The Fox and our buddy-boat, Kia Ora, raised anchor at Punta Pulpito for a very short 10-mile southbound voyage to the popular anchorages of Caleta San Juanico. Both vessels were underway just after 0700 on Sunday, November 27, 2016. The morning air was calm with skies overcast. Arriving in San Juanico we found only two…
Winters in Mazatlan are generally fairly comfortable. During our November 2015- February 2016 stern-pulpit refit, the daily Fahrenheit highs were in the high 70s-mid 80s and the nightly lows were in the comfortable 60s. Nevertheless, Mazatlan was its typical humid self with the biting insects that just love my delicate skin. While we waited for…
The upgrade of our cockpit included a new and enhanced stainless steel stern pulpit; a stern arch on which to mount our radar dome and a couple of new solar panels; and a brand-spankin'-new dodger and bimini combo platter made out of Stamoid. This entire refit took four months exactly to complete, from late November…
After 13 years of owning The Fox and 12 years living aboard and cruising, it occurred to us that we could improve our tropical sailing experience by having a stainless steel arch installed on the stern, to support a couple of solar panels, a more stable cockpit shade cover, and whatever else we could dream…
I spent some time in Stuart working on smaller sewing projects while there were no cushions in the saloon and I was farming out the bigger jobs to Canvas Works. It still left me with plenty to do: I visited a local upholstery shop and sewed new curtains and tie-backs out of some fancy-patterned, silky-textured…
April 1, 2010. April Fool's day. We had a spot of bother while traveling SE along the El Salvador coast toward the Gulf of Fonseca, attempting to raise the mail sail. User error. Details are unimportant. However, if any of you dear readers are ever performing some task on a boat and you encounter an…
Sometimes it's economical to hire a professional for boat canvas work. For example, certain projects are too large and complicated to be done well by one person using a small sewing machine on a boat's deck or down below at the salon table. A cockpit's spray shield, aka dodger, is one such project. As Karen…
We didn't waste our 3+ months of time in Maz this past late summer/early autumn. In sewing projects alone, here's what I did with my trusty Pfaff sewing machine: Mending/revisions: 2 pairs of shorts; 3 shirts; a skirt; a jacket; a pair of sandals; one pair of Capri pants; a laundry bag, tote bag, geniker…
So for the rear and side panels I was designing for the low-latitude hot-sun cruising we're now doing, I discovered the quietly thrilling beauty of ZOMG, SUNBRELLA MESH. This fabric is great. I got mine from here. Sunbrella mesh sews well, shades well, and ventilates as well as any mesh fabric can. In the photos…
One of the ways I prepared for a summer in the Sea of Cortez was to enhance the sun protection and air circulation in our cockpit. We'd been traveling exclusively with the cockpit canvas that came with our Malo 39 some 8 years ago. It is some of the best and sturdiest boat canvas I've…