About Florida Boat Canvas
Serving the Florida Gulf Coast, from Palmetto to Boca Grande.
We manufacture boat canvas and enclosures as third-generation tailors and manufacturers.
Our mission is for precise and custom work, delivered reliably and on time.
Our Story & Mission
I grew up in this business. Southern New Jersey was a hub of clothing manufacturing at that time, and our extended family owned two of the largest firms in that area.
As my dad, the youngest of eight, was preparing to return from Germany in 1945, he got a letter from his brothers: “Don’t worry about a job. You’re with us.”
Several years earlier my grandfather, uncles and aunts worked for a pants factory in tiny Rosenhayn, NJ. One night the conversation at the dinner table was very different. The eight of them decided to open a factory on the family farm.
But many years later, it was my mother’s father, an Italian-trained tailor, that made them successful. An amazing man, sought after by some of the largest names in clothing, such as London Fog and others, he first trained in Naples, Italy as a child, using the grid of the family floor’s tiles for his work drawing. As a teen he came to Philadelphia and opened his own multiple-employee business. It was toward the end of his career he joined my father, elevating them from a pants factory to a “#5 coat factory”–the highest classification for detail and excellence, as in Marine dress uniforms.
I fondly remember my first suit, hand-tailored at age five, a labor of love for his two grandsons. I remember those initial measurements, and a suit of canvas, made and fitted from it. Then deconstructing this for patterns, he made the final fabric suit, tailoring the final adjustments. Oh how I’d love to have that suit to this day; but the memories will nonetheless last a lifetime.
In summers, I also grew up on the water, reminiscent of my paternal great-grandfather, a sea captain. We know boats and boaters.
Mission:
Often, as I sit at the machine, I think of my family; my dad, uncles and aunts, and the three-hundred plus employees many of whom were as family; my maternal grandfather, and the precision and excellence of his leadership, and also my dad’s father, whose personal machine is in my shop to this day,
My mission is that you experience a small piece of the joy and excellence in fabric, that I have.
–Don Chinnici
Quality Work
Our dedication to quality is paramount in everything we do. Your boat will have a showpiece you can be proud of.
Timeline
We are currently several months out in our work schedule. But upon inspection of your boat, we’ll quickly provide you with a proposal and expected time schedule for delivery.
Third Generation Tailor
We are third generation tailors. We have been in the industry of fine garment tailoring for generations.
Examples include:
- Biminis:
Standard Bimini | 8′ Bimini | 8′ Bimini Frame | Sun Fly Strut - Enclosures:
45′ Custom Carolina | 40′ Cruisers | 33′ Pursuit Enclosure | 31′ Custom Acrylic Enclosure | 30′ Regal Enclosure | 70′ Hatteras - Covers:
Tidewater Cover T-Top | 19′ Mastercraft | 16′ Flats Boat Cover | Fountain Cockpit Cover | Console Cover | Dinghy Cover | Sail Covers | Winch Covers | Coats for Spot and Fluffy - Sail Boat:
Catalina Bimini | Sail Boat Dodger | Binnacle Cover - Miscellaneous:
Screen Windows | Replace Clear | U-Zip Windows - Upholstery:
Bolsters | Bow Cushion | Interior Upholstery
Florida Boat Canvas
Contact
(941) 539-8855
hello@boatcanvas.us
Address
PO Box 15003
Sarasota, FL 34277