SailingKnitter

For the past couple of days, Jonesy has been working on what he refers to as "his knitting" (really, splicing - specifically an eye-splice). He's made us a new "snubber" for the anchor as our old one was frayed and no longer reliable. How fun to have another fiber artistist in the family! I'm loving the guy even more now (if that's possible). Now that he's completed this fiber project, he's looking at other splicing projects for the boat and there are a lot of opportunities.

Well, the rains have finally come - so far we've had two downpours complete with thunder, lightning, and high humidity. So, we have turned on the air conditioning on the boat - ahhhh - very nice. We only venture outside to go to town, do laundry or swim in the lap pool, then scramble back to the boat and hide in the cool air.

Topside, Leonardo and his helper Jorge are scraping, sanding, and heat-gunning off the old crusty varnish along the toerail, bumper rail, and in the cockpit. Varnishing woodwork is a constant chore for boaters - and one that we decided to pay for rather than to do it ourselves. Had we been in a cool climate, we may have tried to do the work, but it is just too dang hot and humid here in Puerto Vallarta for too much manual labor for these old cruisers. So, we outsourced it to Leonardo. Meanwhile, we're doing the "inside" work where it's air-conditioned!

We sent the mainsail out to have it repaired too. The leech edge was ripped in several places - all due to UV exposure. Sure, we have a rolling-furling mainsail, but there is a 3" gap on the mast where the sun constantly beats on the fabric causing damage. So, our mainsail is now about 9" narrower because we had to have that fabric cut off. No biggie - everything else is fine with the sail, and it's not like we are racing sailors looking for that extra .01 knot of speed.

Here's a pic of my progress with my Lopi Fair Isle Sweater/Coat that is part of the Misery Loves Company Knitalong. I have now completed one sleeve and am working on the second. Sure is tough knitting with this wool in the heat!!! I was knitting up in the cockpit the other day and looked down to see "dog hair" all over the boat. What? We don't have a dog. Oh....it was shedding Sheep Hair from the Lopi yarn. I sure hope that it doesn't shed that much when I get to wear this thing sometime in the distant future.
Oh! I found some cotton yarn the other day - going to knit up some chemo caps with it. It's a sportweight called "SinFonia" and is made in Mexico by the large thread company Omega. Lots of colors too! Interestingly, most of the ballband is written in English rather than Spanish.