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Sparkle’s Dazzling New Chaps

Here we are in New Zealand Lockdown 2020 waiting for who knows what our future has in store for us.  Projects abound on Dazzler and the next project du Jour is a new set of Chaps on Sparkle.   Last week I sewed up five new fuel can covers and this week it’s a new set of dingy chaps.  Things are going swimmingly.  Because I’d made chaps before, I learned several things during that construction that I thought I’d do differently if I ever had to make chaps again.  I thought way back in 2009 that I’d never have to make another set of chaps again.  Well, here we are in New Zealand and in need of having a new set of chaps for Sparkle’s facelift. 

I first used some clear plastic painter’s drop cloth to make a pattern of her new tubes.  I then transferred the pattern to the new Sunbrella fabric that we had onboard from Mexico.  After the pattern was transposed to the fabric, I did the first cut of fabric.  I decided that I wanted all of the cutout openings around the handles and other equipment to be pre made before the cut out of the fabric was complete to save some time and frustration of turning a bunch of fabric two or three times through the yoke of the sewing machine.  So, I made uniform patterns for the handle cut outs from a coated fabric that has a high UV resistance.  I made two identical pieces for each opening, sewed them together and trimmed the inward edge with leather trim.  Much easier to get a good pattern and finished look with a smaller piece of fabric.  The purpose for the two identical pieces of this fabric would make it easy to sandwich the chaps fabric between them and then over stitch it to secure it in place with a more precise finish and placement of the opening trim.  And in the process make it easier to sew.  We will see what happens.  All things were working nicely so far. 

After all the openings were stitched onto the main panels, it was time to start stitching the panels together.  This is where it can get a little tricky.  I did make some alignment marks to help set it up for sewing.  I’m not sure how many trips I made back and forth from the dock to the companionway and down below where my Sailrite sewing machine was set up.  My social distancing exercise was almost done in place at Dazzler’s dock.  The old adage of measure a butt load of times and cut or sew once was in full usage.  Needless to say all went well with stitching the panels together.  

Next were the stern cones attachment to the panels.  I used Phifertex mesh fabric to allow any seawater that gets forced up under the chaps the ability to drain out with ease.  After the cones were stitched in place, I finished off the interior edge with a pre-made hem along the straight run and used leather binding to finish off the cut edges.  By the way all of those areas that had a cut edge had reinforcing fabric placed underneath and stitched in place.  This was done were sharp 90° corners existed.  This makes the corner stronger and more resistant to corner tears from stretching as the fabric gives and shrinks.  And yes, even Sunbrella fabric in my experience will have a bit of shrinkage.  So allow about an inch per side for the inevitable shrinkage factor.  

Next, I finished off the trim around the stern cones to get ready for the exterior hem to be added.  Everything was taking shape daily and all the other boaters on the dock would give their positive nods, looks and comments as they would walk by on their journey keeping two meters away from me while they headed off to do their grocery store trips or exercise tracks.  They could see the daily progress and of coarse they asked lots of questions and made comments like, “When you’re done there come on over to do ours next.”  LOL. Our neighbors on the sailing vessel Greyhound, may have decided to get new tubes made for their tender now before they make their own dingy chaps.  Marie did say she was jealous because she hadn’t purchased any fabric before the great lockdown of 2020.  

The next step was to make the exterior hem which was about 260 inches long.  I first joined several sections of six inch wide fabric together to make the needed length.  Then I started folding and stitching the long runs to accommodate the needed hem for the exterior of the chaps.  This hem will also house a 3/16” Dacron cord to act as a drawstring to cinch the chaps just below the rub rail of the dingy sides.  With the 250 thousand foot hem, LOL, and Dacron cord ready, I grabbed a sandwich, a beer, turned on some sewing music and started folding the cord into the hem and stitching it onto the exterior cut edge of Sparkle’s new sexy chaps.  A day and a half later, my sandwich was gone, I was on my third beer and Jilly was covered in what looked like a blue and yellow heap of fabric as she was sitting on the opposite side of the table from me.  I couldn’t immediately see her so I yelled out, “Marco?”  Her response, “Polo!”  There she is!  And yes, she did a great job supervising while recuperating from her torn muscle injury.

Drum roll please…  It was time to go out and test fit the chaps onto Sparkle’s new tubes.  Tada, She fits!  A little tug here, pull there, stretch the draw cord and tied it off to the transom cleats on the stern.  She is finished!  The only thing left to do was to attach a yellow racing stripe on each side for easier identification during full moon dingy racing and add the Snads and snap fasteners to the inside of the tubes to hold the inside fabric in place.  Snads are a product manufactured by YKK and have a very robust 3M adhesive backing that easily sticks to the inflatable tubes without drilling any holes.   

Cracked open a celebratory beer, took some hero photos and got ready for the next project.

Until the next project, keep two meters away from each other, enjoy your lockdown confinement and stay safe.

Cheers!

Captain Dan

P.S. As an afterthought I decided to add a couple of pockets for the ores to sit in. Turned out quite nice I think.

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What Happens Now?

There is no doubt the world is in crisis and our realities are changing by the second. Sometimes it’s overwhelming and difficult to even think of what is happening and what could happen down the road. Of course everyone is dealing with this whole Covid-19 thing in his or her own way. Here on Dazzler we’ve taken a pretty positive approach to the whole thing. I mean really, what else can you do in times like these?

You’re probably wondering how this type of crisis affects people like us who are nomads roaming the world and drifting from island to island at the whim of the wind and sea. Fortunately for us we are here in New Zealand right now and not on some remote island where food shortages are possible and medical care is mediocre at best. And, even more fortunate for us is that we got Dazzler back in the water and into a marina before the proverbial shit hit the fan.

So, here’s a little info on what life is like here on Dazzler in the middle of a worldwide pandemic.

Let’s see, the first thing I’d say is that if we have to be somewhere during all this we’re very glad to be here in New Zealand. Based on what we see in the news and I mean news from a myriad of sources around the world, it looks and feels like the Kiwis really have a great handle on this. At a very early stage they enacted policies to prevent the hoarding and chaos we’ve see in the stores in the US and other countries. Even before the mandatory 28 day lockdown they were limiting the amount of food and paper products you could buy. They had a two maximum limit, which obviously prevented people from buying out entire stocks of things.

In the few days prior to the lockdown we did find quite a few bare shelves in the grocery store. Mostly it was meats, paper products and baking products like flower and sugar. But we went back to the same Countdown Market that we had been to the prior day and the shelves were fully stocked again so I think it was just the initial call that a lockdown was about to be in place that sent people out to buy up food. And even at that we never saw carts teeming over with groceries. It was people buying a week or two worth of food at most.

Honestly, I’m not even sure the average Kiwi would be the kind of person to go out hoarding food and toilet paper anyway. What we’ve found here is a country full of people who are more concerned about each other and doing for the whole of the community than they are for themselves. We’ve watched as people in long lines in the grocery stores stop to allow an elderly person in front of them so that person is exposed less to the crowds. People are orderly and everyone is friendly and smiling. Better yet, we’ve not heard a cross word from anyone as they stand in line and wait their turn to be helped. It’s really quite refreshing.

The Kiwis have even started a nationwide Bear Hunt for children. All over the country people are putting stuffed teddy bears in their windows for children to see when they go on walks with their parents. It’s helping to lighten the mood for the kids and gives them something to look forward to each day. We’ve even seen a few on our travels. 

As of last Wednesday evening we’ve been put on a minimum of a 28 day lockdown. What does that mean? Well, it means for the most part only grocery stores, gas stations, the post office and a few government offices are open. There’s no take out food here and you can’t just go hang out at the beach with your friends. Even us cruisers have been advised that we are not allowed to move about on our boats unless it’s absolutely necessary. We’re in a marina and here is where we will stay until the lockdown is over. 

We can take walks around town (it’s a ghost town now) to get exercise but the police are watching to be sure we are not “grouping up” and they can stop you at any time to ask for identification and determine what you are doing out and about. A fellow cruiser told us on the net yesterday morning that they were stopped and questioned by the police while on their walk a day earlier. One top NZ official made it clear that if you aren’t comfortable on your couch at home they have a nice hard bench in a cell for you. I’d say they are pretty serious about this lockdown stuff.

We took our first walk to get some exercise and it was rather surreal. It felt like we were in an end of the world movie as we walked down virtually empty streets going blocks on end without seeing a soul. The sound of the silence was peaceful yet a bit disturbing as our minds tried to grapple with the fact that what they were seeing and hearing was not how it should be. We saw police driving by and even in their cars they wore masks and gloves. The thought came that the masks and gloves could be a bit of a show to make people take this seriously but then maybe not. Either way it’s clear they aren’t messing around here.

We did our first post lockdown run to the grocery store yesterday, which was quite interesting. They are only allowing a certain number of people in the store at a time. People are lined up outside waiting their turn to get inside. When it’s your turn they have already sanitized the shopping cart handles as there is someone standing there doing it to each one before you grab it. We’ve noticed that the Kiwis are quite keen on following the rules. As we all know the rule is to be socially distanced by at least 2 meters. At gas stations and in the grocery store line we noticed that without having to be prompted they automatically are spacing themselves out. Of course it makes the line appear much longer than it really is but that’s okay. We’ve been asked by the government, that whenever possible, only one member of a family go into the store as to limit the number of people. Guess what? We didn’t see even one incident where people or families were trying to break this rule. It was incredible. I swear these people inspire me to be a better, kinder person each day. 

Dan went into the store while I sat in the car watching the show. He said all the shelves were fully stocked and only a few produce items were a bit light. He said the people were all moving about quickly and quietly and everyone kept their distance. At the cashier stand there were tapelines on the floor denoting where you should stand in line and you had to bag your own groceries. All in all it was a very good experience. 

For now we’ve been given permission to use the shower, head and laundry facilities here at the marina as long as only one person or “isolating family” is in the building at a time. That could change as we now have our first death in the country and there are two confirmed Covid-19 cases here in Whangerie. Each day we wake to check the news and FB pages that provide us with information as to what the next restriction will be. But, you know what? We are all, and I mean all (visitors and Kiwis alike), okay with this. We are working through it and doing what has been asked of us because it has to be done. It’s the right thing for ALL of us.

As for keeping busy on the boat, well, if you know boats you know that is never a problem. We’ve got more than enough boat projects, cleaning and blog stuff to keep us busy. Dan’s been working on sewing projects this week. He made new covers for our gas cans that sit on deck and now he’s deep into sewing new chaps for Sparkle…our dinghy. Me? Well, I’ve worked on my taxes, done some reading and writing, worked on some Fiji Book Fundraising stuff as well.

To keep connected with other cruisers there’s the morning radio net where we all share information as to what we’ve heard or know about things that are going on in the area. And, our neighbor on SV Evenstar set up at 5 pm Virtual Happy Hour where were all log into a video meeting and chat from our boats. Everyone has their cocktails and snacks and we just chat about our families, the world, boat projects and the like. You know, the normal sundowner topics. 

What’s going to happen this year as far as cruising goes? Well, we really don’t know. Honestly, it’s anyone’s guess at this point. With the borders closed in the islands and places we’d hoped to visit we are in a holding pattern. Fortunately New Zealand extended all visitor visas until 25 September 2020. That makes it a bit easier but the thing is we really can’t take off that late in the year as we’d be heading into cyclone season on November first. So, we are just taking it a day at a time. If the borders start opening up earlier than expected we will just do a short season and head on to Australia as planned. If not, we will apply for a longer extension and wait things out here in New Zealand until next year. Of course it gets pretty darn chilly here and we don’t have the clothes for that so we’re hoping the lockdown ends before it gets too cold. We’re going to need to pick up some clothes. We did pick up a small ceramic heater for the cabin a couple of weeks ago so at least we can stay cozy and warm on board. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even take out one of my new bikinis and wear it INSIDE Dazzler. 

For now, just like everyone else, we are praying this ends soon so we can get back to our normal lives. Until then we will keep busy and continue to follow the rules because, well, we’re rule followers and that’s what we do!

Until next time…

Jilly

P.S. When you see our frontline workers like doctors, nurses, police, firefighters, EMTs, military, grocery workers, postal workers and other “essential personnel”… PLEASE take a moment to thank them for what they are doing. A little “thanks” can make a big difference in their stressful days away from their families.