Hi there Mark,

I just made a spray skirt according to the directions on Shawn's website a couple of weeks ago.

I got the coated nylon fabric (2 yds @ $8.00? per yd) and used about 1/2 of it for the spray skirt and the rest for stuff sacks, seat backband cover, etc.

I used polyester serger thread ($4.00 for a 1000 yd roll, way more thread than I'll ever be able to use)

It took me about 4 hours to measure, cut and sew, not including sealing the seams with shoe goo ($5.00 for the tube, I used maybe 1/8 of it)

The Skirt turned out nice and tight on the deck, water rolls right off.

I do feel like I need to modify how the vertical tube meets the horizontal deck, I get a nice little "moat" when the tube around my body slides down a bit and allows the tube to drop below the level of the spray deck. Water sits in this channel but so far isn't leaking into the boat. This problem can be overcome by making suspenders to hold the vertical tube up. I am tucking it into my dry top and can't use the suspenders.

Overall, I like it much better than the Harmony skirt I bought for $65 last year. Mainly because it fits my boat just right, not because of any flaw in the Harmony design, like was mentioned by another poster, most skirts you buy are a generic size meant to fit a variety of cockpit shapes and may not stretch tight on your boat.

So, my total cost was $25.00 for materials, $5.00 for beer, and 4 - 5 hours one evening sewing.

Good luck!

Ben Staley

: Having just "inherited" a fibreglass kayak in reasonable condition
: (although the sweet smell of resin will waft through my house for a few
: days more!), I am now looking at the various accessories that go along
: with it. I have a paddle and a PFD but would like a spray deck.

: With my wife unhappy enough at the prospect of me disappearing for days at a
: time, I don't even want to breach the idea of paying for one ; ).

: Anyone out there with a downloadable pattern for a nylon spray deck that a
: person with reasonable sewing skills can make up at home?

: Thanks in anticipation.