DIY Fender Bags

With our trip to the Bahamas in the near future, nearer than I can believe, I am thinking about all of the items we are going to have to store in such a small little space. With this comes careful organization. I do kind of get obsessed with this and it could eat me alive. But to be able to make it through 2 months in a 27' space I am planning ahead. Where does everyone put their fenders? There are four of them and they get wet and messy. During the summer on the lake once we left the dock they either went into the seats in the cockpit or in the cabin on the quarter berth. We are going to be using those seats for other storage and the quarter berth will now be my bed. That means no wet and dirty fenders allowed. I have searched on the internet for pictures and post of what other cruisers are doing with this issue. I have seen single and double fender bags and heard pros and cons. The pros won out and I devised a plan for ours.

I went shopping for cargo netting and white webbing at JoAnns fabrics and Wal Mart and then used the Captain Navy color sunbrella for the backing. I had no pattern to go from, just the picture in my head. I did use the actual fenders, laying them on the fabric and guess work. I got it all finished. I can't wait to try it out.

DIY Genoa Bag

I had started this entry back in July and I thought that I had completed and posted it already. I found it in the drafts. Oh how time does get away from me. I will continue it now but I just thought that I would metion that this project was completed in July and added to the boat then. It has been tested, tried and true. We love it!!

We have problem with storage in the boat. There is no room. This is not a new story. So storage of a big bulky sail on the foredeck is a fantastic idea. We found a jib bag kit on Sailrite that will be perfect for us to use. We purchased the kit and it came in the mail shortly thereafter. It has all of the sunbrella material in color Captain Navy with the pattern drawn on the fabric. It also includes the thread, zipper webbing and an instructional video that you can watch along the way of your sewing process. It was pretty easy to put together. Though I have only had one home-ec sewing class in like the 7th grade when I lived in New Orleans, LA and I can't say that I was at the top of the class. I have only really done crafting projects since and never any clothing from a pattern. So this was a brave project and Mark had no doubt that I could do it. Maybe he just thinks this is a girl thing and we are all born with the ability and know how to run a Singer. Ha! I did have Mark help me out also by having him cut the fabric out with the hot knife.

It all worked out well and here is the finished project.

No more bonking the noggin.

 

Right over the coach roof we have an arch that has about 5 cam cleats that hold the halyards. Oh it is so ugly and right in the way.  Mark is 6'4" and maneuvering around the boat is a challenge. So we brain stormed on how we could get rid of that. We ended up purchasing off of EBay a 3 line clutch and an organizer.  I removed the arch, see ya, and we installed the clutch and the organizer along side the coach roof. That sure did clean it up nicely and it is much easier to go below. What a great improvement.

Anchors away!

When we bought the boat it had a great anchor but it was located in the back of the boat in a bucket in one of the cockpit benches. It obviously had never been used. Mark had a hard time lifting it in and out, over the rail, and twisting and turning his body to make it work. He ended up wrenching his back. There has got to be a better way. So he looked around and found a hanger to go at the bow pulpit. Scary as it was, he cut a hole in the boat and installed a deck pipe for the chain to go into a locker in the v-berth below. Oh boy that works great. What a wonderful improvement. It sure makes it nicer when we decide to anchor for a swim and lunch.