We are still waiting for rope. It will take about three weeks to get the rope that we want in the sizes we need. It is a special order item and has to be made by New England ropes. So in the mean time we have started learning and practicing the techniques we will use in the making of these sails. Our friend Stuart Hopkins came to the loft today and shared some of what he knows about roping, splicing cringles, and hand sewing grommets. It was an interesting day and all of us learned quite a bit. These three tasks will take up the majority of the time in this project and we will surely be quite good at them by the time we are through. I estimate we will hand sew about 375 grommets in this suit of sails, and will rope over 600' of sail edge. Each of these sails will get ropes around all four (three in the mizzen) edges.
Stuart has agreed to work with us on this project as our "special projects consultant." He has a loft, named Dabbler Sails, that is about 20 miles from ours and he specializes in making sails for small traditional craft. He has a nice website: http://www.dabblersails.com/. In the picture above at right he is showing Angie and Justin about siezing a clew once it has been wormed, parceled, and served. The siezing holds the loop in place and creates a transition from clew to sail.
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