[Rhodes22-list] Clean Sails

[Peter Thorn]

Jim,

Last year I lost a good friend to Pancreatic cancer, George Smart of
Raleigh, NC.   He was, among other accomplishments, a very fine architect,
an excellent dinghy racer, and also great with sail repair and sewing.
George taught himself  how to sew, so he could make things for his
sailboats.  He helped many others in our fleet by sewing all their worn out
stuff.

George's machine was an Italian made Bernina.  He claimed it would sew
anything you would need on a sailboat, from spinnaker cloth to canvas.  If
you can afford one, I'm sure your girlfriend will thank you for it :)

PT


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim White" <jdwhite at panam.edu>
To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2004 7:48 PM
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Clean Sails


> Hi folks
> Finally got the time to remove the headsail from Menagerie, and cleaned it
> with laundry detergent and a soft bristled brush here at the lab. It did a
> pretty good job, even removed most of the light coat of algae which the
> previous owner had let grow (some sort of science experiment?, I don't
> know....). The clew has a couple of weak spots in it, several tears, and
> some of the zig-zags need re-enforcing,  but I think we can patch them up
> and at least get a little time out of it while we order a new one, and
> await its interminable arrival . There's a canvas shop here that does sail
> repair (kinda nice in a coastal community). But now my better half
> (sometimes referred to as "crew"...and what the hell, she refers to our
> boat as "La Movida" <in Spanish: my girlfriend>) would like me to buy her
a
> heavy duty sewing machine so that she can do the repairs. I know they're
> pretty spendy, but having a sail repairer in the family...well I think I
> could justify that!  Seems like a good idea, do any of ya'll do that sort
> of thing (minor repairs  / repairs to your sails?) and if so what sort of
> machine(s) do you use? Recommend any good instructional material?
>
> I'm about 3 days work (which, here equates to about 3 weeks time to get
> that much) from being ready to splash the boat for the season.
>
> As always, thanks for your advice!
>
> Jim White
>
> __________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list