A New Set of WHEELS for sv Exit Strategy

My Sailrite sewing machine has been working overtime lately and the result has been a new set of wheel COVERS for Exit Strategy, our floating home. We have only lived on the boat for nearly five years, but it saw three seasons in charter service before that.  So, the wheel covers had been looking pretty shabby for a while.  The captain priced some replacement cover kits and the least expensive set ran $150 USD.  Bavaria 46 Cruisers like ours have two wheels, so the cost would be $300 plus tax, plus possible duty, plus fees for an agent to accept it in Grenada… plus, plus, PLUS!  

 

The Captain suggested we buy the leather back in the states during our visit and attempt to do it ourselves.  After all, how hard could it be? The Captain has a good sense of design when it comes to constructing things and his First Mate knows how to follow his directions well. So I put my faith in him.

                                                                                                                                                                            We traveled about a half hour north of our daughter’s house to a small shop where we had purchased leather a few years ago. I was so relieved to have decided to accompany my Captain to get the leather because the shop was going out of business and had only a few pieces of leather large enough for our needs.  The Captain was eyeing two pelts: a blood red one and a mustard yellow one.  I rummaged to the bottom of the short stack and found a beautiful buff-colored piece priced $68.  SOLD!

 

Our daughter is a quilter and, using her cutting board and circular knife, we were able to measure and carefully cut the pelt into strips to the Captain’s exact specifications. He packed the cut leather in his bag to take back to Exit Strategy when he returned to Grenada.

                                                                                                               

 A few weeks later, I joined him in Grenada and sewed the strips together end to end.  Next, I ran top stitching along the length of both sides. Then the last ends were seamed and, finally, the covers were stretched around each wheel. It took a few hours to hand stitch them onto the wheels, but we would have had to do that even if we bought the ready made kits.  I was amazed that they fit perfectly, but then again, that is how my Captain operates. 

 

 

 

 

 

Since we finished the wheel covers, I’ve been working on a dozen other sewing projects and am down to having only six more to finish.  Wish me luck!