Speaking of sails

I had said before that we were waiting on CB Sails out of Panama City to come and measure for a new sail cover for us. Well Dirk was speaking to them about the cover as we have lazy jacks and what they make is a "lazy bag" for them. When we first had the boat surveyed last year the surveyor told us that we could probably get another good season out of our existing sail. Dirk and I had already decided that before we made the leap from land that we would make the big purchase of a new main sail. Thankfully he said something about this to them and they said they could not guarantee that the new sail would fit into the bag that they would make as it wouldn't fold up as tight. So Dirk told them to hold off so we could discuss it. After tossing around this and that we decided to bite the bullet and order our new sail now along with the new sail cover (lazy bag). Ouch, did I say ouch? I meant double ouch. That slimmed down the cruising kitty just a wee bit. But they said they would throw in a helm cover. Maybe Dirk should have pressed them and maybe we could have gotten our hatch covers done as well. Oh well... Speaking of hatch covers, Dirk has been trying to make a pattern that he is happy with. So much for me having to do the sewing. I have to say, the man can find his way around a sewing machine a lot better then I can. Below is a photo of Dirk trying to figure a pattern out with Butters seeing if he can offer any assistance.

Dirk did the installation of the final two hatches and he also replaced the ratchet system in them so that they will now stay open without having to tie them to the boom. First pic is of the old plexi glass window and the second is looking through the new lexan window. Wow, what a difference. We are still trying to finalize some of the major projects so that we can begin enjoying the summer aboard. Memorial Day weekend should be a good weekend for us and will also mark one year that we did our first overnight at Shell Island. Hoping to get some video so that I can try that function out on the blog. Till next time.....