Laying Up - Rope and Canvas work.

Wednesday 1st October.

A new topping lift for the spinnaker pole. It took a while for a
suitable reel end to turn up and it is not my prefer colour but at a
40% discount I'll live with it, 17 metres x 8mm of my favoured
 premium braid on braid - Lyros Hercules £20.40.

I reused the shackle and it took c 45 minutes work to put a nice
mousing loop on one end (there is no core in the loop so it will
go through the mast sheeves) and the snap shackle on the other. It
would have been quicker but I forgot the snap shackle, realised
before it was too late, and had to back track.

I don't understand why more people don't do their own splicing.

Age is beginning to show on some of the canvas work with a few damaged areas due to chafe, also the bags containing the man overboard ladders are falling to pieces due to UV exposure although the ladders are fine and I could do with replacing a couple of halyard bags. Time to try my hand at canvas work!

8 years old, and until last winter on the boat most of the year - with
the boat on the mooring in a fast flowing estuary this was essential
as transferring between dinghy and boat is a prime cause of going
overboard. I had thought to put a large canvas patch over the
damage but having looked at the construction and the extent
 of the damage I decided that it would be best to make new bags.

The ladder cleaned up reasonably well although I'll give it one
 last clean before fitting the new bag now that some stronger
 cleaner has arrived.

But before starting a fairly complicated job for a novice, some patch work for one of the dodgers and to cover two small slits in the stack pack.

The two aft lines have both chafed the canvas, the forward lines,
two a side, have a better lead and are undamaged. View from the
inside; a full length batten does through the white pocket and the
webbing loop to which the lazy jack is attached on the other side.

I lashed out £25 on what appears to be a brilliant tool, a
"Speedy Stitcher", advertised as a manual sewing machine
 which is not a big exaggeration, it was slow going on my
test piece but produces a good looking locked stich.

It turns out I could have saved some of the dosh, the needles
fit this very old equivalent that I inherited. And the bobbin
in the new version is a waste of time because you can't get
rid of twists in the thread. But the old one is a bit small.

Patches ready to go, folds glued with PVA and left overnight.

OK, not pro standard but not too bad for a first attempt with
hand stitching, and they will certainly do the job.

Click here for part 2.