Have a Nautie Presidents' Day!

in ,

I'm technically writing this a day late....the good news is that due to me being on the other side of the world it's still Presidents' Day for some of you! I'm not sure if I've ever celebrated Presidents' Day before - and we most assuredly do not celebrate it aboard, either.  We do however get holiday pay.  (Holiday pay means I get paid twice for the same day.)  That's certainly cause for celebration! 

I've been meaning to share a link with you Nautie Folk for quite some time - I read The Old Salt Blog almost everyday.  Love it.  It has a very wide maritime focus - meaning I read about sailing ships as well as motor vessels trading commercially - and sometimes I even read about sailing ships trading commercially.  It keeps me current and gives me some insight.

Yesterday (or Today) there was a post about George Washington and his fleet of armed schooners that kicked some major ass.  It's a perfect nautie Presidents' Day post.  Enjoy!

*Also, I totally had to google 'Presidents' Day' to punctuate correctly!

M.L.I.S.W. :: Union Halls and The Clan

in

I had another one of those moments.  The kind of moment where I'm standing on the bridge in the middle of the night listening to my watchstanders talk and I think, 'Holy crap, my life is so weird!'. AB1:  I heard the Union Hall in Jacksonville is really nice.

AB2:  Yeah, I think they re-did it recently.

AB1:  I've never been there.

AB2:  I don't go to the hall in Jacksonville because that's where Clan headquarters is.

AB1:  Clan?  What Clan?

AB2:  THE Clan.

AB1:  Clan?  I don't know of no Clan.

AB2:  The KKK.  The Clan.

AB1:  I didn't think that existed anymore.

AB2:  The KKK?  Of course it exists!!!!  They're the K-K-K!!!!

AB1:  Yeah, but they're not powerful anymore.

AB2:  I dunno.....

AB1:  You know why they're not powerful right?

AB2:  Uuuh.....

AB1:  Because of the FBI.

AB2:  (Silence)

AB1:  Yessuh.  The FBI came in and broke all that shit up.

AB2:  Well, I'm not going to Jacksonville to find out.....

Nautie Tidbits :: Hot Cocoa and To Do Lists

in

Happy Sunday Nautie Friends! Things here are groovy.  We're back at sea for a few days which always makes me happy.  Being at sea is when I can take a breath, take some naps and get back on top of things.

I haven't been blogging much and have to catch up so, here are a few tidbits:

  • I went ashore in Rota, Spain!  Woot!  Woot!  The bummer is that I took photos with my iPhone only (Damn, I've been lazy lately!  Big Bertha is feeling neglected!) and I'm having a hard time getting the photos onto my laptop.  Grrrr....hopefully, I'll be able to share them soon.
  • During our last port stay we got a HUGE stores order (food!).  Yay!  Hello oranges, hello hot cocoa!  Coffee on the bridge is back to being awesome!  (Plus, when I was in Russia Travel Buddy and I picked up some whole beans.....mmmm fresh ground!)
  • I did laundry yesterday.  I hate laundry.  I don't think I like doing it at home but I really hate doing it onboard.  Someday, I'm going to write an incredibly long post ranting about laundry.  Next step is cleaning my room.  Wish me luck.
  • I made a long ass to do list.  Yesterday I crossed off 4 items.  If I cross off 4 items a day I still don't complete all my desired tasks before arriving in the next port.  Shoots.
  • Did you know that I play cribbage every day at coffee time?  Well I do.  Yesterday I almost got double skunked!  But, I didn't because all of a sudden I had mad luck and was able to save face.  Losing is one thing....getting skunked is another....getting double skunked?!  Don't even go there....
  • (In reference to the above tidbit:  You may be wondering how I can lament about incomplete tasks and then make time for cards at coffee time.  Coffee time is a sacred thing.  Apparently, working through coffee time (or more importantly asking someone to work through coffee time) is the equivalent of asking them to cut off their right opposable thumb.....in other words....don't do it....ever.)
  • I have under a month left aboard!  Where does the time go?!  I've been a terrible correspondent of late.  If any of you are waiting for personal emails it might be awhile.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  (I think some of you just got a little excited inside because you realized you'd be able to call me instead of waiting for emails....and then you got disappointed all over again because you thought, 'wait a minute, that broad will never answer her phone anyways!'.  Too true.)
  • I listed my house for sale.  Are you wondering how I could have saved such big news for the last tidbit?!  Me too.  I honestly forgot!  I'm actually very excited about it.  I'll probably (repeat probably) write a long emotional piece about my house....but I'll most likely save it for when I'm off the ship. 
  • I think that's it for tidbits. 

Now, go enjoy your Sunday afternoon.  Please?  So that I can live vicariously through you?  Because, if I were you I'd:

*Buy a cute Patagonia beach dress at Hilo Bay Paddler * Have a delicious coffee at a cute coffee shop * Take a walk along the water * Go out for sushi * Arrange fresh cut flowers throughout the house * Eat half a papaya with some lime squeezed on it * Enjoy a glass of Pinot Grigio with one ice cube * Go for a scenic drive and turn around whenever * Write a note to a friend (on cute stationary) and get it in the mailbox * Drink some carrot juice *

 

 

I see a white light and I want to paint it red.

in

Do you ever look at people who 'Do It Themselves' and think, 'what the hell?!  How do these people have the time for Do It Yourself (DIY) projects?!'.  I think that.  I do.  I mean, I really do. Yesterday, I painted nav lights red.  With nail polish.  Why?  So that our bridge can stay light sensitive friendly!  As I was painting the bulbs I thought to myself, 'How is this not diy?!  This is totally diy!  Look at me rocking this diy project.....what a nautie badass!'.

A little background....at night on the bridge we use red lights. This helps preserve our night vision.  I need to be able to go into the chart room - see the chart - fix my position - and returned to the darkened bridge and be able to spot other vessels.  Your pupils need to get big and stay big.  Red lights make this happen.  I only had white lights. 

I tried to paint my white lights red.  I used spray paint - but it didn't hold up to the heat and when the bulb got hot it would peel and flake all over my chart table.  I tried a sharpie - it just wasn't dark enough - even with lots of coats.  Then I thought:  Nail Polish!

I went ashore in Spain (more to come on that...) and bought three nail polishes.  Only one of them worked. 

For the record:  Revlon polishes cannot sustain exposure to heat.  Who would have thought that?! 

I poked a hole in the bottom of a Styrofoam cup to hold my bulb upright and applied polish to the clear bulb - when it dried I screwed it in - and Voila!  A red light!

Consider this a Shipping Girls Guide to Nautie Projects.....that you can do yourself.....or assign to the cadet.....your call.

 

 

 

 

I See At Sea :: Sunrises and Clear Horizons

in

I've been finding less and less time for photos at sea.  We've been in and out of port quite a bit.  Cargo ops + tank washing = 6 and 6  also  6 and 6 = Bummer Dude.  A few mornings ago I found myself on the bridge for a sunrise!  Yippee!  It felt like I hadn't seen the sun rise in weeks!

It was so calm.  Traffic was a little heavy but none was a concern.  The golden glow started quite sometime before the sun actually peeked out.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky.  The visibility was excellent.  It was damn near perfect.