Just heard back from Quantum. The bill for the three working sails will be $976. Well, hrmm… James said anything under a grand would be a deal, so i guess i oughtta feel satisfied with that. The quote was for a worst-case labour scenario, and may end up less. Still, at that price, i should just get them to make it a $1000 even and get ’em to make up that tops’l while they’re at it. Hell, for that much money, why should i set needle to palm at all? Damned if i’ll let ’em charge me extra for my pennant either.
Kevin has relented, and now supposes that 3.8-ounce will be heavy enough for the jib and stays’l. He’s still leaning towards 5.9-ounce fabric for the main “for longevity”. But on a sub-50-square-foot sail? Well, they’re the experts, not i.
The best part of the news is the arrival time! i’d been expecting several weeks, but it looks like the sails could be ready as early as next Monday. Overall, dealing with Kevin and Dave has been a pleasure; they’re totally willing to accomodate all my little sail needs (tiny panel widths, weird mitres, shaped patches, miniature hanks, unusual beckets, etc.). Dave wants me to be there for the latter stages of construction, to make sure all the details are just as i want them, and to see what finishwork it may be better for me to do on my own. They are definately NOT a traditional sail loft, but pretty stoked about the project.
This is the first gaff sail they’ve ever built here! Normally, i’d be a little concerned by that, but they’ve figured out a great way to get around any problems. Instead of trying to traditionally cut the sails (read: edge curves, broadseams, tapers, etc.), they’re getting their Annapolis office (which has done a few small gaff sails) to mold the sails on their 3-D software, then cut shaped panels on their laser table. This way, not only are Dave and i spared some serious head-scratching, but Dave can also sew constant seam widths (which is certianly faster). This also makes it easy to accomodate two other unusual requests of mine: First, i wanted narrow panel widths; sailcloth these days comes in wide widths (50+ inches for the specialty tanbark sailcloth i’m using), but i wanted narrow panels (