Becalmed

The Artful Sailor isn’t kidding about cheap sailmaker’s palms.

Utterly useless. A proper one is on order.

I did get the main panel of the ditty back cut out, with folds creased in, strike lines marked, twine threaded and waxed. The bench hook is even hooked. That’s about all I can do, other than cutting out the other pieces, but I’ll wait on that until I need them.

The strike lines look off, but that’s just parallax from the camera angle.

The Ditty Bag

From The Artful Sailor and Whole Earth Nautical Supply in Port Townsend, WA, a fantastic ditty bag kit.

n.b. the smell of the contents should be bottled as a cologne.

Now, I learned of this project reading Emiliano Marino’s column in Small Craft Advisor magazine – do subscribe – and also reading his book, The Sailmaker’s Apprentice.

Armed with the book, and the kit (which also includes the instructions from the book and two SCA articles), I’ll be starting on this project this weekend. The sewing skills acquired should cover my needs in making a sail for the SCAMP. That’s the idea, anyway. I’ve decided a crinkly dacron sail won’t be a good match for this boat.

If you too are interested in jumping into a similar adventure, check out their web site https://www.theartfulsailor.com/ It is full of great information. Better yet, if you find yourself in the Port Townsend area, do make a pilgrimage to the store.