kateandjohnsail.boats

Here’s an item for the “better late than never” department. Because there is only so much storage space on Quintessa, we had been keeping my folding bike assembled and lashed to the rail, even when we sailed. In hindsight I can tell you this is not a nice thing to do to a bike you love: too much salt water. Indeed, my little blue friend has suffered from exposure and is pretty creaky and frozen up. Grasping for solutions, I realized that there are several items on the back of the boat (an outboard motor and a barbecue among them) that have their own custom covers to reduce exposure to salt water and UV sunlight. Clearly the bike needs its own cozy cover. But the sewing machine is in Portland, and the bike is in Turkey: clearly a multi-step plan is in order.

Step one: find some kind of material to make a mock-up cover. One evening we walked passed a building under renovation in Rhodes, and there in the dumpster was a discarded drapery. Score!

Step two: design the cover. My sailing buddy Sara helped me do this one windy October day on the dock in Nisyros. One minute after this picture was taken, a sneaky wave came right over the wall and got us all wet!

Step three: cut and mark the pattern with every conceivable measurement and detail possible. This happened on a rainy day in Turkey, so I had to work in the limited space of the cockpit. (I left the clothesline with socks in the photo as just a hint of the romance of sailing life…)

Step four: sew an extremely custom-fit item, something you have never done before, to go on a form that is 6500 miles away, and hope it fits. This was a challenge for me as well as for my sewing machine, a 1980 Pfaff that is really tough.

This is where I insert a word of thanks to friends Leslie and Dave for letting me borrow their kitchen island when they weren’t looking. It made a fantastic sewing project table!

Step five: carry the cover to Turkey and try it on the bike. It fits!

As planned, I hand-sewed on some Velcro and snaps, and the cover is now protecting the bike, which we have also been able to move to a part of the boat that doesn’t get as much spray.

A future step is to make covers for other things on the boat: the new electric motor, the new Hydrovane, and the foresail furler.