Coastal Marine sews up boat canvas business
Pat copeland | sun
Above, from left, Rica Ostrander and Cindy
Tutterow with their sign on Pine Avenue.
There isn’t a boater in the world who doesn’t have a love hate relationship with his/her vessel. Most are happiest the day they buy it and equally happy the day they sell it. If you’re still at the happy stage and want to protect as well as dress up your vessel, Coastal Marine can make it all happen in a really convenient way.
Linda and Gene Ames established Coastal Marine Canvas & Upholstery in 2002 in a small workshop with the two of them doing everything from measuring to sewing and installing. Their business has grown so much during the years that in July, they moved to a 1,240 square foot location at the Cortez Cove Marina within the Cortez Fishing Village. The big open space is a sea of tables and sewing machines for laying out fabric and canvas with one of the best water views around.
Linda Ames says that one of the exciting things about being within a working full service marina is the convenience it affords to her customers who may require other boat services. Coastal Marine has both a wet and dry slip available for boat owners who want to bring their boat to Coastal’s location while the work is being done. This keeps boat owners' property clean and mess free while their boat is being worked on, especially important to boat owners whose boat slips are within condominium communities. In addition, Coastal covers a wide territory from St. Petersburg to Sarasota.
Coastal Marine can cover anything on your boat, inside or out. Canvas enclosures, dodgers, biminis, console covers, electronics covers, mooring covers, seat covers, new outside and inside cushions, curtains, blinds and even custom fit quilted bed spreads. It also can recover patio and interior furniture and sew drapes for your home and boat. Sunbrella fabric with a wide range of beautiful patterns and colors is primarily used along with Dry Fast Foam and sun proof PTFE thread for cushions. All unused Sunbrella and foam scraps are recycled.
They recommend Strataglass for boat enclosures, which is a rollable clear vinyl product for smaller boats and a semi-rigid polycarbonate for larger boats, that does not have the ability to roll. Both products are UV and scratch resistant and won’t yellow.
Coastal also has been busy installing PlasTeak and PlasDeck for new boat builders and boat owners. PlasTeak and PlasDeck is a vinyl product which closely resembles real teak and wood decking, but is in Linda's words “bulletproof.”
Both Ames come to the marine canvas and upholstery industry from backgrounds uniquely geared to their business. Linda was a fashion designer in California, where she learned the pattern making skills she has been able to utilize for the challenges of marine canvas. Gene Ames has a 100-ton captain’s license and was a commercial fisherman and boat builder after a career in the US Merchant Marine.
With their recent expansion they have added three additional staff members. Judi Wood, Linda Ames mother, who herself had a canvas company and worked for Donzi Boats, Rita Gunter who has also been in the canvas business for years, and Kevin Farrell, the Ames’ son-in-law who is the decking expert. Coastal Marian is truly a family affair, most days you’ll find grandson Aiden running around helping out even at 2 years old. The extra space, which Linda Ames says they are already outgrowing, has given Coastal Marine the ability to do a lot of unique creative work like the band enclosure at the Swordfish Grill in Cortez featuring a window in the shape of a swordfish.
If boating is your guilty pleasure, show your floating friend how much you love her with new canvas, cushions or decking. Coastal Marine Canvas & Upholstery at The Cortez Cove Marina in Cortez accessible by land or sea will make you fall in love with her all over again.
COASTAL MARINE CANVAS & UPHOLSTERY
4522 121 St. W.
At the Cortez Cove Marina
Cortez
941-812-0212
9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Monday through Friday
Sunday by appointment
www.coastalmarinecanvas.com