Sewing

[Soñadora]

Years ago I picked up a knock-off version of a Sailrite LSZ-1. I bought it to rebuild my dodger. If you put that together, it might tell you something: I'm cheap.
A new SailRite is around $900. A new dodger is around $2500. The knock off sewing machine was around $300. Materials for the dodger was probably around $300 also. And that was enough material for me to build it 3 times, which is what I needed to do since I suck at sewing.

Today, I'm at the boat. Came up here to rescue my headsail. I noticed that the deluge of rain made it's way into the boat. Old Soñadora drips on occasion when the rains are hard. And it usually drips over the v-berth. I've been using a janky tarp to cover the forepeak, but the high winds make quick work of weak Home Depot tarps. As I was sitting in the saloon thinking about working, I thought it would be a good idea to build a more secure cover for the forepeak. I remembered I'd brought my sewing machine and all the hardware for attaching. Two hours later, I had a new cover made out of an old, unsued sunbrella cover that came with the boat.

[Charlie]

Looks pretty good, Rick. The more you sew, the better you get at it and there are an infinite number of cool things that can be made for the boat: covers, containers, tool rolls, custom designed means of securing stuff. The nice thing is material is cheap, forgiving of slight variations in measuring/cutting accuracy, and immediately usable.

[Soñadora]

Looks pretty good, Rick. The more you sew, the better you get at it and there are an infinite number of cool things that can be made for the boat: covers, containers, tool rolls, custom designed means of securing stuff. The nice thing is material is cheap, forgiving of slight variations in measuring/cutting accuracy, and immediately usable.

I've always loved sewing. I had my choice in 4th grade between sewing and typing. I picked sewing (typing prowess came later)

I have sewn and resewn my dodger several times. It's due for a makeover and this time it will be posh. I also took a crack at a new suite of sails. Actually got the Yankee almost completed just sewing in my basement. But it was too much. Had a loft finish.

[TheOffice]

Well done!
Last time I was near a sewing machine I was about 5 years old. My older sister was trying to thread the needle of my Mom's machine. I stepped on the foot switch and sewed her finger.

[BeauV]

I should probably break down and buy one of those machines that will sew sails. Around home-port I don't do any of this, as our favorite Foredeck Boss and sailmaker builds all our covers and fabric things for us at bargain-basement prices. She keeps claiming she's charging a "fair price", but I know she's fibbing. She loves MAYAN and loves to show off the canvas work she's done aboard. But, she's 64 and occasionally has the timidity to go sailing for months on end - Hawaii to Fiji sorts of trips.

I can sew things like tarps, but it's much cheaper to buy those at CostCo or Home Depot. (I think I just talked myself out of buying a machine again....)

[slap]

My wife inherited her parents sewing machine. The good - it has all metal gears. The bad - I can't adjust the bobbin tension, and the machine seems to be overtly sensitive to the throttle control - it's almost an on/off switch. So my efforts so far have not been artistic. But the projects have gotten completed - mainsail cover, bimini cover, wheel cover, and lifeline cushion covers. Eventually a new dodger will be needed - the current one has a cover so it's lasted a looong time. Current plan is to make a rigid top and use sunbrella and isoglass for the window and frames.

[H B]

Rick, Nice cover!

I might like some more info about this knockoff Sailrite machine of yours. I have an old (like maybe from the 50s or 60s) Viking/Husqvarna machine with a big heavy belt drive motor and heavy wood table, but it only does straight stitch. Fine for all my canvas projects (I have done most of the cushions in the boat), but I might sew my own sail if I had a zig zag machine. Like you, I would still have to probably take it to a loft to finish the corners and stuff..in the loft, we used this massive hydraulic press to press in the rings.

When I painted the hull a few years ago, I changed the boot/cove stripes from pacific blue to flag blue (navy), so now I need to replace the sail cover and other canvas accessories to match..so far, I have the lifeline covers done, and I made a bag for the hatchboards. I want to redesign the new mainsail cover and make it like a stack pack, so we do not have to drop the bimini to fold the mainsail every time. I think that might involve also installing jack lines. My plan right now is some type of round fiberglass batten along the top of each half of the cover for stiffness, so I can roll it up tight to the boom to stow while sailing, along with taking the jacklines to the mast for sailing. When it is time to drop the sail, I will re-deploy the jacklines, and 'clip' the cover up in the air to the jacklines, so the sail drops inside..then have a zipper along each round batten and just zip that bitch up.

At the rate I do things, it will probably take me all winter. I guess I need to take a few measurements and draw it out on paper.

[BeauV]

Shawn,

A friend's boat that I crew on has the sort of sail-cover you've described. The jack lines run to the batten in the sail cover (which is actually a 3/4" schedule 80 PVC pipe - he made this himself). There are small openings in the cover so that the jack lines can be tied around the batten with a bowline. There is a flap, about 5" wide that runs the length of the cover inboard of the batten, which lays down against the inside of the cover when the jack lines are tight. Once the sail is lowered, the flap is pulled up and the two sides zipped together. The jack lines are left standing while the boat is in the slip. He no longer uses sail ties at all as the sail does a "good enough" furl within the cover and jack lines.

When sailing he does what you describe, rolling the cover around the batten and securing it to the foot of the mainsail with some velcro loops that are sewn to the appropriate places on the cover. The jack lines are taken forward and hooked under the horns at the gooseneck that are used for reefing the mainsail. When reefing, the jack lines are set up again and the cover catches the bunt from the reef. One issue is making sure that the leach end of the mainsail isn't jammed, caught, or crushed by the reef line as it is gathered. This typically takes a crewmember watching from the cockpit and the windward jack line being set up relatively loose so that crew can see what's going on. The lee side lazy jack line is also set up loose so that it will let the bunt sag to leeward as the reef is put in. Once in, the cover has slots for a velcro relieving strap for the ring at the leach, so the reefing line can be eased. If the sail is to be reefed for a long time, reef lines are tied through the reef points that run around the cover and the bunt and the lazy jack lines are eased and take forward again. One nice side effect of this is that the cover keeps a lot of the rainwater and/or sea spray from collecting in the bunt, a problem for the sail if the bunt gets full and heavy.

We've used this system in seriously heavy going and it seems to work well. I like the ability to avoid trying to tie off the mainsail with sail ties once the sail is down. It also removes the issue of where to put the cover when it's off the main. The negative is that our sail cover also covers the mast from above the headboard when the main is down to well below the boom. This keeps the weather, and more importantly the dirt and water from entering the sail through the front of the cover and from getting into the winches on the mast. My friend's mainsail gets wet along the luff every time it rains or when powering to windward in bad weather.

[Soñadora]

Well done!
Last time I was near a sewing machine I was about 5 years old. My older sister was trying to thread the needle of my Mom's machine. I stepped on the foot switch and sewed her finger.

OMG!

funny/not funny

[Soñadora]

Stack pack is definitely in my future.

[Soñadora]

This is Defender's version of the Sailrite machine:

https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?id=3136141

This is the 'Morse' knockoff:

https://sailrite.ecrater.com/p/19224372 ... al-machine

Website seems a little sketchy so maybe don't order from there.

Same one on eBay with a different sticker for the brand name:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/373513783227?h ... SweDVgXUuR

Biggest change I made to mine was to add the monster balance wheel. HUGE improvement. I also replaced the foot pedal with one from our old singer. Much, much better than the sparking/arching one that came with the machine. If I had the room, I'd get the sewing table with the servo motor from Sailrite for around $550

[Charlie]

The absolute Ferrari of industrial machines is the Bernina 217. A Swiss-made beauty that was our go-to machine for spinnakers and broad seaming laminates. Less heavy duty than the Sailrites, but super versatile with an added puller. If it has the cam system, they will do straight, zig, and 3 step, plus a bunch of fancy stitches. They sometimes appear on Craigslist. Also made under the Adler and Chandler brand.

[H B]

The absolute Ferrari of industrial machines is the Bernina 217. A Swiss-made beauty that was our go-to machine for spinnakers and broad seaming laminates. Less heavy duty than the Sailrites, but super versatile with an added puller. If it has the cam system, they will do straight, zig, and 3 step, plus a bunch of fancy stitches. They sometimes appear on Craigslist. Also made under the Adler and Chandler brand.

Thanks for all the replies. Rick, as I am sure you've noticed before, we are great at taking over threads and hijacking them!

Charlie, The machine I used in the loft had a roller puller behind the foot. that was awesome.

Beau, no pressure, but that is exactly what I am thinking about, and the little extras he's learned about the reef handling and velcro lashings would be a huge help. I was wondering if you can snap a few pics of the details next time you are sailing with them.
I figured some sch80 pvc would probably work for 'battens'. I did check Bacon's (the Minnie's of the East Coast) for long round batten stock, that was probably in a big roach cat sail, but could not find two pieces 13' long. I would also plan to have something go around the front of the mast..even if it is a small flap that zips off completely for the sailing part, and we can simply zip it on when needed. The bimini on my boat is farther forward than most, because I have end boom sheeting..and the issue I am trying to solve is exactly the issue with the dodger in the sailrite video..you can't get to the back 2/3s of the boom to flake and tie sail ties. Our present procedure is, let the sail out past the gunwhale, drop the lifeline gates (they weave thru the bimini frame), lower the bimini, tighten sheet/drop/flake the sail, and push the folded sail/boom back out past the gunwhale and re-deploy the bimini. We have gotten good at it, but it is a giant PITA. We'd probably sail the boat more if it was easier. I am also on the hunt for a used Harken furler, so when I replace the genoa, I can put a UV cover on it leave it up during the summer. Two less sails in bags on the boat, less clutter, and a LOT easier to use.

[Soñadora]

That Bernina looks like an awesome machine.

Tried mending my sails last night. No dice. At least the way I was doing it. There was a stack of about 4 layers of sunbrella, sail repair tape, and 3 layers of Dacron. Broke 3 needles and had to continually adjust the needle plunger shaft. I think I can reduce the sunbrella down to two layers. That might help.

[Soñadora]

...we are great at taking over threads and hijacking them!

LOL

Around here you have to compensate for topic drift

[H B]

We had a big heavy duty Adler at the loft we used for corners and sewing webbing into the reinforced corners and stuff like that. The long arm Adler I used for sail sewing would do everything except that real heavy stuff.

[H B]

Biggest change I made to mine was to add the monster balance wheel. HUGE improvement. I also replaced the foot pedal with one from our old singer. Much, much better than the sparking/arching one that came with the machine. If I had the room, I'd get the sewing table with the servo motor from Sailrite for around $550

So..how do you 'convert' the Sailrite (or similar) to an external motor/table? I already have the table/pedal/foot lift and motor. I wonder if you just have the correct length belts you could swap out machines to one table? Probably would need to figure out some way to align the foot lifter or only have it work on one machine.

[Soñadora]

Biggest change I made to mine was to add the monster balance wheel. HUGE improvement. I also replaced the foot pedal with one from our old singer. Much, much better than the sparking/arching one that came with the machine. If I had the room, I'd get the sewing table with the servo motor from Sailrite for around $550

So..how do you 'convert' the Sailrite (or similar) to an external motor/table? I already have the table/pedal/foot lift and motor. I wonder if you just have the correct length belts you could swap out machines to one table? Probably would need to figure out some way to align the foot lifter or only have it work on one machine.

Take a look at Sailrites Workhorse Servo and table

https://www.sailrite.com/Sailrite-Ultra ... nIQAvD_BwE

You could totally build that. Just need the right belt.