Welcome to the Coast

 

Hello!

It’s been a while, hasn’t it…something like two years and a month….

Things have changed, haven’t they? We have all been through some stuff…

I have tried, on more than one occasion to get a post up, but they all just seemed so…depressing.

But, time passes and hopefully we have learned a few things to better prepare us... 

Prepare us for things like, oh, I don’t know…making a new sail…??? 

2019 saw our old sailboat die a sudden death by broken mast, aided by 40 years of poor upkeep compounded by rotting would and some really good wind. We were rail in the water when we heard the CRACK. Initially assuming it was all our stuff flying to the leeward side.  Instead, that horrible sound turned out to be one of the mast stays, which had pulled free of the interior anchor thus leaving the mast partially unsupported. I dropped the mainsail as Rob started the engine and we cautiously motored back to dock at 5mph. All the time discussing how we were going to fix the problem. Once docked, it become clear that the best way to fix the problem, short of sinking the boat in a hidden cove, was to somehow donate the boat.

 

this is not a good thing

 As luck would have it, the marina Cool Change lived at was run by a sailboat lover and they worked out a deal to just take the boat, and it’s brand new outboard, off our hands.

We decided then that our little 15ft wooden boat would do from here on out.

We decided that we would not buy another boat.

So, two years later, we bought a BIGGER boat….

Meet St. Frank, a 27ft, 35ish year old Catalina tall-rig. (this last descriptor becomes way more important than I thought it would…)

 

St Frank – formerly/currently/actually – named St Frances by her previous owner, will be eventually undergoing a name change. (Can a boat be gender fluid?) Not that we have anything against St. Frances – I have known two very lovely women named Fran. But St Frances is just not a name that fits us. Once we land on a name fitting to all three of us – Rob, me and the boat – there will be a renaming ceremony. I can’t risk angering Neptune any more than I already have.

St Frank has it all, her previous owner outfitting the cozy sloop with a microwave, a portable electric refrigerator, a sound system and an AIR CONDITIONER!! We have seat cushions, kitchenware, movable cupholders and no jib. (The jib is the smaller, front sail on a sloop. It helps balance the larger main sail and just makes the whole boat so pretty.)

an actual galley

AND no more leaking port-a-potty!

What the boat does have is a storm sail, which is a much smaller front sail for inclement weather and a Genoa.

the large sail at the bow is the Genoa, note how much small the actual main sail is

 A Genoa is an ENOURMOUS front sail which grabs every ounce of wind there is allowing for some fast racing, if you are so inclined, and a lot of heeling. (Where the side of the boat leans into the water, which is fun, but the exact opposite of relaxing which is always my goal when on a boat.)

Which brings me to the theme of the next few posts (yes, there will be more!)

Because sails are expensive and we have already spent our Not Buying Another Boat budget on the above said boat, AND because I have made two other sails, it was decided that we would order one more sail kit from Sailrite.

The two previous sails were also Sailrite kits – precut sail pieces, hardware and some really helpful directions and diagrams. These sails were for our wooden boat. Because if Rob could make the entire boat of wood, just think how cool it would be if I made the sails…

Anyway, it was definitely a learning curve. But it has been 15 years since I made those sails and apparently 15 years is exactly how long it takes for me to forget what a semi-complicated and awkward process sail making is on a portable home sewing machine.

Sails these days are made of dacron – what can only be described as plastic paper fabric. It is stiff when new but over time softens to an almost leather feel. And it makes a cool popping sound as the needle pierces it.

The mast for this new/old boat is 30ish feet tall, which calls for a rather big sail. However, all I heard when discussing this project was ‘jib’ and ‘it’s a smaller sail than the main’.

I have no concept of size, or distance. All I knew was the last jib I made was not enormous.  

I am pretty sure my judgement was impaired by a tasty rum drink.

Turns out the small sail for a 27ft boat is quite a bit larger than the big sail for a 15ft boat.

Huh.

The sail comes precut in sections. The process involves sewing sections together and then sewing these sections to the other sections until you have an entire sail. The idea is to keep the sections a manageable size. Which in theory makes sense, if you have a football field size work room with a table of the same dimensions.

hardware with candles...

why a pic of an enormous bottle of wine?
 because this is what I will be drinking once this project is finished

I have two folding banquet tables, in a fully furnished basement family room that also currently houses a banana tree waiting for above 40 degree weather outside.

This is what that set-up looks like:

see all that white stuff on the floor? those are the PIECES of the sail

At this posting, the sail is about a third of the way finished.

Upcoming posts will discuss the finer points of securing, rolling and wrangling dacron, repetitive bobbin winding and needle threading and dealing with the panic of thinking you have sewn everything backwards……

Until next time...

this.
this is what makes all the broken needles worthwhile

When the Boat gives you Sails...

We knew, when we got the fixer-upper sailboat, that she had been used for racing. It was no surprise, as we unloaded the sails that there were a mainsail, a jib and a genoa – which is an extra big sail which replaces the jib when you are hoping to catch even more wind. These are those beautiful big sails that billow out on the front of a sailboat.

We weren't ready for the two extra sails stuffed in the bag, giving us a total of FIVE sails! All with 'Cool Change' labeled on them and identical racing numbers.

What a bonus!

All were in moderately good shape, a little dirty and with a surprising number of wasp nests attached here and there.

All except one of the extra large jibs.

This poor sail was most likely original to the boat. It was still in one piece, with no tears or holes but it was as soft as a well loved blanket.

I a pretty sure I heard my 33 year old Kenmore portable sewing machine wimper when it was suggested that I use this old sail to make some tote bags, which sell on the internet starting at around $100!

my first expirement - the Train Bag -
big enough to hold ALL the stuff and a small child, but still fashionable.

Historically, sails were first made of 'duck', an evolution of the word Doek, which in Dutch means cloth. Duck cloth was cotton, linen or hemp.

Cotton sails were lighter but did not hold up to the sunlight and salt water like linen did. However, linen was heavy and as sails became larger, linen was less convenient.

It is important for sails to be strong, when pulled in any direction, without stretching, both in the moment and long term. That strength and stretch must also not be affected by folding. They need to resist breakdown under UV light and they need to be cost-effective.

These days, sails are made from nylon, dacron, kevlar and a few other man-made materials.

a pile of sail

From the feel of the sails for the Fixer-upper, I would guess these sails are nylon and maybe some well worn dacron.

Very different from the brand new dacron which Blue Skies' sails are made. That brand new material is a cross between plastic and steel.

A real challenge for my 32 year old Kenmore machine.

But this old sail material was so soft, and those bags sold online were so awesome, that I had to give it a try.

I learned to sew young, making Barbie clothes on a handcranked, kid size machine then graduating to 4-H circle skirts and shift dresses on Mom's machine. I have made a wide variety of items, from kid clothes to curtains and those very crisp sails.

The bags were a bit of a challenge, only because the construction process was so different. Time spent in a duffel bag in the boat yard left this sail pretty dirty.

Cleaning sails is a challenge. They stand up to water but you need to be careful what soap is used as you don't want to break down the fibers. We initially spread the sail out on the deck and hit it with the hose. I very gently scrubbed the bad spots with a Dawn dishwashing liquid diluted in warm water.

Train Bag pockets, the stitching was original to the sail.

interior pockets! next time will use interfacing for more stiffness

the back

Later, after a watermelon juice spill in my train bag, I threw the whole thing into the washer on gentle with Woolite, tossed it in the dryer for about 10 minutes then hung it to dry.

The fabric came out nearly like new.

Further bags have been prewashed prior to cutting and sewing.

Each bag I have constructed has been a little easier with the flaws from the previous being repaired in the next.

a lunch bag/tote

shopping bag size
where my topstitching shows, I try to use the same color thread and size of stitch as on the original.

pin-up girl interior of the shopping bag.
This was for our niece. The pin-up girls were in honor of
Rob's dad, whose WW2 plane had a pin-up girl, albeit less tasteful, on the nose. 

another lunch tote

I have also tried to incorporate as many interesting parts of that old sail as I can which means a very detailed process of lying pattern pieces to catch some of the old stitching or one of the racing numbers and in the case of my daughter's lunch bag, one of the hanks used to attach the sail to the forestay. 

every designer bag needs a label!

It adds a bit of character to each bag.

And that seems like a wonderful way to honor the character of Cool Change, and all those vessels that have gone before her.