Here she is anchored at Boulevard Park in Bellingham.
Tied up at Sqaulicum Harbor Marina. It doesn't look like it but there is a BIG storm coming.
Skipper Sue is the keeper of the sails.
Sue had the sail cover stretched out in the house. We're gonna need a bigger place when she brings the main home.
Here is the finish patch job. I think Sue used three spools of thread making patches.
What does a 600D polyester portable chair and a sailboat have in common? Nothing, but when the portable chair frame wears out, the fabric can be salvaged to make small canvas projects such as a cockpit bag. I just happen to need a cockpit bag for our portable VHF radio and a bottle of water and whatever.
I have been reading some boat canvas books from the local library, such as The Complete Canvasworker's Guide by Jim Grant and The Big Book of Boat Canvas by Karen S. Lipe.
With lots of great ideas and tips on sewing, I decided it was time to try something for myself. I used the material from the broken chair. The canvas was actually in really good shape and it was large enough for something. I will take credit for all the white polyester thread, that is my work. I'm not bragging, that's for sure. This was my first attempt at sewing and all I used for a pattern was my portable VHF radio and a half empty bottle of water. I figure that if my sewing talents were lacking (which they are), I could use more thread to make up for it.
Here is the basic design. Bottle holder on the left and radio pocket on the right.
The finished project. I attached some Dacron line to the ends of the battens so that it could be tied to stnations on the boat. There is a wood batten in the top seam to keep the bag rigid while hanging on the bulkhead in the cockpit. You might say to yourself, "Man, somebody really needs to learn how to sew stitches!" Go ahead, say it. For two hours work, some thread and a broken chair, I saved us $89 (That is what a custom bag on eBay costs. A two-tone bag like this is even more money. ).
This bag hangs behind the nav table and holds the dividers, lighted magnifying glass, pencils and whatever.
This is designed to tie to the life line in the cockpit and holds stuff that you would expect to lose overboard. Maybe it can even hang from a cleat on the gunwail, guess I'll find out in a couple of days.
Oct 08 - Our sails don't match the Mfg size but they are pretty close. I have noticed that when raising the main, it doesn't go all the way to the top of the mast but just shy 6-8", at least that is my perspective from below. I wanted to move the boom up 6-8" to increase the headroom for a dodger. I guess I just can't be satisfied, and I just can't keep from cryin'. After looking at some old brochures of the C25, there are some dicrepencies in the sail plan.
So then, 30 sq. feet of main sail should be significant wouldn't you think? We have been out a couple times when we really didn't want an additional 30 sq feet of main. this could just be a can of worms. Now I suppose I gotta measure the mast. I ain't going up in the boatswains chair.
A great place for rigging info.