22nd January, 2023

An International Production

Cadenza was built in 1979, so she is an old boat. Almost everything has been replaced or rebuilt. And frankly, we are aging too. Some things are harder to do. Our balance isn’t what it once was. Should we fall, our bones break easier and then what? Or worse yet, the risk of falling overboard increases with age.

Jay has to go out of the cockpit to raise or lower the sail. Sometimes we have to drop the mainsail while outside an anchorage. More than likely, there will be a strong wind and the seas are choppy. Our mainsail is massive and when it comes down, it’s messy. Even with the lazy jacks that are lines designed to keep the sail in a confined area.

Last year we were at Ipala, a very small anchorage. It is in just this situation we have to drop the mainsail outside as there is little room to maneuver in the bay. Jay went forward and, as usual, when the sail came down, it flopped out wide enough that I couldn’t see around it while driving from the helm. In order to gather it together and put the sail ties on, Jay has to step up on the cabin top. We were rocking and rolling, and one wave hit hard enough that Jay fell off the cabin top and nearly went over the lifelines and into the drink. Scary. Actually, terrifying. It would be practically impossible to get him back up on our boat should he land in the water. One safety instructor I had said, “Equate falling off the boat with falling off a ten-story building. You won’t survive it.” A week later, he fell again. This time we were on the dock. That is when we decided, if we were going to continue to cruise, we need to make some changes. We decided to get a stackpack. A stackpack sits at the bottom of the sail and acts like a nest in which the mainsail can fall into. It will contain the sail until we get to a place where we can safely tuck it in the rest of the way and zip it up.

It wasn’t long after we started talking about getting a stackpack when Jay saw Sarah from One Sails outfitting our neighbor’s boat with one. He asked her if she could provide us with one and the approximate cost. She came over and took a look and said, “We can make a stackpack for you but I don’t think you want to put a brand new stackpack on with an old sail. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.” She really wasn’t doing a hard sell. Jay hates to admit it, but our mainsail was thirty years old. We were definitely in need of a new sail. And so, it began. The International Production.

Sarah came over and with her helper, measured and measured and measured again. Once they had the measurements, she sent them off to Flavio Famosa who is a famous sail designer in Italy. He then generated a computer document that went to Bill Fastig in Vermont who is the plotter cutter. He did the printing and cutting. Bill used a supreme Dacron for the sailcloth which he got from Dimension Polycent a company located in Germany. Finally, the sail came back to Mexico where it was put together and completed. The result is a beautiful sail with our logo on it. Next came the stackpack. That was made here in Mexico. It took some tweaking but we are so happy with our new setup and have Sarah and One Sails to thank for such a great job. Sarah, Rodrigo, and their team has been a delight to work with. Excellent service with attention to detail. And they won’t stop until you are completely satisfied.

Now it’s time to go cruising. We leave for parts south next week. More on our adventures coming soon.