ghosts of sailmakers past / this morning

I need a new set of sails, and my sailmaker is gone.  Stuart of Dabbler Sails passed away a few years ago.  So instead I reached out to my long-time friend Stephanie of Evolution Sails in Deltaville.  Last year, when I needed a new jib, she came to the rescue, getting my old jib patched to get me through another cruise and then having a new jib ready before the following sail.  It is good to have friends in the right places.

After the spring sail in North Carolina, I had thought I needed just a new main sail.  Stephanie took mine to the loft for measurements and wrote up a proposal for a new one.  Then on my Father's Day sail, the mizzen tore along the leech seem.  So yes, new sails all around.

 

I asked Stephanie if I could bring my mizzen up to their shop, both to see the loft and to talk with the guys that will make my new sails, and she said of course I could.  

When I drove up their Monday, Jake and Justin dove right in, tacking the mizzen out on the plywood floor and taking countless measurements, more than I could have imaged for a flat three-sided sail. They talked quietly between themselves, pointing out various stitching and batten pockets, reinforced corners and grommets.  Jake had a notebook with graph lined pages, jotting down measurements and notes.  It was fascinating.

Since Stuart's loft was just about 20 miles north of Deltaville, I asked if they knew him.  They said they did.  In fact when making new sails for a tall ship years ago, they hired Stuart to come in and teach them how to make traditional sails.  He was around the loft for a couple weeks, both working on the sails and sharing his skills.  Stuart even made a book for them, sort of a scrapbook with photographs and drawings taped in place, and bits of writing here and there.  To this day, they still use that book as a reference.

After we were done talking about my sails, Stephanie walked me across the loft.  There in the corner were Stuart's sail making bench and some tools.  What caught my eye was the mallet, one Stuart had crafted from a tree branch.  The head of the mallet was wrapped with leather, the same sort of leather he put on the corner's of my sails.  I looked at the mallet, and in my mind pictured Stuart working alone in his loft, using the hand-made maul to tap grommets into place on my sails. I smiled.

It is good to know that Jake and Justin, skilled sailmakers in their own right, carry on with Stuart's tradition.  I look forward to the new sails, and when I use them I will be very glad that they have a direct link with my sailmaker, my friend, Stuart.

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A woman does yoga on the deck of a catamaran.  Another catamaran nearby shows a homeport of Vienna and flies the Austrian flag.  And next to that, a boat from the Netherlands.  I cast off just after 6:00 this morning, excellent wind and comfortable morning temperatures.  Nine cruising boats in Crawford Bay,  six catamarans, three monohulls.  I tacked for a couple hours back and forth across the river.  A few waves from joggers on shore.  A couple of tugs passed by, but otherwise I had the river to myself.  Is there a better way to start the day?  I think not.