New Mainsail

While flaking the main a tear on the leech vouched for a sail beyond its best. A new main and headsail selection are required. Speaking to the  Circumnavigator that bought my old Folkboat, he stressed then importance of sails and rig. He hinted at the long hours they we're under stress of shifting all your worldly possessions over the sea, and how weaknesses will be inflated. 

The Sail Exchange offer up used sails but apparently also as new as well. may be useful in a press. I have found an unfinished Folkboat mainsail, 7 oz. and $500. The catch is that it needs trimming; edges, eyelets and reef points.  

By coincidence I've been  re-reading "The Eight Sailing/Mountain - Exploration Book" by H. W. (Bill) Tilman. On the voyage to Patagonia "the seams of the mainsail ...  constantly opened at some fresh point... and meeded restitching. We struck a bargain with an old coloured sailor. Sitting on the back verandah of the [Uruguayan Sailing] Club he stitched away happily for ten days until the job was done, and a very good job he made of it. Subsequently we had little trouble with seams opening and still wore the same sail crossing the Atlantic the following June... Sewing done by hand is stronger than that done by machine. The stitches are tighter, they sit closer and are therefore less likely to chaff, and if one stitch goes the others are not so liable to pull out as when machine sewn. The high initial cost is the only disadvantage". (Mischief in Patagonia 1953, page 50).

Yootoob throws up further inspiration in the form of Kevin Boothby's " How to Sail Oceans". Kevin showed how to resew jib eyelets making strong reference to "The Sailmaker's Apprentice". I respect Kevin as an engineless sailor with many miles of bluewater experience, he had runs on the board as did this guidebook. A book useful for the would be circumnavigator. 

I learned years ago, the prudence of investing in tools and learning new skills. DIY is often portrayed as a fools game by sellers of new product, scammers and trolls. But it gives a sailor great confidence to get work done to a higher standard than that produced by minimum wage employees shifting sails for maximum profit. 

I ordered The Sailmaker's Apprentice, next will be the sail and then materials. I will then channel "the old coloured fellow"  and aim for a great result.