Sunday June 9, 2013
Ever since Nate dropped us off at the docks on Wednesday night, we have not been off the boat. Once. For anything. Normally that would drive me insane, but I think we just got really into project and relax mode. One of the places that Nate helped us run errands to before dinner last week was to a fabric store, where we purchased about 8 yards of what we told was Sunbrella (we’re still not sure) so we can made a shade cover to hang over the deck while we’re at anchor. In can get incredibly hot in the cabin with the sun beating down on us all day, usually with interior temperatures reaching 90 during the day, and only cooling off to 85 at night. We use our fans so much that, at this rate, they’ll probably have to be replaced in about six months. And those things are not cheap. Although, through reading through forums and accounts of other sailors, by shading your deck, you can bring down the interior temperature by up to five degrees. We were sold on finding some way to shade our deck.
Until…dun, dun, dunn…..Matt said we had to make it ourselves. Which I thought meant, ‘Here’s the fabric Jessica, go to work while I watch from the sidelines’. Dear God, do I hate any projects involved with configuring and sewing. Which happen to be the only projects that get thrown my way. Believe me, I understand that Matt gets plenty of projects himself, none of which ever look very fun, but when you’re only project is different variations of the same task, and that task happens to be something you loathe more than anything in the world, it gets old really fast. So imagine my surprise when the day after we bought all our fabric, Matt pulled out all my sewing supplies to begin measuring and marking the fabric. He had already been up on deck taking measurements of where it would start and end, and was now transferring those measurements to the fabric. He was taking over all the logistics, the part I actually hate the most, and all I had to do was push the fabric through the machine.
The first thing we did, since we read it’s better not to have the seam running straight down the middle from forward to aft, is measure the width of the fabric at it’s widest part as it would hang from the beam ends, and cut it at that length. Then those pieces of fabric were laid side by side and sewn together, using three zig zag stitches. One in the middle, and one on each end, just to ensure extra strength. The piece we’re working on now will only be long enough to run from the bow to the mast, so we’ve measured the width of the deck at different spots moving forward, since the deck angles to a point near the bow and isn’t as wide there as it is midship. We’ll probably have to take the fabric to shore tomorrow where we can lay it out flat, transfer those measurements, and make the necessary cuts. After that it will just be sewing the the edges to make some pretty seams, and adding reinforcement patches to where the grommets will be. Dare I say….that might be it? It could actually be ready to hang after that? We’ll see how the rest goes, since from my experience, these projects tend to get effed up somewhere along the way.
Other than that, we’ve just been hanging on the boat relaxing while playing on 바카라 사이트 all the time. Taking advantage of the Burger King internet signal that has been coming in strong for the past few days, and, while Matt’s been distracted with that, I’ve been able to steal my Nook back for a few days to get some reading in. Tonight I tried to remind myself of the splendors around me, and went up on deck with a glass of wine to catch a gorgeous Cayman sunset. Which I’ve kind of been needing, since once more, I’ve been feeling a little off for the past few days. Maybe it’s because I’ve been stuck inside the boat working on sewing projects, even though having Matt tackle this one with me has been a huge help, or maybe it’s because our friends have been gone for almost a week now and I’m feeling a little lonely. Who knows. I just hope I get out of this funk soon, because with Matt starting to fall into one as well (“I hate fricking boats! Everything on them always breaks!!”), Serendipity might eventually succumb to our secret desires of pyromania.
Clear bottom of the anchorage, 15 ft below me.
This little face can always cheer me up.
