Boat Journal

The UV cloth on my head sail had been coming loose for quite awhile now. And, after our recent storm event, it was looking pretty raggedy as well. I emailed a couple of places for bids on getting it repaired. Right around $500. Ouch! Well, that was including new fabric as well.

So, just before heading out of town, I pulled the sail down. As I did, it appeared that the fabric was not in as bad a shape as I thought. And it was just the one edge that was loose. So I figured I could sew it myself.

I have a wonderful Brothers sewing machine. That thing can sew through leather, according to the guy who sold it to me. I don't know about that. I do know that he took a piece of denim, folded it in half, and sewed a seam on it. He then took that, doubled it again, and sewed it again. He repeated the process a couple more times and the machine never balked.

I've also sewn quilts with it. My quilts are made with denim and broadcloth, and the seams on those can get quite thick. Again, no problems.

So, rather than put out $500 on what looked to be a simple zigzag seam, I took it home and did it myself.

The machine didn't like it. The zig wouldn't. Just the zag held. So I sewed a straight seam in it. That did work pretty well.

But I am a bit worried about it. If you've ever felt the cloth on a sail, it feels like it's permeated with plastic. So, did I just create a perforation that will make it easier to tear? Usually when one uses a zigzag stitch, it's to allow the seam to 'give'. Did I just create a seam that's just going to tear more easily? Only time will tell.

Next problem: the foot was floppy. It would wave at me in the wind. After seeing the UV strip, I assumed that sewing the seams would fix that as well, since I thought I might just be witnessing that fabric flapping. That wasn't the case. The foot is still loose. So I still may need to take this sail in for repairs.