Oriental, NC

 Getting started with a major project....the main sail bag is very old.  Not really sure how old, but over 10 years.  That's a long time for fabric to be in the sun/weather 24/7.  Needless to say, it needs replacing as we've patched it, being careful with it over the past couple of year as rips appeared frequently.  Anyhooo, time to bit the bullet and get it re-done.

We'll be doing some re-design of a couple of areas.  Has been nice having What If and Breathe on the dock lately so that I can contrast/compare other setups.  

I may have mentioned earlier that I scored 14 yards of very inexpensive Sunbrella marine grade fabric on Ebay (less than $10 a yard!!!).

After much measuring and discussing with Duane, we rolled out the material on the dock and got busy with marking and cutting the fabric.  (It's almost 18' long....)

 

First cuts - we did two of these, obviously.  I finally bought my own hot knife - I've been borrowing Cathy's but I think it's time that I have one on board...Cathy lent me the green knee pad.  A lifesaver kneeling out on that concrete!

After hemming the bottom, we sewed webbing in place at intervals to attach the jack-lines.  (Small lines that hold up the sailbag).

 

At this point I had to pause and drive the 1/2 hour into New Bern because I had not ordered enough material for the batten pocket....luckily, late on a Friday afternoon, Omar Sailmakers was willing to stop their work and sell me 18' of sailtape.  Cool place....

 

Back at the boat, fitting the sailtape in place to make the pocket for the new battens.

And if you're wondering what the boat looks like right now.....it's a disaster!!!