May/June 2019 Marine Fabricator - 16

BEYOND THE ORDINARY

lthough all of their company's work is custom,
making each project unique, every so often
they field a request that is really unusual, say
Devlin McKee and Eric Walton, partners of Custom
Canvas Alaska LLC, in Fairbanks. One such project involved a full-sized taxidermy moose placed
along a river bank as part of the "Chena Indian
Village Walking Tour" from Riverboat Discovery, a
Fairbanks boat tour company. The moose was
to be displayed in a small grove of spruce trees
where tourists could take photos with it in the
background.
"The challenge was twofold," says McKee.
"During the day the moose needed protection
from the elements-including bird poop-and at
night, windy/bad weather protection in addition
to discouraging predators from looking for a latenight snack."

This vessel's owner wanted
to hide the winch and keep
it hidden during operation.
Marine Tech devised a
working cover that would
stay in place at all times.
The ﬁnished product
incorporated four zippers
and three Velcro brand®
straps and ﬂap. Photos:
Marine Tech LLC.

16 Marine Fabricator | May/June 2019

Custom Canvas was able to construct a rainfly
out of WeatherMAX® 80 FR fabric on
a stainless steel frame that connected from tree
to tree. It was high enough to be out
of the way of photos but could provide coverage
for the moose in less than 10 minutes at night.
A fun and challenging project for Marine Tech
LLC, a custom fabricator located on St. Thomas
in the U.S. Virgin Islands, involved a flight to the
Indian Ocean.
"One of our clients flew us to Mauritius to pattern
the entirety of their exterior canvas products," says
Sandy Sturner, managing director. "The patterns
were shipped back to us where we built them all.
The project took two years of their canvas budget,
so we split it into two parts. As products were
completed, they were shipped to Mauritius or
Reunion Island, depending on where the boat
was at the time."

job is commenced to dial in a very specific
effect and if this is greatly altered in some
way, then the objective is altered and it
becomes less special and more or less
routine just to finish the work."
Still, doing beautiful work is very
satisfying, says Diaz, recalling one
residential project where North Beach
Marine created sliding leather doors and
stairs that were "quite glamorous." The

custom-colored stair leather was sourced
from Italy; the leather for the doors and
hand railings was Keleen. "It was very
labor-intensive but very nice to work with
such beautiful leather," she says.
Steven Wayne, owner/operator of
Southern Stitch Canvas & Upholstery
LLC in Gulfport, Miss., says profitability
comes down to making sure all of
the employees' time and skills are
compensated for. The company's market
is 50 percent automotive, 40 percent
marine, with commercial and residential
making up the rest. It handles custom
projects mainly for auto interiors, marine
interiors and exteriors, and outdoor
canvas. Southern Stitch also services
auto dealerships for aftermarket leather
installs, 90 percent of which are basic
factory matches-tan, gray and black.
Clients range from yacht owners, to car
enthusiasts, to resorts and restaurants, to
the U.S. Coast Guard and oil tankers.
"Time is money," Wayne says. "If the
client from the get-go is trying to get

May/June 2019 Marine Fabricator

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