sailing kenutu
  • Blog
  • About

You think you're soooooo good.

12/5/2016

0 Comments

 
Kenutu has a beautiful 150% genoa that we flew the first time we met her. When it whipped out, it was like a giant wind blanket, clean and full of opportunity. We've been sailing with the genoa quite a bit, but we don't always unroll the sail all the way since it's sometimes too much for the wind we've got. Well, we finally found the jib, and since some of the UV fabric that covers the genoa had started to flap we swapped the sails.
Picture
I brought the genoa into the garage and started to seam rip out the sunwrecked thread and prep the fabric to be patched. About 75% of the way done, I got ADHD and decided to start sewing some of the pieces back down. I have a heavy-duty Singer sewing machine. I have sewn a boat full of cushions, including some that are vinyl. I am a professional seamstress. Obviously.

Well, this is how far I got. ​
Picture
I'm pretty sure my sewing machine laughed at me during the first stitch attempt. It couldn't even muster enough strength to go thru the sail. I tried manhandling it thru hoping that once it got going it would have some confidence. Yeah, the needle broke. Clearly I was out of my league and should stick to cushions.

I bagged up the sail, apologized to Mack for ruining it by my overzealous seam ripping, and hauled it in to a shop I had talked to about a bimini cover. They sent me around the corner to Quantum Sails, where I met Olga. At this point, I'd just like to say thank god we live in a boat mecca so that these repair places are around the corner.

Olga took a look at my sail and noticed that the luff tape (aka the fabric tube that threads the sail onto the boat) had started to fray. It wasn't totally in shambles, but she said that when it starts to go, it'll rip off like a zipper unzipping and who knows where your sail will end up. 
Picture
Picture
Olga knows just what to say to make you nervous. I saw what good luff tape looks like and realized the sorry state of ours. And the decision was made. The Sunbrella fabric was going to be patched and we were getting new luff tape. 

A couple weeks later, the sail was done. The $775 repair did not feel good, but it felt better than the $2000 that a new genoa would cost if ours decided to rip apart and fly away. Now we just gotta get the UV fabric applied to the jib and maybe we'll finally be sail ready.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Two people dumb enough to think anything is possible and smart enough to bumble their way into discoveries.

    Archives

    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All

    Mates

    Sailing La Vagabond
    Untie the Lines
    Circe
    Freeport Owners Group
    Bobbi Rounds the World
    Vixen's Voyage
    ​
    Serendipity
    ​Windtraveler
    Swell
    Laho
    Varuna
    Journey
    Totem
    Elegant'sea
    Slip Away

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • About