Gaskets (sail ties) and Hot Buttered Rum

Watching The Ocean Race getting ready for the Southern Ocean brings back memories of tough times I have had while sailing. One of those was taking the yawl Temptation from Anacortes, WA to Vancouver BC after she had been repowered.

We were going to Vancouver for the Southern Straits race which is normally on Easter weekend. The race starts on Saturday, so Thursday we were in Anacortes heading north through the Straits of Georgia on a particularly foul day.

Temptation had a brand new engine that hadn’t been put to the test. We were all concerned about reliability, but the race was calling. Leaving port we were able to sail but the owner finally decided we could make better time under power.

Time to lower the sails. Two of us were sent to the foredeck to handle the jib. We got the sail down, but controlling it on deck was a problem. Laying on top of the sail with seas washing over, the two of us were able to get gaskets (lengths of polyester webbing) around the sail and lifeline stanchions. We were wet, it was dark and we still had a ways to go.

When we finally were tied to the dock in Vancouver the senior (by age) member of the crew announced that he was making everyone a hot buttered rum. At least, that’s what I heard. Get the alcohol stove going, heat water and prepare our beverages. For some reason we didn’t have much light in the cabin, so we couldn’t see what was going on.

Our hot buttered rums were delivered but after a single sip we could all tell something was amiss. There was no sweetness in our drinks, just hot water and rum in a 50/50 mix. I believe we all finished our drinks but they could have been so much better!

Temptation Style Gaskets
Ocean Race Special Pricing

To help celebrate The Ocean Race, we are offering T-Style Gaskets (Temptation Style), made from heavyweight white polyester webbing. Each gasket is 8′ in length and they are sold in packages of 5. For the duration of The Ocean Race 2023 we will be selling a pack of 5 for $19.95 plus shipping.

Temptation Style Gasket
Buy Sail Gaskets

Another use for cam buckle straps with your bicycle

Do you have trouble seating tubeless tires on your bike wheels? Check out this idea using a cam buckle strap.

An eight [8] foot strap will handle road, gravel or CX tires. I like polypropylene webbing for this application, it doesn’t slide off the tire as easily as nylon and it is less expensive.

The year of purple, 2022

2022 has been the year of purple. First Pantone’s color of the year is Very Peri, a shade of purple. https://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2022 Providing a “spritely, joyous attitude and dynamic presence”, the year started out with a bang.

Now M&M’s has the first new character in 10 years, a purple peanut m&m. https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/28/business/new-mms-character/index.html It doesn’t sound like we will be seeing purple candy anytime soon but we can hope.

Here at Straps to Go we have been fans of purple from day 1. Our logo and web site use purple and those that have ordered product to be shipped by First Class Mail know we use purple shipping pouches.

Is the next step purple cocktails? Seems they already exist.

New CEO

Meet our new CEO [Chief Entertainment Officer]. Harry showed up late this summer looking for a place to hang out. We captured him/her and put back outside only to find its way back in.

Harry tends to be a late riser, showing up around 11:00 and can be found scampering around the shop for the rest of the day. Water and food seem to have been sourced, hope this helps with the bug population.

Sorry to say, Harry doesn’t have a direct phone number so any correspondence must go through a human.

Why Harry? The TV show Death in Paradise has a green lizard who gets named Harry. We guessed that Harry was the proper name for all lizards and adopted it.

Now, if we could get some work out of him!

Add Tree Straps

While at Tractor Supply this afternoon I stumbled on a product they were selling that needed Tree Straps

The Cam Jam is sold without Tree Straps but obviously is intended to be used with them. We have Tree Straps in stock. From 1″ to 2″ widths, 12″ to 30″ lengths. All with rugged brass grommets.

If you want to support trees but not the Cam Jam company, Tree Straps work well with twine, bailing or tie wire along with a lightweight cord such as Parachute Cord.

Let’s get outside and plant some trees!

Boat Gear

We manufacture replacement straps for Boston Whaler ™ and other brand boats. Our newest is a replacement seat or windshield straps that fits Boston Whaler ™ Dauntless and Ventura models. The original strap looks like

windshield or seat strap

and ours

They come in a pack of two (2) and the Boston Whaler ™ OEM part number is 1025220. The same strap is used for both securing the windshield and seat cushions.

We make this strap using heavy-weight polyester webbing and stainless steel snaps and grommets. They do not come with any fasteners.

Buy At Straps to Go

If you are in need of a strap to secure your folding ladder we make this very common model-

It is used on many Boston Whaler ™ models and the Windline brand of ladders also uses this strap. The Boston Whaler ™ OEM part number is 1911770. Windline’s OEM part number is ST-04.

Buy At Straps to Go

Strap Tension (for car seats)

At lunch today I saw a Tweet from the Washington State Patrol (WSP) regarding properly tensioning the harness straps in a child’s car seat. I don’t know about other states but in Washington the WSP really works to educate the public about car seat safety. They will help you get yours installed properly and have online resources for even more help. Today’s Tweet used this poster-

I would like to add one more point:
If your webbing is frayed or hardware broken it is time for a new car seat!

As with any life safety device: harnesses, life jackets or lifting slings- they are not repairable.

Link to Washington State’s Child Passenger Safety Program

Extension Strap for AKC™ Pet Booster Seat

Note: Discontinued due to AKC design change

This fine pooch was going on a trip. He likes to hang out in a booster seat while driving so one of the American Kennel Club™ booster seats was purchased for the trip.

Fortunately the owner tried it prior to flying out only to find that the strap that goes around the back of the car seat was way too short. A few emails later and we came up with a solution that didn’t require sewing. It also needed to be easy to install and be fully adjustable.

The two cam buckles attach to the webbing that comes with the booster seat. The side release buckle at the bottom of the photo allows for easy installation in the vehicle and loads of adjustment.

Here is the booster seat with the strap extender installed. Everyone is now ready to travel!

We are not affiliated with the American Kennel Club™ , we just make a strap that happens to work with one of their products. If you need to purchase one of their booster seats, they are available online from many merchants. The extension strap we manufacture in our Cle Elum, Washington facility.

Short days, still working

It’s dark in the morning heading to work. Our shop is hidden in the trees on this beautiful morning. Although it takes a flash light to get to work, once there we are going full speed.

With all the supply chain issues it almost feels like we are back in the 70’s. 12 to 16 week lead time on products has eliminated the “just in time” ordering plan. We are seeing increases in both the cost of goods and even more in shipping. Again, it is back to the old days where one needs to keep track of pricing on a daily basis.

This morning, November 3rd, I received an email from a factory in China. The government there has limited them to three (3) days of work per week to combat their energy shortages. This won’t help (even though we do not buy from this particular factory) with shortages and long lead times.

We are trying to build up inventory on popular items. That means letting some products go if the sales don’t justify increasing their inventory levels. Where we used to order 2,000 of an item we have increased to 10,000 on really popular goods. Our shop cat is loving this, more boxes to check out, it seems they all need to get sniffed.

One change we notice from our customers is that more are calling to check if we have something in stock. Knowing how frustrating it is to place an order only to hear that it is on back order, we encourage picking up the phone and asking.

OK, one item that we will not divulge our inventory levels is cat treats. Chance has decreed them top secret.

Fingers crossed that 2022 returns life to normal but in the meantime we will do our best to get your products out on time.

Quality Assurance Cat

Chance is our Quality Assurance Cat. You can see him working diligently making sure every strap is purr-fect. Actually want he really wants is lunch.

The good news is he has never taken to sleeping in the bins of straps, he has a comfortable bed that is closer to his food than our sewing area.

While Chance might not provide a top notch quality assurance program he does keep our shop rodent free. We are in the middle of a forest and mice are everywhere and a good cat really helps.

Should you be wondering where is tail is, he doesn’t have one. He is a Manx and they are born without tails. Originating on the Isle of Mann they were know to be great “mousers”.