Friday Funny 09/30 (Naming Denali Rose)

(oops)

We tried to think of a different name for Denali Rose, but we never came up with anything we liked better than her current one. The previous owners, had named her after the tallest mountain in North America, Denali, and their previous boat had Rose in it, so they followed the theme. We love to be in Denali Park, it is one of our favorite places, truly beautiful, so we were definitely good with that. The rose part reminds me of two different meanings.

1. A compass rose is an essential part of navigation, and our talented friend designed our logo with that in mind. 

This is a modern chart compass rose.

Our logo is more of a "vintage" compass rose.

2. Rose is of course a flower, and most people would think of the typical hothouse variety. I however, love the rose we have in Alaska, known as the Sitka Rose. Outside of Alaska, it is known as the Rugosa rose. (little trivia fact)

This is the Pioneer Home in Sitka AK, with the Sitka rose bush. :-)

I have had one person ask me, "Are you the Denali Rose?" I really dislike that, I don't know why, I just do. I want to put a compass rose on the stern with the name, so no one feels compelled to ask me that dumb question.

There is a map of Alaska to the right of Rose, you can barely see it.

We are changing the home port to Wrangell, Alaska, instead of Fairbanks. We do have the decal, but haven't had a chance to do the switch yet. It's important to do, since she is federally documented with the Coast Guard, as Wrangell, Alaska, and we need the paperwork to match.

One more consideration with changing the name on a boat, the gods of the wind and sea have to approve of it. There are all kinds of superstitions about a name change, many feel it is bad luck, and that you should never change a name. Others ascribe to elaborate ceremonies to appease the gods, and make sure they know the vessel by the new name. They involve destroying anything with the old name, and having a party with champagne, speaking to the Four Winds, and making sure that everyone gets their share of the alcohol. If you are curious, there are many documented procedures, and youtube videos online. Owners probably use it as an excuse to have a dock party, as well as making sure they have good luck.  

If we were going to change the name, I would absolutely have a ceremony, Bill, on the other hand, just scoffs. 

In the end, it's a big hassle to do the paperwork, scrape off the old name, buff, paint, and reapply a new name, (not to mention a ceremony). We really liked her name anyway, so it stayed, and I will have to find some other excuse to have a party with champagne.

Friday Funny 09/23 (Leaving the land-anchor)

Sorry, I'm a bit late on getting this in, and it's not really a funny cartoon.

We are in the final throes of the house sale, packing, throwing out, giving away, and final repairs, inspections, and paperwork are the priority of any day. We will be closing next week, and on the 30th, the loaded truck, camper, and trailer will journey up the driveway for the final time. Nervous, excited, a bit of pain, and sadness, but ready to go. HOLD ON WINTER....give me just 1-2 more weeks.... we need to drive to Haines and catch the ferry to Wrangell.

Soon this will apply.

Here's something funny and annoying..,

You sang this in your head didn't you....lalalalala

Friday Funny 09/16 (Romance of bottom-job)

Time for the Anti-Foul paint job

For my "landlubber" friends and family a bit of an explanation. Boats that live their lives in sea water, (versus fresh water, lakes etc), need a bottom paint job, about every three years. A special paint, one that has some kind of biocide, is applied, and this helps keep growth off of the bottom, (that part that is underwater). Ocean environments are rich in all kinds of biological life, some you can see, and some you can't. Things like weeds, barnacles, and aquatic organisms like to attach themselves to the boat, and this can significantly affect your speed in the water, as well as in some cases degrade your hull.

This job is in our immediate future, which means that we must employ a boat lift, take Denali Rose out of the water, set her on the "hard", and work on the undersides. The cartoon above shows a rather small boat, here is a reminder of how large our underwater area is. These are photos prior to our ownership, as part of the purchasing process, we look at the undersides.

Denali Rose coming out of the water.

This is the gentleman who did our "survey" of the boat, much like an engineer's report when purchasing a house. He is tapping for soft spots, or for areas that water has made it's way into the hull. He didn't find any.

Notice the size of the man next to the rudder.

Some people, who have their boats in warm climes, just dive in the water and periodically scrape off the growth. They need to think about sharks.....  and they still need a periodic paint job. We had a diver the summer of 2015, dive on our boat in the Wrangell harbor, (he had a full wet suit, and air tank), he scraped our boat, and did some maintenance, but it's time for the full job.

Ah, the romance of wearing a protective suit, sanding, scraping, and then painting, while we are upside down underneath the hull. I can hardly wait.....

Friday Funny 09/09

Did you realize that 09-09, and that 2016 adds up to nine? So it's a 9-9-9 day. (cue twilight zone music)

Back to the Friday Funny.....

The hobby that ate Tokyo

Guess what happened over the Labor Day weekend! My good friend Colleen, who had previously given me scads of terrific stamps for my new hobby, card making, brought over another box. Hooo whee, another pile of fun stuff to catalog, and store for future use, I love it.

You might see a pile of stamps, I see fun, inventive card-making in my future.

We did a trade with them though. They brought their flatbed snowmachine trailer, their pickup, and their mini van, and we filled all of it with "stuff" from the house, basement and garage. In terms of downsizing, I'm sure we got the better end of the deal.

Friday Funny 09/02 September already!

 I love Maxine, her humor is right up my alley. So you get more than one today, mostly, sort of, boat related.