Important news: a new cratch cover and a new tonneau cover for nb Waka Huia

Late last season we had come to the conclusion that we needed a new cratch cover - ours was tatty, torn and impossible to clean thoroughly as the green mold/algae had firmly taken hold. At Kilby Bridge I chatted with a couple moored behind us who had had a new cratch cover made that looked really spiffing, as well as being well-designed for ease of ingress and out-gress. So I got the details of the guy who did it for them, and a few days later I rang and left a message.

He got back to me when we were in Foxton, a couple of days before we were leaving the boat. His over-the-phone estimate shocked me, and only in a good way; so I told him yes, we wanted him to make a cratch cover for Waka Huia. There were two things to do with the timing:

• we were about to head home to NZ for 7 months;
• Mick was going to strip off our current cratch frame and build a new one - therefore the new cratch cover would be a more traditional shape - and Mick wouldn't be doing this until sometime in the New Year.

So fast forward to late April when Mick has constructed and fitted the new cratch frame (plus new front doors, new lockers in the cratch and a cratch table, new flooring in the cratch as well - plus, plus, plus ... He is a gem!)

Contact with the cratch cover man was re-established and he drove down from Birmingham the day before we left for France (subject of a later, yet to be written, out of sequence post) to make a pattern for the cratch cover.

A fair amount of consultation over where we wanted the zips, what shape did we want the openings and the 'windows' to be (who knew that needed to be considered?, but now I look at cratch covers I can see that thought has gone into all of them to a greater or lesser degree ...), what kind of fasteners did we want and which were more effective in which positions.

Early in the piece John reiterated his price, and as the lovely Julia had done a comparison with other boat canopy suppliers around the area, we were delighted (£600 for our guy and £1100 for others). So we asked him would he replace our tonneau cover too. All up, the cost for the cratch cover (£600) and the tonneau cover (£320) came to about £200 less than the price of just a cratch cover from a more local supplier! And what's more, John repaired the tears in our pram cover for free!

How good is that?! His service is excellent, he is very consultative and informative, and he just needs one coffee at lunchtime. Readers, I did try to feed him: cheese scones the first time he came down for the patterning, and tuna mousse and garlic bread for the fitting. But he doesn't eat lunch - and that is his only flaw that I could see ...

Mick and Julia are well impressed (with the workmanship and service - not the no eating lunch charateristic), as are a number of the boaters here in Debdale Wharf Marina.

So, if you are in the market for a new cratch/tonneau/pram cover or seat covers, here are his details:

John Wiper,
John's Boat Canopies
Ph: 0121 686 1888
Mobile: 07837 489 632
email: johnwiper@hotmail.com
website: johnsboatcanopies.co.uk

He is the business!

John fitting the tension strap.

John hammering home the snap fasteners on the tonneau - strong knees. See the cratch table Mick made?

Cratch side 'door' open

Cratch window

David testing where the water falls on the tonneau