Oriental, NC

 First, I've got to admit a boo-boo.  

This spring in the Bahamas, we took the dinghy chaps off and I re-sewed all the seams because the thread was breaking down.  It never entered my mind that I needed to wash them off.  Not too smart on my part since they were probably heavily laden with salt from being used in salt water every day!  

I pulled my sewing machine out of its storage and was appalled at the rust!  I should have known.  Really silly of me.  

Luckily, the rust is confined to just the areas right around the needle where the salty fabric was touching.  The bobbin area was involved as well.  This area looks worse than it really is because some of that rustiness is a mixture of rust and lent.

 The only solution seemed to be to wash it.....so I removed all the coverings and literally hosed it off with copious amounts of fresh water (protecting the motor of course).  Not something you think of when it comes to sewing machines....

There are still some traces of rust, but after being heavily oiled, I hope it will stop any further rust. 

 All back together and it seems to be working just fine.

We spent a good while doing some mowing and weed-eating on both the lots....it's sorta hot and muggy here!  

I came back to the boat for a shower and was shocked a bit to see what I looked like!  Good fun!