Suddenly, Rain!

While we have not had the drought which many seem to have had, September has been dry, warm and sunny for the most part, especially these past two weeks. I've really appreciated the weather given I head out at some point every day to paddle. Today, we had rain and presently we've got some crackling thunderstorms passing through.

A good day for tackling the long center seams of my SOF. I really like using this style of seam as it draws the material up nicely. The skin is nearly drum tight. The little black threads you see are the anchor points for the zig-zagging cord holding the canvas skin tight. Once the seam is finished I'll cut the threads and release the cord. It's arranged so it can be pulled into the cockpit and re-used on the next boat. This is the third time the same cords have done this job for me: real loyalty and devotion!

In the close-up below, you can see I'm using a pair of clamps to maintain the tension on the seam thread while I add another set of cross stitches. There are other methods, but the clamps were handy (I've got lots of them!) and they do the job well. The piping stitch is made using 1/8 inch nylon cord turned inside the canvas on either side of the seam. Unlike the tensioning cord, it will remain in the seam when I'm done.


At this point, I just have the two ends of the boat to finish sewing, then the cockpit rim will get sewn on. Sounds odd, but the rim actually 'floats' above the frame in these boats. With any luck, I'll get the first coat of paint on tomorrow afternoon.

33/100