Pearl's a Singer..... Singer sewing machine that is! She's a 1956 201K electric model, bought from Ebay and still going strong despite her years - how many products made today will still be running strong over 50 years from now? Not many I reckon!
There was a bit of excitement when I first switched her on. I had it plugged in with the foot pedal sitting on the table next to the machine. I just stepped away to the galley and heard this strange noise.... turned around to see the machine running by itself! Spoooooooooky!!!!
Even worse, there was smoke coming from the foot pedal box. I dived under the table to unplug it, let the foot pedal cool a while and opened it up. Luckily no damage inside there, but what I did see was some sewing machine oil that had somehow found it's way in there. We reckon it shorted out the foot pedal so switching the machine on. The oil then started heating up and making smoke. A thorough clean out and all was well again. We tentatively plugged it in with Colin standing next to the power supply switch, but all was good and problem solved.
She is a bit of a heffer weighing in at 18kg and will double up as an anchor in case of emergency! But she will be put to good use replacing the window sections of our cockpit canopy which have gone cloudy, making repairs to the canopy where the stitching has perished and maybe sail repairs if it ever comes to it. I have been using my mum's old domestic Brother machine which is a great machine but just doesn't have the ooomph to get through several layers of canvas material.
She is a 240V electric but can be used as a handcrank if we don't have the power and need to make repairs.
Petrol Can Bag
Here is Colin modeling a petrol can bag I've just made. I've made canvas bags for all our diesel and petrol cans that sit on the deck so that they are protected from the worst of the sun and don't perish. The bags all have mesh bottoms so that they dry quickly as they often sit in water. Webbing straps feed through the bottom and top of the bag and around the can to fasten them onto the wooden boards that run between our guardrail stantions.
We're still waiting on the plastic water tank that we ordered so haven't been able to get that job finished. Colin has been working on repairing the rudder although it's got so cold the epoxy isn't going off properly. He has also been making a new teak floor in the former back head where the toilet used to sit. We've both been planning out the watermaker installation so that we can buy any plumbing bits that we need for that.
Chilly out, just started to snow lightly. Brrrr and roll on summer!
Nichola