Ordering a new main sail

I spent a lovely day out on the water measuring once, twice and three times for a new main sail for the Pum.

When we picked her up I had been warned that the main sail were not original to the model of the boat being a mixed and match set from Katrina victims that showed up on Ebay as Pum's sails were destroyed in her years of neglect in Georgia.

Thankfully I had a 100 foot cloth tape so I hoisted it up the halyard and confirmed what I had always suspected. The Pum has a seriously undersized main.

My first clue to this was my noticing that the main sail foot only came within about 18 inches about of the end of the boom. The second clue was that the main stopped about 2 feet from the top with the boom adjusted up the mast as far as she would go.

I know a twin keep boat will never be fast but this misshapen ripped mess of a main sail probably was more of a hindrance than a help on most days,

Martin Somerset of Somersetsails.com spent the better part of two hours working with me as I measured my rig and figued out that I had a rather mismatched set of sails, mast and boom, at least according to the original specs. Apparently only the least likely component was original. The boom, go figure. Here's a sample of his work. Red is amazing but we went with a matching white with green logo to match the pretty ok gennie.

So wish me luck with Martin. I'm hoping he will enjoy his weekend beer he had just purchased as he worked with me after hours to order my first sail while he reminisced about his Tennessee hang gliding days in the 70's on lookout mountain.

Cheers Martin!

I just read a pretty damn ok description of what it is to be a cruiser. Not a frickin Carnival cruise lines buffet eating cruiser but a Cruiser. A person who wanders about the world on his own terms, hopefully on a sailboat.

It's from sailpanache.com

"Cruising is essentially the most inconvenient way to do things. Its slow, things break all the time and nothing is straightforward. Add a language barrier, the assumption that you are a millionaire for owning a boat (ahem, yacht), and things can really be shitty sometimes. I watch a smile creep over their face, and I start to smile too, because I really like the challenge. I like testing myself. And I like the freedom. Nothing satisfying is ever easy. "