Bristol-Blue Lake Michigan Sailing Adventures

I discovered that my Mirage 24 fore triangle set up is very similar to that of a J-24. So I was able to pick up a good condition used racing sail for cheap to replace my aging Genoa. This weekend I laid it over my old sail to check the dimension would work and then got to work converting it for my furler. This is an easier conversion than last year's as the sail leading edge is sized perfectly for my furler application.  Here is the link for the process from last time.  This was much easier I simply removed the hanks and sewed the sail tape on.  No cutting or dimension changes for this sail.   Merry Christmas Here is a Quick Video I clipped together of the Stitching. @chrisbroadwater0 Sail Repair for Woodstock. ##mirage24 bristolblueblogspot.com ♬ Holly Jolly Christmas - Michael Bublé

Over the last few weeks, we have been sailing at least once a week. We are really just starting to get the feel for Woodstock. We are also really just starting to organize and make things our own.        Using the leftover Sunbrella from the sail cover and a mesh laundry bag I did a little cutting and sewing to make a few stow bags for all the lines coming back to the cockpit.   I also made two new winch covers, the Self-tailing Winchards I installed last season increased the size of the winches heads so the old covers no longer fit. I used velcro wraps on the bottom to secure them.  I know a lot of people use elastic but with Covid-19 it can be hard to come by and I like the way these came out better.   Here are some weird people, you might see in the channel.          Asymmetric Spinnaker Day 2  We have loved this sail in light winds. On this run, we caught up with a cruising catamaran. They gave us a nice complement as we sailed passed. Then a few minutes later we went to take the s

One little thing that bothers me is finding water in my winches after it rains.  I decided it was high time I sewed up some winch covers.  This little project took very little time once I sat down and got it started.  The tape measure made several trips back and forth to the marina in the bottom of the cooler before I used it to measure the winches.   The winch is three and a quarter inches tall so I started by making the sides up.  This gets sewed to the round top piece. Turns out a Bush's bean can is the perfect circumference.  I put the cover on the can to pin up so I'd get a nice tight finish. Completed i turned it right side out and it looks like this is finished. I left the elastic extra long to tie under the winch mounting brackets. There we are. Nice, cozy and dry winches tucked in under their covers. The long elastic ties under so the wind does not take them away.