It is that time in a boat owners’ life when the sailboat is in need of a new wardrobe.
Our current inventory of sails came with the boat. Each from different sailmakers and possibly handed down from other boats since some measurements on the old sails don’t quite match the sailplan. Our genoa foresail has been fixed once before while we were in the San Francisco Bay area but the relentless exposure to the sun and its damaging UV rays left its marks on Rua Hatu’s sails. We also believe that the staysail is original to the boat from 1981. Thankfully that is the sail with the lightest use.
With our loose plan of heading to South America, we decided it is time to replace Rua Hatu’s pieced together wardrobe and have all but our asymmetrical spinnaker replaced. Four new sails; Mainsail, genoa, jib, and staysail. Fortunately we have the sailplan for the Vancouver 36 which makes it easy for the sailmaker to figure out all dimensions and cuts.
We requested quotes from various sail lofts around the world; Hong Kong, Canada, Thailand, and Mexico. Since we are looking at a large expense from $7000 to upwards of $15000, depending on you material and cut choices. We were hoping to keep the price manageable while still getting good quality sails. We decided to order the sails now, while still in North America, as we have heard it is considerably more complicated and expensive to obtain sails and other parts further south.
After receiving the quotes, we selected Lee Sailmakers in Hong Kong to make Rua Hatu’s new sails. Now the measuring begins. Aside from the sail plan we have to make some measurements on the rigging to confirm the measurements shown on the sail plan. The sailmaker provided us with datasheet to fill in.
While we are trying to contain our excitement, we try to find other uses for our old sails. The foresails with furler (what wraps the sails around the forestay for storage) have already been passed on to another boat of the same size, here in the marina, who unfortunately tore their foresail on their way into Puerto Chiapas.
The mainsail will be handed off to a single-handed sailor with a very cute kitten, who will either use to replace the current mainsail on his boat or cut it up and make items with the sail cloth. The smallest sail, the staysail, will stay with us and its fabric will be reused in sewing projects.
Now we just have to wait. From the time of order, late June, we were told it would take about 4 to 8 weeks. On Wednesday, August 24, we received the notification from DHL that the sails are now on their way to us!