Thursday, October 13, 2016

Lee Cloth

Sleeping in a saloon berth while the boat is at anchor or in its slip is generally not a problem because the boat is nice and level.  Same goes for storing sails and gear.  It's a completely different story while sailing and the boat is heeled to one side.  Fortunately, somewhere along the line lee cloths were invented.  When we purchased our boat it did not have lee cloths and we knew this shortcoming would need to be addressed before any overnight sailing and especially before heading to Hawaii. We looked at several designs and determined that our sewing machine was not up to the task.  So, while we were over in Alameda dealing with the fuel tank access port project we stopped by a canvas shop, sketched up a design, selected the material, and confirmed measurements down at the boat.  Two weeks later we had lee cloths in hand!

Today I went down to the boat and installed them.

port side

starboard side

Sunbrella material, webbing, and attachment clips on the webbing.  We opted for the webbing as it's super strong (1,400# breaking strength), lays nice and flat below the cushions when not in use, length is easily adjusted, and the clips make it easy and fast to open when getting in or out.  Each lee cloth has 9 grommets with 1" #10 screws attaching it to the settee.  We also put grommets near where the webbing is sewn on just in case there's an issue and we have to use a piece of line as a backup.  I think they'll work nicely. 

One more item checked off the list!




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