These days the canvas we work is likely to be a synthetic fiber, superior to its natural-fiber predecessor in most every way. Today, the average canvasworker's fingers are not like marlinspikes, nor, if you have a good ordinary sewing machine, do they need to be. Canvaswork is unchanged in one sense, though: It can result in an almost endless variety of attractive and functional gear for a boat. The old tars would have envied what we can turn out...