main island of Terre de Haut we like the quietness and clear water for swimming

For these chaps I’m starting from new; making the pattern in plastic, then transferring this to new Sunbrella, fitting, altering, fitting, until we have a snug fit.

I think the patterning was the hardest part. Especially as we were trying to control flimsy plastic in up to 20 knots of wind. We used plenty of masking tape, hands, legs and elbows to keep the plastic in place as I traced the shapes, curves and handles accurately. It took us 2 days and much perseverance to complete before I could begin cutting fabric.

My modus operandi is to begin with the forward section. This is ‘the anchor’ off which the sides hang and finally the rear points and fitting around the transom.

On the last chaps we used 5cm wide velcro to fix the inside and outside edges. This meant glueing strips directly onto the hypalon. Overtime the glue degraded and we had loose sections. With the new chaps we used long plastic hooks sewn inside the outer edge to clip onto the hard rubbing strake. I cut the inside pieces to wrap around the tube and fit all the way down to the floor with an eyelet and cord fixing in each corner.

Nine days after we began the job was finished. I’d even made a cover for the cushion on the forward seat.

Dinghy’s are made with a fabric that can be scratched, ripped, pierced, etc by a projecting nail on a dock, abraded by a scuba tank and BCD being pulled in from the water or abraded by UV so it makes sense to prolong the life of the family runaround with an investment of either time or money. For us the cost was 6m of Sunbrella UV resistant fabric and unpaid labour.

naked

and now well dressed