Making a ditty bag

[Tristan]

My 14 year old son is sitting beside me with his sail-makers palm, pushing a sail needle through a heavy piece of Vivatex, making his own ditty bag. For those who might want such a bag, see "The Arts of the Sailor" by Hervey Garrett Smith, p. 205. Geoff's palm and a pack of needles just arrived today. He'd cut out the canvas a couple days ago and has been chaffing at the bit to make a ditty bag like mine. Now he's got a palm, needles, and a big chunk of bees' wax for his bag. I'll be giving him some tarred marline and a few other odds and ends and he'll be a proper rope and canvass worker! A few years before the mast and he'll be captain of his own barkentine hauling grain out of Australia or nitrate from S. America, or maybe he'll just sail his latest dream boat (a Bolger Bobcat) in the Florida Keys. What joy to have kids that love boats!

[Hughman]

Way to go!

[ssor]

Had a friend over a while back and showed off a ditty bag I made from an old cotton sail. She looked it over closely and asked when I sleep if I have time to hand sew a ditty bag.
The "sail makers apprentice" has a good set of instructions.

My Dad knew how to hand sew but didn't bother teaching his kids. :(

[ 07-08-2005, 09:38 PM: Message edited by: ssor ]

[Bob Cleek]

I'd say he'd need a good rigging knife and marlinespike come his next birthday!

[Hughman]

...or a tot of rum! :eek:

[paladin]

and learn some fancy sewing to purty it up....I've made three canvas buckets from the same book....

[Tristan]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ssor:
[QB]
The "sail makers apprentice" has a good set of instructions.

Yep, I've got that book too, didn't think to look in it. Will do so now, before we put in brass grommets.

[Tristan]

Originally posted by Bob Cleek:
I'd say he'd need a good rigging knife and marlinespike come his next birthday!Now that's a great idea. Problem is, I get so excited over this stuff I have trouble waiting for his birthday. He's currently working off $20 he owes me for his Mama's birthday (yesterday) present. Let's see, his birthday is in September. Can I wait that long for the vicareous thrill of getting him a rigging knife and marlingspike? Maybe, because of the storm, we can turn him a nice lignum vitae fid from the lignum vitae I've squirreled away. Already promised him we could make some lignum vitae belaying pins for his Bolger Nymph. As the lad matures and becomes a man I'm entering deeper and deeper into my second childhood! It's great fun, getting to do all the things my own, rather restricted, childhood didn't permit. My own dad assured me that boat building was impossible for the average person, and that I'd be foolish to waste my time and money trying to build one.

[Tristan]

Originally posted by Hughman:
...or a tot of rum! :eek: Guess we'll wait a few years for that. Because of asthma and various other health problems associated with aging (I'm old), I rarely drink, an occasional glass of beer in the heat of summer perhaps. Geoffrey thinks that is the best way to deal with alcohol. If I can maintain that image it'll sure be to his advantage. Gor, if he knew the truth about his old man.

[ 07-09-2005, 08:30 AM: Message edited by: Tristan ]

[Todd Bradshaw]

As long as you're turning fids you might want to make a couple of these cringle fids for installing thimbles. They work like a charm, much better than trying to open the loop with a plain fid and then hammer the thimble in before the loop shrinks back up.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid89/p67b073bc4029defc0cb6b7f4fcfa2446/fa81b8a6.jpg

[Tristan]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Todd Bradshaw:
[QB]As long as you're turning fids you might want to make a couple of these cringle fids for installing thimbles. They work like a charm, much better than trying to open the loop with a plain fid and then hammer the thimble in before the loop shrinks back up.

Holy Cringle Fids Batman! Wow, these are serious sailmakers fids! Neat idea Todd, thanks.

[Hughman]

Originally posted by Tristan:
[QB Can I wait that long for the vicareous thrill of getting him a rigging knife and marlingspike? .[/QB]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid79/pa423d4df1b7d4de1361ad594e562ceac/fb1bb0c3.jpg

Here ya go: Take an old SS kitchen knife and grind it into a sheepsfoot, leather the handle with a baseball stich, and make a leather sheath. The spike is a sliding spanner ;) welded to a SS spike. Make a belt out of webbing and 2 "D" rings - it will have to go over foul gear, so make it long.

[StevenBauer]

Tristan, check out the thread I bumped in B/R. A good old thread. smile.gif Check out Jamie's bag. :D

Steven

[Tristan]

Originally posted by StevenBauer:
Tristan, check out the thread I bumped in B/R. A good old thread. smile.gif Check out Jamie's bag. :D

StevenWAHOOO! Thanks Steven, a great thread! Looks like we've got some real shellbacks on the Forum.

[Tristan]

Originally posted by Hughman:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Tristan:
[QB Can I wait that long for the vicareous thrill of getting him a rigging knife and marlingspike? .http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid79/pa423d4df1b7d4de1361ad594e562ceac/fb1bb0c3.jpg

Here ya go: Take an old SS kitchen knife and grind it into a sheepsfoot, leather the handle with a baseball stich, and make a leather sheath. The spike is a sliding spanner ;) welded to a SS spike. Make a belt out of webbing and 2 "D" rings - it will have to go over foul gear, so make it long.[/QB]</font>[/QUOTE]Naw, great ideas, but it'd never do. He'd want a REAL rigging knife with a marlin spike. And he'd mow the lawn and do other chores 'till he'd earned the $35 or so to pay for it. We'll make the fid, and I expect he'll find a good bit more use for that than the marlin spike.

[N. Scheuer]

Gayle has a Ditty Bag.

Only she calls it a Purse.

Moby Nick

[ssor]

On stocking a ditty bag, nylon mason's twine when soaked with beeswax and pine tar can be taken apart for smaller stuff. It is available in size #15, #18 and #36. For polyester twine a fathom of new double braid can be taken apart as needed.

[Nora Lee]

Tristan,

Pack his ditty bag and yours too!

Sign up for membership on the Hudson Valley Clearwater,(Poughkeepsie, NY, and then get on the volunteer crew list! He can crew with a parent!

I crewed with my son, when he was ten, it is a highlight of my memory and his! He is now 29 years old and can't wait until his 2 sons are 10, so he can do it with them!

Regards,

Nora Lee

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Thanks for the pictures of those clever fids, Todd.

I never thought of that.

Will organise myself a couple.

[David W Pratt]

Tristan
Congratulations. I always think that being generous to my kids is an investment in my grandchildrens' happiness.

[preston]

Originally posted by Tristan:
Naw, great ideas, but it'd never do. He'd want a REAL rigging knife with a marlin spike. And he'd mow the lawn and do other chores 'till he'd earned the $35 or so to pay for it. We'll make the fid, and I expect he'll find a good bit more use for that than the marlin spike.[/QB]Hmmm. He made the ditty bag and it's real and you're getting ready to make a real fid. I'd stick with the trend, teaching him that real things are the ones you make.

Preston

[Tristan]

Originally posted by preston:
He made the ditty bag and it's real and you're getting ready to make a real fid. I'd stick with the trend, teaching him that real things are the ones you make.

Preston[/QB]We do make a fair number of things, including a Payson/Bolger Nymph. He finished the sail (which I had sewn) for the Nymph yesterday, and we are now finishing the mast and building the sprit (a bit of a rig change from the original. Got to build a rudder and lee-board (dagger boards in shallow Fla waters truly suck, as they are constantly hitting shallow bottoms and throwing the skipper over the stem). So, you see, we have so much STUFF to make that if we stopped to make more things we'd never get it all done. Not that we will never make a marlin spike and rigging knife, but I do have to pick and choose what to make the old way and what to buy so we can get on with it. smile.gif smile.gif