It is hot here....jungle hot. The sun beats on Persephone's deck all day raising the temp inside to the low hundreds. Something HAD to get done and soon. Previously, I had talked to Bob and Lori on "Pride" concerning what they had done to shade the boat. Lori said that an awning which covered the entire deck was essential. When Mike came down, he brought with him yards (30+ yards) of material to make the awning. So, the cloth and sewing machine are aboard, but space was not to lay out the cloth for patterning and sewing with dimensions of 24 feet, by 16 feet. (and that is is only from the mast to the stern of the boat !) What to do....and do it cheaply....
So I approached a local sailmaker here in Bequia. (Alick's Sail Makers) I would supply all the materials, he would provide the floor, technical advise and I would "work" for him to defray the cost and hopefully reduce the time it would take to build the awning. So, off to work I went for a FULL day in the sail loft. (Got up, had breakfast, cleaned up and packed my backpack with my sewing essentials and was on the job right at 9 am). Already, this "working thing" sucked. Having to be somewhere at a specified time was not part of life anymore...unless it involved sailing.
The loft was on the second floor of an old building with a tin roof. Essentially, it was a giant broiler; by quitting time, I was medium well done !! (Think of the Perdue turkey with the built in thermometer that goes POP when the bird is done....mine popped right at 5 PM...DONE)
But, we had laid out the cloth, stitched all the panels together, and were working on the "strong points" for tying the awning down tightly to the boat, without chafe. I am off today, (needed a vacation !!) but will return to work on Saturday, and then into next week to complete the project. (BTW, it is coming out great !!)
What some will do to save a buck !! Keeping you all in stitches, "Sissorhands Dave"
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