Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Boat cover: day 3

It all started several weeks ago, when Dick saw this boat and said, "I think I've got boat-cover envy." He's been wanting to protect our boat from excessive rain in the coming wet season. We explored the idea of shrink-wrapping the boat but it would be an annual project and the wrapping material would be thrown away at the beginning of every sailing season. The bows would be the most complicated so I draped blue-line pellon over one "nose" and made a pattern then made a draft out of muslin. It fit just fine, but at this point we still weren't sure how to deal with the 34 stanchions, crossbeam and other assorted lines.

We're leaving the trampolines in place for as long as possible as a safety precaution while we complete the bow sections. The fabric is Stamoid, woven polyester coated on both sides with vinyl. It's heavy, the finished cover will weigh about 100 pounds, however it will be in 2-3 sections and velcro-ed together.


Let me just say, "Buggers, it's hot!" (Darren's Aussie slang has invaded my vocabulary.) Working under the boat is much cooler. Here I'm adding cone-shaped collars at designated points to go around the stanchions, then adding a placket to one side of the opening below the collar so the sections can be velcro-ed closed.


We begin the day's work around 7:30 and stop for the day around 4:30. Mostly I'm sewing while Dick is cutting or marking the fabric. Dick isn't getting his afternoon siesta these days and I'm so exhausted by day's end. The fabric is so heavy and the pieces so long that my arms are getting a workout. Dick has also taken over the cooking and laundry which I appreciate.

3 comments:

  1. Looks like a lot of sewing in this job Arlete, I guess 3/400 feet of stitching depending on how many strips to sew together.

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  2. Hi Arlete, what kind of boat and what size do you own?
    Looks really interesting and you seem to be keeping very busy.
    It was great to see you on Skype!!

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  3. Rebecca, like your dad on Cool Cat, we own a catamaran. It's a CSK custom design, 46'X20'. Please feel free to tell your dad that we're a LOT faster than his boat. Isn't Skype wonderful. Before I talked to you in Australia, I talked to the son of another cruiser in Brazil. The world is shrinking.

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