Issue 147: Nov/Dec 2022
Good Old Boat Editor Andy Cross works on the mainsail aboard his Grand Soleil 39, Yahtzee.
Sticking a sailmaker’s needle into your hand hurts. Ask me how I know. Fortunately, after the first time, I didn’t do it again…that weekend, anyway. It was the first day of a sail repair seminar at Carol Hasse’s Port Townsend sail loft, and I could confess to not knowing much about sewing anything, let alone sails.
In the moment, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. But I was glad to be there and I was eager to learn. Being a new-to-me boat owner of a racer-cruiser from 1984, I wanted to know how to maintain and possibly fix my own sails because I figured the time would eventually come when I would need to.
Over the course of that weekend, we dug into the fine art of how sails are made, how to care for them, and then how to repair them. Using a palm and needle, we sewed in rings and grommets, whipped the ends of lines, attached mainsail slides, mended seams, and added leather chafe guard. Then, when that didn’t seem difficult enough, we learned how to use a sewing machine to reinforce a corner ring with webbing, apply a spreader patch, fix a torn seam, and patch a hole. It was truly a boot camp of sail repair and, like any good class, it provided me with newfound knowledge and some semblance of confidence that I could indeed repair my sails when needed.
About 10 years and however many sea miles later, I can honestly say I’ve applied some of the techniques that I learned in the class to my own sails and others. I’m not a pro sailmaker by any stretch, but I’m proficient. Being able to learn something and then use new knowledge like this in real-world applications is one of the things I admire so much about sailing—and fellow sailors in particular. A lot of us are like that. We find something that needs to be done on our boats, we learn about it, and then we build it or fix it.
In this canvas- and sailmaking-themed issue, we highlight some folks who epitomize this hands-on approach. For sailor Shirley Jones, it was when she wanted to make a Jordan Series Drogue for her 1969 Alberg 30. On page 34 in “A Serial Sewing Project,” she explains the process of researching how to build the drogue and then walks us through how she repurposed an old sail to craft her own.
When a new dodger was needed for Marissa Neely and her partner Chris’ 1979 Cheoy Lee 41, it was a DIY project all the way. They jumped into figuring out what they wanted and how they’d pull it off, and then tackled the project head-on. Starting on page 26, “An Artful Dodger” takes the reader from the design phase all the way through the finishing touches of what turns out to be a beautiful hardtop dodger with canvas sides.
In yet another story of building something special out of necessity, Fiona McGlynn profiles the company Sailrite, which was founded by Jim Grant after making his own sails to race with at the Cal 20 Nationals. Of course, Sailrite continues on under the stewardship of Jim and Connie Grant’s children and is regarded as the company that launched a DIY sail- and canvas-making revolution (see “Sewing Success” on page 48).
All of these stories and more are truly inspiring, and we hope they help spark your own creative canvas or sailmaking projects. Just watch out for those pesky needles.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
