Sewing Up a Storm

Fortunately, for those of us hanging out in Grenada this hurricane season we have not seen much storm activity.  This is said "knock on wood" as we still have a couple of weeks to go until hurricane season is officially over on Nov. 1st (water is too cold by then to generate water vapor needed to form tropical lo's).  To pass the time, I have been busy sewing away, trying to make our "floating home" more comfortable and functional.  Living on a 44' sailboat with three sails, offers many a potential sewing project.

Earlier in the year, I was hesitant to ship my Elna sewing machine back home and purchase an industrial sewing machine, but I soon realized my little Elna simply couldn't handle the heavier fabrics found on sailboat and having an industrial machine would help with sail repair and maintenance. We we ordered a Sailrite LSZ-1 Ultrafeed sewing machine that was on sale along with a package of special accessories.  Now I can make anything! Well almost anything. It's amazing how it can power through eight layers of heavy Dacron sailcloth or two or three layers of leather or strapping material.

My sewing station is my favorite place on the boat with fresh ventilation from the two overhead hatches.

Before leaving for Trinidad we took our damaged genoa sail over to a local sail loft for an estimate of repairs to the leech line, the long aft edge of the sail.  We were shocked to learn that a simple repair would be over US $750.  We took the heavy sail back to the boat and hauled it up on the deck (no easy task from a dingy bobbing up and down in the waves). We then carried the 44 lb. Sailrite up to the foredeck and set it up on the hard fiberglass case of the life raft.

With Walter's help, we slowly feed 35 ft. of the sail's leech through the Sailrite and I carefully sewed a long length of 6 inch-wide Dacron repair tape over the ripped leech.  It was hard work, but the working conditions were great with a 85-degrees, a gentle breeze blowing, and a spectacular view of the crystal-blue water of Prickly Bay. A couple hours later we had a working genoa, and best of all, we had already almost paid for the sewing machine.

On the boat there are always numerous projects in various states of repair.  Walter is amazingly versatile and has just enough knowledge to fix most things. Well, except maybe the genset! I am pleased to contribute my expertise in an area different from Walter's even though it is considered a "pink job."

One of my latest projects here in Grenada was to make a Sunbrella cover-up for the area under our companionway ladder.  We store our ditch kit, emergency supplies, desalinator, the Sailrite, and other stuff and it is an eye-sore.  With a zipper and Velcro cover it is now easy to access and helps keep everything covered and contained when the boat is heeled over while sailing.

Before

Hot knife cutting Sunbrella for the storage cover

Sitting on a small swing out seat while I stitch the cover.

So much better.

I also have been working on a water catchment set up to get fresh rain water into our tanks.  We have a Hatch-Hoodie over the fore deck that has some potential for rain catchment, but I made a custom rain catcher to fit our aft hatch area that has collected a modest amount of rain water in the heavier downpours.  It will need to be revised and made larger, but it's good to have some design challenges.

Not sure what the next big project will be but with all the tropical heat down here sun coverage is paramount so we'll see what comes next. 

Forward Hatch Hoodie funneling cool air under and down the hatches and also a rain cover so you can keep the hatches open.

First attempt at water catchment over the aft hatch.

The white PVC hose goes into a 5-gallon jug in cockpit. Filled two so far - every little bit helps.