The Sail Workshop (Petrichor 365)

Many ships arrive at Port Imperial and a small number never leave, being broken up for parts, one of the most important parts are the sails.

The Sail Workshop is not part of the Imperial holdings but it has received financing from the Imperial Navy and, in return, the navy’s requestions are prioritized.  The Sail Workshop is a low building between the Imperial and the first of the civilian docks, made of stone with a roof of wooden shingles of a variety of sizes.  Outside there are frames for stretching and drying sails.

Masiwhen Faircloth, Masi to her friends, is in charge of the Sail Workshop, a small Visse woman with a big personality, a bigger voice, and seemingly limitless energy.  Her dark brown hair is shot through with grey and she squints a bit with her hazel eyes when looking at things far away but overall is in good health.  She knows the location of every scrap of cloth and needle in the workshop and prides herself on making sure that the repairs to the sails move with speed and efficiency.   Outside of work Masi is boisterous and cheerful, happy to eat and drink and gossip, she also has a weakness for a handsome man.  Though she has never married she has two daughters and a son, of ages eighteen to seven, all of who help out at the Sail Workshop.

The Sail Workshop usually employs six people, beyond Masi and her family, but they will hire more people on an ad hoc basis.  Masi expects hard work but pays a fair wage and no one goes hungry that works for her.

Sailcloth too damaged or worn for use as, well, sails, gets remade into new things, such as bags and hats, by the workers in their spare time.

Notes: Ships need sails so someone has to keep them in repair and make new ones.

Petrichor 365.  Previous entry:  Nazira Ghostchaser Next Entry:  The Boneyard

Image Sail makers cut and stretch out sailcloth, hang it up and fit it to masts. Etching by W. H. Pyne, 1802.  From the Wellcome Collection and is in the Public Domain.