Oceanus gets new curtains

New curtains to cover the two large deadlights in Oceanus's saloon.

Virginia went back and forth about whether Oceanus needed curtains to cover the two large deadlights in the main saloon. Then she saw a video from our friends at Sailrite and we both liked the idea.

The library easy chair on top of a fiberglass deck step made a good sewing seat while the double bunk made for a roomy work surface. 

Virginia chose a sand-colored furniture fabric made by Sunbrella for the curtains. It goes well with the other fabrics on the boat and is what we used to cover the part of the mast that shows below deck.

While I worked on fitting a new teak sole in the main saloon, Virginia set up her small sewing machine on our bunk. The big Sailrite sewing machine weighs 78 pounds and would be overkill for this project. She used a dock step with our big deck chair on top. The combo worked well enough and in less than a day she sewed both pair of curtains.

We installed upper and lower rails above and below the deadlights. The lower rail keeps the bottom of the curtains in place so they don't swing back and forth with the movement of the boat.

Sunny days are rare on the Oregon coast, but not where we are headed.

Bimini Done: Canvas Work Tougher Than It Looks

The new bimini and the connector canvas zips to the dodger to cover the entire cockpit. The fabric is Sunbrella and the color is toast.

Virginia finished the bimini and it looks great. Although it was easier than the dodger, sewing it was much tougher than she anticipated. She had the Sailrite video and followed it step by step, but it was still difficult. The bimini video is somewhat confusing and was not as good as the Sailrite dodger or enclosure videos.

The canvas connector piece easily zips on and off even with about 10 knots of wind.

In addition to the bimini she also finished the piece that zips to the dodger and the bimini to connect them covering all 10 feet of Oceanus's cockpit.

The clear vinyl window is the perfect size and in the perfect place to give the helmsman  a view of the masthead.

The bimini features a clear vinyl window so the helmsman can see the masthead wind indicator. The patterning material Virginia used was not clear enough to see through, so marking the window was a bit of a guess, but it turned out perfect. Standing behind the wheel, when I look up the masthead is right in the center of the window.

The bimini has about $70 of zippers.

After she finished sewing the bimini, but before we put it on, Virginia sewed the zippers along the back and sides that will attach the side curtains for a full enclosure.

The bimini frame was our Christmas present to each other. Notice there are no straps to get in the way.

Virginia started sewing in junior high. Over the years she's sewn several boat canvas projects, including to full covers for two of our smaller sailboats. But the dodger and bimini were very complicated and difficult to get a tight fit.

She used a hot knife to cut out all of the pieces so there was no chance that they would fray but she didn't like the look of the raw edges, so where ever they showed, she sewed binding tape over them. It makes for a very elegant looking bimini.

A Pile of Cushions

I always felt  that I wasn't contributing as much to the boat project as Brandon, so I was excited to be able to start sewing the many canvas and upholstery jobs that need to be done. There are a total of twelve cushions in the boat. all but one are in the main salon.

I foolishly thought that amounted to only a few hours worth of sewing. Boy was I wrong!

My friend Joi C. Hess volunteered -- actually, she insisted -- she help me with covering the mountain of foam stacked in my guest bedroom. She claims to enjoy sewing cushions and making piping. She calls this  "Therapeutic Sewing Sessions."

When Brandon and I chose our fabric we were temped to get what was on sale, but in the end we decided to get our favorite Sunbrella upholstery fabric. We are very glad we did. The Sailrite site helped us select fabrics that looked good together. 

Dueling sewing machines.

I don't know if I could have done them so well without her help. She happily sewed on the pieces that had the piping then handed them to me for the next step. After four sewing sessions that lasted about eight hours each, they are all done!

The cushions arranged as they will be in the main salon.

Joi took home fabric about three weeks ago and is making pillows. Three of these are on actual pillow forms, the rest of them will have zippers and be stuffed with extra blankets and throws. Joi brought us the first three pillows (the ones on the pillow forms) and I have never seen such exotic pillows in my life! I question Joi's state of mental health after this.

Joi's pillow masterpieces.

While Joi may think these sessions were therapeutic, I didn't. Now I need some heavy-duty Therapeutic Knitting Sessions.