Cover Job

Dave and I have been engaged in a tailoring job for a few days.  Our mainsail cover needed to be adjusted.  We have lazy jacks but our sail cover hadn't been adapted for them.  For the non-sailors:  lazy jacks are these cool lines that attach to the mast and then kind of "web" down to the boom so that when you drop your mainsail they drop in between and sit on top of the boom, ready to be tidied up and covered up.

"How lazy can sailors be that they invent all of this rigging to save them some work?" you might ask.

Well, in truth without this system you can drop your mainsail and have it laying all over your deck, maybe even falling into the water.  But back to the sail on the deck.  Dacron is a great material for sails, it handles the tremendous loads that we ask of it and requires little maintenance in return.  However if you've ever stepped on a sail on the deck of a boat you know it can resemble an ice skating rink.  You really don't want to ever have to step on a sail.  Its not safe.  Hence the virtues of the lazy jack system.

So here's a picture of our mainsail cover before

 See the lines that come down under the boom and how the navy sail cover is tucked into them?

Yeah, that's a pain.

A definite deterrent to getting that sail out and using it.

So we adapted it, copying the many sail covers that were built correctly.  In fact we have an excellent example right next to us at the marina.  This is what it looks like now

Much better.

In other news - As you may remember Simon was under the weather after we returned from Eagle Harbor.  We want to update you all that he is back to his old self.  

The guys enjoying the airshow at the marina.

A regular cast member of the airshow is Great Blue Heron.  This one was feeling pretty friendly last evening.

That inflatable dinghy now has a white streak down the middle of it.

I still like seeing them around, up close and personal.

The key word here being "see" them.  Simon rooted me out of bed at 2am last night to go up the dock.  Given the bout of lower-abdominal distress he had last week, I didn't question the request.  As we were walking up the dock we spooked one of these big bad boys who took off right in front of us.  And of course their take-off is always accompanied with a pre-historic squawking noise.  That'll pretty well eliminate any lower-intestinal issues you might have.

Of course while up there trying to take care of business in an efficient manner so I can get back to bed, we bumped into the night security guard who needed to visit for a bit.  Don't get me wrong, I so appreciate what great security the port provides.  But at 2 am I generally don't feel like chewing the fat.  Eventually we made it back down the dock where I spied another heron at the other end of the dock.  Fortunately we didn't get close enough to catch it's attention and Si and I made it back to bed in less than 20 minutes.

Life on the docks...