More Sailmaking

For some reason, I'm loathe to break out the sandpaper and finish the fillets in my hull.  But time's a-wasting, so I need to make some sort of progress on the boat.

There's still the sail to work on, so this morning my son and I broke out the infernal device the sewing machine.  We retouched some segments of the center seam that were sloppy or crooked, or where the machine skipped stitches.

Then we got out the batten, and sketched in the hollow in the leach (mouth?) of the sail.  I triple-checked to ensure that it really was cut that way, and not just shown curved in the drawings because that's how it looks when you're sailing.  But no, I'm pretty sure that's actually how it should be cut.

So we sketched and cut the hollow, then hemmed it to a length of polypropylene webbing.  It looks much more like a crab claw sail with that curve in place.

The next step will be to hand-stitch the bolt ropes into the seam along the head and foot of the sail, and again outside the seam.  That rope will be used as eyelets when we lace the sail to the spars.

Speaking of spars, I picked up three impressive lengths of straight, dead aspen at a friend's cabin last weekend.  I haven't decided yet if they're to be spars or kiato, or some of each.  But they represent some more non-hull progress.  So even though I'm avoiding the fillets, I'm still moving the project forward.

Sailmaking: Sewing Machine Works!

My last couple attempts at stitching the center seam on my sail failed because the sewing machine couldn't handle the 4 layers of fabric, plus 4 layers of masking tape, that I was asking it to sew through.  (I hear that Sailrite machines can handle much heavier stuff than our typical household machine, but I'm not sure even one of those would have been able to do what I was asking.)

The two halves of my crabclaw sail,
together again - for the first time.

Looking at the flat-felled seam instructions from that DIY camping gear site I linked to last time, I decided to try the seam in stages as they suggested.  It was harder on me, because the fabric wasn't all locked in place like it was with my masking tape arrangement.  But it was much easier for the machine, and, with help and coaching from my oldest son, who did a sewing unit in 4-H a couple years ago, we got it done.

As for quality, let's just say it will probably be good enough.  While not all of the wrinkles shown at right are sewn into the sail, a few of them are.  I had problems guiding the fabric straight through the machine, which caused some wandering.  I had problems with the two pieces of fabric feeding at different rates, which created wrinkles.  And I probably didn't have everything pinned perfectly to begin with, either.  Here are some examples:

Bunching caused by one side feeding faster than the other,
then being "caught up" too quickly.

Wandering....  The weight of the fabric made feeding
tough, and it sometimes got crooked on me.

If the sail were plywood, these inaccuracies would represent my weakest effort yet.  But it's not plywood, it's cloth, and I've never done anything like this before.  So I'm going to declare victory and move on. 

Moving on....  I think I should reinforce some areas where the wandering was particularly bad.  Then the sail still needs the polypro webbing sewn across the mouth of the claw (probably by machine once more).  And I'd like to add some reinforcement strips to the tack.  Then I need to sew in the polypro bolt rope, which I'll do by hand.  And finally, I need to attach my snazzy red Wharram logo and sail numbers, which I think I'll try to do by hand again.

So there's a bit of work yet before we have a complete sail.  But tonight's progress moves the project forward past a tough stumbling block, which is great news.

The Infernal Device

I spent some time last night trying to join the two halves of my sail with my wife's 1980's-era Kenmore sewing machine.  First, I had to pin the sail together in the proper alignment.  I'm planning to use a flat-felled seam, and I want the stitching to pass through all four layers of fabric, so there's a lot of work necessary to get the sailcloth in the proper arrangement before you start sewing.

I tried pinning, but it would have taken dozens of pins to hold the entire seam in place, and then how do you sew it?  Then it occurred to me to use masking tape to hold the edges together correctly.  I can sew right through the masking tape, and the tape should just tear off as the sail is used.  After a bit of work, that job was done, and I had a rather stiff pre-assembled seam consisting of 4 layers of sailcloth and 4 layers of masking tape.  To the machine!

But the sewing machine kept binding, which would require undoing the stitches, cutting the thread, clearing the jam, rearranging everything, and trying again.  Over, and over again.  Once, I even broke a needle; another time, I accidentally disassembled the bobbin assembly while trying to clear it.  That took 15 minutes to sort out....  Somewhere along the way, the thread got routed wrong and the machine was no longer producing stitches. 

My wife was very patient as I clumsily abused her machine.  I eventually figured out that the jamming was due to my not holding the free ends of the thread taut as I started out.  Armed with that knowledge, I successfully produced several inches of pretty, zig-zag stitches before the thread frayed in the needle and I had to stop.  Sigh.....

I knew this process wouldn't be easy, but I was unprepared for the complexity and finicky nature of the sewing machine.  I'll try to pick up a heavier needle and try again tonight.

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Meanwhile, here's a neat write-up of outrigger canoes and small catamarans from a British sea kayaking web site.  For the record, I was seriously considering building a sea kayak before I decided on the Melanesia.  I like the mobility and versatility of the kayak, but I wanted something that could carry a flexible number of people, and sail effectively.  The link above touches on all of these points.