S Is For Sailrite | Nancy Drew Investigates {A To Z Challenge}

During April, we're participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Every day (except Sundays), we'll be doing an alphabet themed post starting with "A is for Anchor" and ending with "Z is for Zodiac." Each post is an installment of "Nancy Drew Investigates the Case of the Missing Anchor" - so you may want to read the posts from the beginning, in order to follow along with the story (click here for the first post and here for an index of all the posts). At the end of each post, you'll also find some random thoughts on the day's particular topic. So, if Nancy isn't your thing, feel free to skip the story and go straight to the end.   

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When we last left you, Nancy's beau, Ned Nickerson, surprised the girls, along with his friends Dave and Burt. Over chocolate cake and lemonade, Nancy told them about her plan to sneak aboard Party Time and look for clues.

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“Was that Ned we saw?” Shelley asked Nancy, as she and Marvin tied up their dinghy to the back of their boat.

“Yes, he’s crewing on one of the boats during the regatta, along with Burt and Dave, two of his friends from college.”

“Oh, that’s lovely, dear. He’s such a handsome young man. Did you offer them any cake and lemonade?”

“We sure did. They thought it was delicious and said to say thank you. We’re going to see them later at the barbeque.”

Bess muttered, “That’s not all we’re going to do at the barbeque. Tell them about your plan to sneak aboard Party Palace.” Nancy shushed Bess and turned to Shelley. “Bess was just asking if you have a sewing machine onboard. She was offering to repair your Q flag.”

“Of course, I have a heavy duty Sailrite. It’s wonderful for boat projects. Come on down below, Bess, and I’ll get it out for you.”

While Bess and Shelley worked on sewing the Q flag, George and Nancy talked about what clues might be aboard Party Palace. They agreed that if Nancy could find the list of what goods were stolen and how much they were sold for, they would have a solid case against Captain Gus and his gang.

“Look what a lovely job Bess did,” said Shelley as she held up the mended Q flag. Bess smiled. “It was nothing. Your sewing machine made it so easy. I’d love to have one just like it”

“Maybe you should learn to sail first, before you go buying a sewing machine for boat projects,” George said with a smirk on her face.

Before Bess could argue back, Marvin came out of the aft cabin, nodded appreciatively at the Q flag and said, “Right, we better get a move on. The barbeque is going to start soon.”

Distracted by thoughts of hamburgers and frankfurters hot off the grill, Bess hopped into the dinghy and thought to herself that maybe sailing wasn’t so bad after all. After all, there always seemed to be plenty of snacks and treats involved.

Tune in on Saturday for the next installment of Nancy Drew Investigates – T is for Toe Rail.

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Our trusty blue (and very expensive) Sailrite sewing machine. You can see the swatches that they send with your new machine to show that its been tested, adjusted properly and can sew through heavy material.

We've spent a fair chunk of change on things for our boat since we bought her last year and one of those things was a Sailrite sewing machine. It's an industrial machine, popular with boaters. I really debated whether to get one of these and would have long conversations with a friend of mine at the marina about the pros and cons of a Sailrite versus other sewing machines. In the end, I drank the koolaid and joined the Sailrite cult.

So far, I've made a few things for our boat and there are a few more things I need to make over the coming months. It's kind of fun to do some arts and crafts type of boat projects. Sure beats draining a fuel filter any day of the week.

When word gets out in a marina that you have a Sailrite sewing machine, you suddenly become very popular. I've had a few people borrow my machine for various projects. Because I'm a novice sewer, it's been really educational to pick their brains and see how they do their projects. Unlike with dressmaking where you can buy a pattern, most boat projects don't have patterns. Everything is one of a kind and you kind of have to figure it out as you go. One of my friends is making dinghy chaps (which are going to look amazing when they're done) and I've been watching her like a hawk to see how she does it so that I can make my own at some point. (Dinghy chaps are like cute outfits which you dress your dinghy up in to keep it from disintegrating due to the harsh sunlight.)

If you're interested in sewing machines, you can read my review of Sailrite and lookalike machines here. If you're not interested in sewing machines, you can read about the time I accidentally sent my friend porn about sewing machine here. Emphasis on the accidentally. And, don't worry, it's a G-rated post, despite the subject matter.

Do you sew? What types of things do you make and what kind of machine do you have? Have you ever accidentally sent someone an embarrassing email?

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