I enjoy a love / hate relationship with my Sailrite LSZ Ultrafeed sewing machine. I love that we’ve (my trusty helper and I) been able to undertake a whole bunch of sewing projects, on our time schedule and not have to pull out kitty’s ears to do it. (cruising kitty- get it?). I hate that it’s like a third anchor and we can’t store it near the bow. We need to move weight toward the stern because the boat tends to be bow heavy.

Dinghy chap lower hem cover strip- heck I don’t know what to call it, but let’s be clear on this; it’d better do its job because we are done messing around with these chaps (no, not our dock neighbors!). The solution to end all solutions was this: sew Velcro to the outside of the bottom hem of the chaps (or, as our next dock over neighbor says, “dinghy condoms”) from the stern to just before the bow curves up. Glue a 3” wide strip of Hypalon to the dinghy with “hook” Velcro sewn at the stop edge; the bottom glued to the dinghy. And voila! A hermetically sealed, water impervious covering over the bottom hem; we can only hope that this will keep the water out.  Initial tests are encouraging- no water mon, but we’ll claim victory after we’ve achieved dry runs in Elizabeth Harbour, George Town Bahamas.

Velcro sewn on to bottom edge of chaps

Hypalon strip with Velcro sewn. The exposed Hypalon gets glued to the dinghy.

An addition to the prop that will help ensure success is our new Doel outboard fins. Seems 95% of the outboards we saw in the Bahamas had outboard fins and they do a fantastic job of getting Bunting up on plane in seconds. When we are up on plane the water is less likely to push into the chaps through the bottom. Our test run was amazing. “You mean we’ve been suffering all this time and all we had to do was to spend $40?”  Our 8 HP engine needs allthe help it can get. Ok, so this isn’t a sewing project, but it deserves mention.

Russ attaches new Doel fins to the outboard

Moving along to interior decorating-not that I don’t like sewing Velcro, but let’s face it, curtains and a headboard are far more satisfying. In George Town I bought Androsia fabric in two colors- made guess where? Andros Island- the largest Bahamian island that almost no one visits. The darker (medium blue) fabric I used to make a headboard for our bunk. We constructed it from ¾” PVC, using 90 degree connectors at the two bottom corners and two 45s at each top corner. For added strength Russ put dowels inside the top and bottom PVC tubes. A 1” thick piece of 24”x48” foam rests inside the batting-wrapped PVC frame , then the fabric covers the batting on the forward-facing side.

Headboard frame with foam, batting wrapped over front and around PVC

Extra-heavy duty Velcro attaches the headboard to the wall at the head of our bunk. This projects gets an “easy” rating and no sewing involved J.   Added comfort and color, sound absorption – all wrapped up in on day. My kind of project!

Headboard -before attached to wall

The curtain project required my Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ machine- the boat anchor in a box, no weakling can lift it machine. Machine and carry case- what? Are they crazy? You can’t carry this thing; you can barely lift it on to the table! So you know who does that; no spur of the moment sewing for this faux-seamtress.

The curtains are another easy sewing project; just a bunch of rectangles with Velcro sewn at the top. We didn’t want to make another hole in the boat or spend much money,so… we kept it simple.  Last summer I made a curtain for the window next to the bunk on the port side so Benj could have privacy at night.  We used self-adhesive (hook) Velcro on the wall (the glue didn’t work) and I sewed the loop part along the top of the curtain.  I made the curtain longer than the window so it could be gathered a bit. When we leave CT I tie it up to let in more light.  That curtain worked out well so I did the same on our side, for both windows and with unplanned extra I made shorties for the galley.

Sewing Velcro loop to curtain top

The tied-up look.

With that, I thought for sure I was done. Alas, the Captain ever vigilant noticed our Lifesling bag was looking, well, extremely faded and I had to agree. I ordered a yard of 45” wide Sunflower yellow Sunbrella marine grade fabric from my favorite supplier of all things sewing and I less than a day- voila! a new cover. I think I’m getting the hang of all this- what should I call it?- non-garment sewing. Since my first Singer machine at age 13, 95% of my sewing was clothes; piping was not in my vocabulary.

The Lifesling bag was constructed using only pieces of material; I took it apart and used it for a pattern. We’ve accumulated a decent inventory of Velcro and happened to have exactly what was needed for the bag. I re-used the red webbing from the old bag: something old, something new, something sewed; it’s better for you!   A new, purchased bag would have cost us $50; this was no more than $20.

My prior order from Sailrite included a clever gadget called the Speedy Stitcher Sewing Awl. I watched the how-to video and now own a device that is “sew” the opposite of the Ultrafeed.  Designed for repairs that you can’t do with a machine, it is simplicity itself. The needle is sharp as hell; I left “Lori was here” marks on both sides of the stackpack support straps. The stitcher comes with thick waxed thread and two needles: straight and curved.  I bought fine waxed thread and a thinner needle to use for that and the V-92 polyester thread I use for my Sunbrella sewing.

Sewing awl at work

When we arrived at Black Point 15 boats were anchored; by Monday night the number had doubled; guess many were not comfortable rocking in the swells where they’d been.

The supply boat, per Lorraine, was due to arrive on Tuesday; our continued presence depended on the weather. We’d either jump 10 miles south to Little Farmer’s Cay or wait and head over to George Town, a long 50 mile run J Monday morning I got excited to see a ship headed in, but it was only a work truck ferry. Black Point has a medium sized dock with a small concrete ramp to one side; none of this could accommodate the ferry. In The Bahamas mon, they make do and much is not as we’re used to in the States. The ferry made one attempt then tried a second spot; a carved out section in the rocks where it could nose in and drop the ramp at a rock ledge. Gotta hand it to these guys; they make it happen.

Ferry attempt #1

This ferry gets it right

Thanks to the wind blowin’ 22kts we found ourselves boat bound Monday;  what better time than to work on the dinghy chaps, again! How many times have I heard “this is the last time” ???  Right. Well this time we had the solution and amazingly the materials to pull it off- oh not really pull it off, rather, make it stick.  Russ figured we’d better solve the problem before George Town where we’d likely have long rides in.

Cool weather means baking time and once my part of the chap project was done I whipped up a sour cream coffee cake using the very expensive organic sour cream I bought in Nassau.

Tuesday morning brought in a cargo ship/ferry to the rocky landing spot; not sure if food was delivered or not. The wind continued to deliver though but at least it was a manageable 14kts and the ride in was fine. A stop at Lorraine’s for our wi-fi fix and a chat with our anchorage neighbors, Anne and Harv on Camelot, a Victory 35. They’ve been at this FT cruiser life since 1996 and with 22 grandkids (most back in WI) Anne is ready for a change. The letters after her name on their boat card are “FM, CCBW”. Took me a minute to figure out they meant, First Mate, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer! Wish I’d thought of that one; a bit of cruiser humor is a nice touch.

Dinner was out at Deshamon’s, a very pretty place with a covered porch dining area in front and a small inner space followed by a small bar and kitchen in back.  Sausage pizza was the affordable choice- when we hit George Town the first stop will be to deplete the ATM, then Exuma Markets… followed by the liquor store and finally a dive/sport fish shop for an Hawaiian sling- lobsters mon. Diane, along with her co-owner and husband, Simon whose rum punch drinks were coconutty delicious, tipped us off on how we can get the fresh catch of the day on Wed.

Wednesday dawned beautifully and the kind of day we love at anchorage. Lots of sun to make solar power and barely any wind. Many boats departed for Little Farmer’s Cay to stage for a shorter run down to George Town, but we opted to go bright and early Thursday with the hope of some wind to at least motor sail.

We waited and watched the dock all day, until finally the very small fishing skiff came in and Russ zoomed over to see what he could purchase. 15 mins later he was back with dinner- 2 beautiful lobster tails- cut off from the body and cleaned in seconds. No claws on Caribbean lobsters you may recall. We ate one with our pizza leftovers and froze the larger one for a surf and turf meal in George Town.

Russ scores two tails!