This is missing the word Samuel Jackson is known for saying.
There were some other images that were funnier, but I try to keep this blog mostly family friendly.
We aren't asked what's in our wallet, that's kind of rude, but cruisers are often asked, "what's in your ditch bag".
Here's one of ours, yes, we have three ditch bags, I'll show just one today. This was an exercise I should have already done, but I had actually never gone through the bag, item by item before. I knew that if Bill packed it, that it would be filled with all kinds of good safety items, so I was complacent.
ACR Rapiditch
This bag has floatation built into it, and will float about 25pounds of equipment. I was taking photos on the bed, and I had pushed back the cover, since the pattern is too busy for pictures, and I tried no to disturb the sleeping Gus in the background. 😁
The first EBIRB is in an outside pouch. [This is in addition to an EPIRB mounted in the boat, and 3 PLBs; 1 in a pouch on each of our PFDs, and one vacuum packed in the liferaft...]
An emergency position-indicating radiobeacon (EPIRB) is a type of emergency locator beacon, a portable battery powered radio transmitter used in emergencies to locate airplanes, vessels, and persons in distress and in need of immediate rescue. In the event of an emergency, such as the ship sinking or an airplane crash, the transmitter is activated and begins transmitting a continuous radio signal which is used by search and rescue teams to quickly locate the emergency and render aid. The signal is detected by satellites operated by an international consortium of rescue services, COSPAS-SARSAT. The basic purpose of this system is to help rescuers find survivors within the so-called "golden day"[1] (the first 24 hours following a traumatic event) during which the majority of survivors can usually be saved. The feature distinguishing modern EPIRBs, often called GPIRBs, from other types of emergency beacon is that it contains a GPS receiver and broadcasts its position, usually accurate within 100 meters, to facilitate location.
The underside of the lid has a mesh pouch, contents:
Waterproof flashlights and a diving light [We also have headlamps and flashlights in each of our PFD pouches- always with us...]
Hard to see here, but that black snake is a heavy duty bungee style SUP leash, connected to the bag so we can attach it to our person, or whatever, so that the bag doesn't float away in an emergency situation...
Some boat emergency items: a soft bung to plug a leak; some goop to stop a leak [in case you can quell a leak before actually evacuating...] and a silicone measuring cup [which can be used as a bailer, drinking cup, pee and/or vomit receptical, etc...]
In these two black plastic containers contain rolls of biodegradable wag bags for waste- kitty or otherwise.....
A floating SOS signal light [USCG approved in leu of pyrotechnic flares...]
Field First Aid Kit [in it's own heavy duty waterproof bag] and 100 feet of nylon line
GPS and VHF radio; each in a waterproof Pelican case, and they both use the same AA Lithium batteries [20 year shelf life, no leaking, and work well in cold temperatures...]
Two stainless steel knives: one is a pocket knife similar to a Swiss Army kniff, and the other is a sailor's knife, with a few different options. [We also have knives attached to our PFDs...]
Daytime Emergency Signal Flag, which can only be seen in the daylight, no fancy stuff involved. [One is included with the SOS Emergency light, above...]
Cliff bars for easy nutrition [and a few pouches of cat food too...] and lots of line for whatever.
Life raft/dinghy repair kit [supplementing what is already vacuum packed in with the liferaft...]
A ziplock of various sized ziplocks.
Tide Tables [replaced annually]
Two headnets, well, you know, mosquitoes, and other flying annoyances. Two vacuum packed survival, heat retention suits. [Being warm is good...]
Burried in the bottom is a small, portable solar panel kit for recharging batteries, phones, etc.
Everything is tied to the bag, so that if you open the top zipper, things can't fall out, and float away.
Yes, there are many other things that people put in their ditch bags, but wait.... there's more! I did say we have a couple more ditch bags, but you'll have to wait for future installments to see what they contain...
How many of you remember this original, "BUT wait there's MORE" ad? Hahahaha, you'll be showing your age if you do!
Elsie hasn't been feeling well lately, so we put a heating pad underneath of the box that sits next to the heater vent. She has been monopolizing the box because Gus didn't know the pad was there. He recently found out.
Another water bowl close by, to make life easier.
Cat face-off, who will out stare the other for the rights to the warm box.
Gus won, but he didn't play fair, he bapped Elsie on the head with his paw. Not very gentlemanly of him.
I don't think he looks very contrite here, do you?
Elsie ends up on her sheepskin on the settee.
So now when Elsie needs to curl up in the box, we distract Gus with a toy, outside time, extra chin scratches, and by the time he turns around, Elsie is all snuggled up, and warm.
I'm getting in on the trend for remakes, and reusing old fashion for new again.
This is my new/old fashion statement.
The dreaded crutches are back out of storage.
I've been having some pain in my right knee, (not the broken leg side), and I'd been diagnosed with mild arthritis. I was walking up the steps at our Post Office, and as I was stepping up to the top step, my knee buckled out from underneath me. I grabbed the hand rail to keep from falling, and found that my knee wouldn't support any weight. Very slowly I hobbled back to the car, called Bill, and asked him to meet me in the marina parking lot with my walking poles. I ended up needing more support than the poles could provide, so out to storage we went, and picked up my crutches. Ugh. After that, off to the ER, where like "Cheers", everyone knew my name.
I have some painkillers, and some PT scheduled, and hopefully I won't need another trip to Orthopedic Physicians of Alaska. I think I could ask for a frequent customer punch card. "Have 10 surgeries, and get 1 free!" Or perhaps at the ER, "Have 10 visits, and receive a free bed pan!"
I'm supposed to be helping out at our museum tonight with the new exhibit, "Shipwrecks Close to Home". This is what I was planning on writing about for today's post, but writing yesterday just didn't happen.
Triple deadeye from the Star of Bengal. (Rigging)
Princess Sophia was the worst wreck, all 344 crew, and passengers perished, then Star of Bengal, of 110, only 27 survived, Princess Kathleen all 425 crew, and passengers were saved, and the Mariposa, all 265 crew, and passengers survived, but they lost 25,000 cases of salmon, and 1200 tons of ore.
This is a traveling exhibit from the State Museum in Juneau.
"Friends of the Museum", decorated the convention center yesterday, and are providing wine, hor dourves, and two speakers who will talk about the shipwrecks.
Most of you know how much I love history, I was hoping I could get off of Denali Rose, and make my way up the dock, and ramp. It's pouring rain, (big surprise), the docks are slippery, and the muscle relaxers have taken effect. Unfortunately, it sounds like too much for me. I'll just have to wait to find out the stories behind these four ships.
At least I got a sneak peak yesterday!
From the Nolan Center Facebook page.
Notice I'm upright just fine, I went to the PO after I helped out.
It was National Cat Day on October 29th. Here's how Elsie, and Gus celebrated.
Elsie asleep on the settee.
Gus asleep on our bed.
"I could get so much done, if I didn't have to sleep 18 hours a day"
The horrors....
Back at our previous land home, we were cat-less, then Elsie showed up at the door one snowy day in October. She was so grateful to come in, and be held, that she draped herself over my shoulder, and became LC, which stood for Liquid Cat. As she took over the ownership of the home, her named morphed into Elsie.
Enjoying the fire.
The next year, or so... it's hard to remember back that far, we heard a banshee screeching through the woods, and Bill saw a white streak. He fed her... naturally, and the second cat decided she was home.
This is Beyza.
Beyza is a Turkish Van, that's a cat without an undercoat, swims, and uses that luxurious tail as a rudder. The name Beyza is Turkish for snowball. She was a small cat, and didn't get along with Elsie very well. The two of them tolerated each other mostly, and the only interaction was when they tried to occasionally maul each other. We could hear them at night when Elsie, who far out-weighed Beyza, was "interacting", we called it, Elsie playing Beyza ball. Sometimes we would have to get out of bed, and separate them. Thankfully Beyza bonded with my daughter, and when we moved to the boat, Beyza moved to live with her in Seattle.
This is a normal position for Beyza, she likes to drape herself across you when you sleep.
One summer, along came Gus, who refused to come inside, or spend his nights in the warm garage. I've written about how one October day, at -5degrees, Bill picked him up and brought him inside.
Elsie says, "Move along Buster, this is MY house, and I already have a roommate that I can barely tolerate."
This is the day we brought Gus inside, Bill had been feeding him warm water, and kibble.
"I'm cold!"
The next year, a big tabby showed up, he looked just like Gus, and we were thinking he was Gus's Dad. I was adamant about no more cats in the house, three was enough, so Sammy went to live in the garage. He'd obviously been in some kind of scrap, because he had a big bite taken out of the side of his head, and Bill nursed him through it. Sammy needed a family to love him full-time, so we took him to the no-kill cat lady shelter, to let her try and find someone for him. We later found out that he belonged to a neighbor down the road, and the pit bull they were looking after, had been the one to take out that bite. No wonder Sammy ran away. We let them know where Sammy was, and it was between them and the cat lady as to who would get custody.
So, now we have Elsie, and Gus onboard Denali Rose.
Permission to come aboard.
This is the day we moved onboard for good. Neither one of them were very happy, having just spent 9 hours in a cat kennel, either in the hold of an airline, or in a baggage cart. Gus was yowling, and trying to bite the bars of the kennel, and Elsie was seriously miffed. They got over it.
Elsie getting her beauty rest.
Gus surveys his domain
We're angels....
We want out!
DAD!!!! I can't untangle this line!!!
Both of them have taken ownership of Denali Rose, at different times one or the other has had to repel boarders. Gus even took on a barking german shepherd, he puffed up, yowled, and faced him down. The shepherd was on a leash, but we didn't tell Gus that.
In case you missed it, they were part of a feature in a popular blog post by my friend Ellen.
PS, if you like cozy mystery books, Ellen has written three so far, The Mollie McGhie Sailing Mystery series, Murder at the Marina, Bodies in the Boatyard, and Poisoned by the Pier. A fun read that isn't too intense.
PPS. I wonder how the current owners of our previous land home, deal with all of the strays that seem to show up in that location?
