[Tandrup]

Hi all,

I have just dyed my top black and while that is a great solution to extend the life of my top for another year or two, it's not a permanent solution. So what options do I have:

1. buy the GAHH top and install it
2. think of a creative low-cost solution

That's where I need your help. One of my friends has a sail boat and is right now repairing a canvas top that covers the cockpit area and he looked at my top and said: Why don't you just cover it with Marine grade canvas? So we shared a beer (just one) and came up with the following approach:

- Buy some marine grade canvas that is UV treated and pre-shrunk. Based on his supplier it runs in 60" widths and costs around $20 per linear yard. Sunbrella has some canvas materials that my friend has used on his boat.

- Buy some marine rated adhesive like Marine Goop (water resistant and weather proof)

- Cut the new canvas roughly to size

- With the top in the locked/stretched/closed position, apply some adhesive in a thin layer all over the top and start glueing and stretching the new canvas layer on top of the old one. We would start from the middle and make sure to get rid of all air bubbles etc.

- Once you get to the edges of the top, we would cut the canvas to size and make sure that the edges are glued properly and as close to the edges of the old canvas as possible. We also thought about leaving the top stretched until it dries and then not cut the edges before it all dries. We would then take the top off and sew the edges to make the edges stronger.

Cost in materials would probably be around $100 and it would probably be a week-end project if we need to sew.

I honestly have no idea if this will work - and this is where I could really use some input from you guys. Any thoughts or comments - both positive and negative. Is there something that we haven't thought about? Do you think that could work?

Thanks,
Lars