So.
When last we left the staysail burrito, it had torn itself apart in boarding waves on the trip from Topolobampo southeast to Mazatlan in May 2008. Oh, sad.
On the upside, GB rescued the staysail itself when it fell overboard, which is nice. And I re-used much of the non-shredded staysail burrito fabric to construct the new cover for the Sailomat on the Fox's stern. Always a success, when a girl can re-use $30-per-yard Sunbrella. The Sailomat cover took 3 yards, more or less. So I'm glad the fabric was already paid for.
While in Maz for hurricane season 2008, one among many sewing projects was to design a new staysail bag. GB had certain ideas – chief among them being, NO external sail ties. On the dearly-departed burrito, the seams affixing the external ties to the bag had held fast in the boarding waves but after several hours the surrounding fabric failed from the force of the water. In the redesign – with GB's input – I built a bag with one piece of new Sunbrella, using a rectangle roughly 9 feet long by almost 4 feet wide, tapering to a little over 3 feet wide at either end. 82-inch zipper on top to close, with Sunbrella flap covering zipper for extra protection from water and sun. Protective flap secured by Velcro. Grommets on the bottom for ventilation & drainage. Both ends sewn closed (like a duffle bag) per GB's desire to further prevent water and sun penetration. Webbing loops on outside of bag – two at each end, on either side - to affix bag (not sail) to boat regardless of the bag's position on deck (port or starboard). Here's what the bag itself looks like when it's full of sail, but not yet tied down to the grab bars along the coach roof.
Downside: despite its size the bag is fairly compact relative to the sail it holds, so it requires sail ties (per GB's direction) around the staysail to compress it inside the bag; plus more sail ties around the outside of the bag to secure the bag (and the sail inside) to the boat. Because the ends are sewn closed the staysail has to be pulled out of the bag (instead of having a zipper running the entire length of the bag which when unzipped would allow the bag to fall completely open, a design I thought might have been more convenient). GB assures me that his design will not cause a problem when he raises and lowers the staysail. He's confident he can handle both the staysail and the bag in the higher winds in which this sail will be deployed, and still manage the dozen or so sail ties that will be flyin' around. I have my doubts. I expect there will be a torn bag and a lot of lost sail ties in my future. But then, I'm the pessimist on this vessel.
GB insisted on buying the Sunbrella himself, as he wanted to match the fabric to all the other boat canvas projects I'd done. Alas. He bought a "natural" color Sunbrella which is actually much whiter than the "oyster" shade we'd used for almost everything else, but what the hey – neutrals go with other neutrals, and after a week or 2 on the Fox it'll all look the same anyway. I'm just glad it wasn't me who'd done the color selection. We've also relocated the sail and bag from the side deck/bow area where the staysail burrito had ridden and where the force of boarding waves is strong, to the coach roof area aft of the mast, which hopefully takes on a lot less water.
But for now, as I look at the long, narrow, white bag sitting on the coach roof, that tapers at both ends, I'm reminded of a 9-foot-long…joint. So the Staysail Burrito has transformed into the Gallant Fox Ganja. Or, as I shall now refer to it: the Staysail Spliff.
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