The Sailmaker's Apprentice

We bought a new mainsail recently that just needs a few adjustments to fit.

One of our friends is an experienced sailmaker and has been working on it in his spare time.

While he was here working one day, his adorable son was also here to help him out!!

So cute!!

s/v NP

Snapshots of our "Summer Sailstice" 2011

s/v NP

Cuisine: Caesar Boats

Make these SUPER-SIMPLE-kid-friendly Caesar Boats for ANY occasion!!

We went to a Baby's Blessing recently and these were served along with Little Caesar's Pizza, Crazy Bread, Brownies and Soda.

I thought it was a terrific way to serve salad as 'finger food'!!

And it'd be an easy-to-assemble, easy-to-store item for onboard too!!

The Dad who made these said, "It's the best way to get our kids to eat salad!!" And he was right, the children who were present were just as excited about these as they were the pizza. 

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Romaine lettuce hearts
Caesar salad dressing
Croutons
Shredded parmesan cheese



HERE'S HOW TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER:

Seperate and wash the romaine heart leaves.  Carefully blot them dry with a towel.  Arrange leaves on a platter and then gently drizzle the caesar dressing on each leaf.  Put a few croutons on each leaf and then sprinkle the tops with parmesan cheese...SUPER EASY!!



OPTIONAL FANCY STUFF:
You can dress them up with a few extras such as:
 sliced cherry tomatoes
 sliced chicken
or use shaved parmesan instead of shredded 

Also, I put similar leaf sizes on the same platter.
  The smallest leaves are on the platter above.

The tiny heart-middle makes a great stand up garnish too.
ENJOY!!
s/v NP

A special thanks to Brett and Carol's family for this great idea!! 

EEL GRASS

No matter what I say,

All that I really love

Is the rain that flattens on the bay,

And the eel-grass in the cove;

The jingle-shells that lie and bleach

At the tide-line, and the trace

Of higher tides along the beach:

Nothing in this place.

~Edna St. Vincent Millay~


s/v NP

Chris Learns to Sail in Smaller Boats

Christopher already has a basic knowledge of sailing, because he has helped us in the large sailboat, but we wanted him to get a better 'feel' for how different-sized crafts respond to the wind and water.  So, everyday from 10:00 a.m to 1:00 p.m, during the week of June 20-24, Christopher had lessons which covered all the basics of sailing. Here's what his week looked like: Day 1:  He learned how to rig the boat, how to sail away from and back into the dock, and how to trim the sails. Day 2: Was filled with tacking and gybing and learning how to get to the place he wanted to go. Day 3:  Included lots of practice of the skills previously learned.   Day 4:  Included solo flights...AND the students purposely capsized the boats and learned how to recover from the mistakes.  Chris was pretty excited to text me about tipping the boats over on purpose!!  Although the pictures aren't very clear (they were taken with a cell phone), here's what THAT day looked like:

On Day 5:  The bigger boats (in the 18'-20' range) were brought out and sailed by the students in pairs.

It was a great week!! When we asked him about which boats he likes to sail best, he said the smaller boats are WAY MORE FUN, because they go faster!!

Next up:

He's decided to try his Mom's sport of Windsurfing!! 

FYI:

The teachers at Western Washington University's Youth Program were fantastic!!  Here is the link to their program.  They offer a variety of courses to choose from. 

http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/eesp/youth/sailing/index.html

s/v NP

Onboard Crafts: Lifesaver Napkin Rings

Another fun idea from Country Living Magazine:

I think these are pretty cute...something the kids could tackle in an afternoon when boredom sets in.  I'll keep the 'ingredients' onboard just in case...

s/v NP

Beachy Bottle Openers

I found these in my latest issue of Country Living Magazine.

I thought one or two of them would be the perfect addition to the galley...

functional AND decorative!

Which one should I get?

   The whale? No...maybe the mermaid? Ugh...they are ALL SO CUTE!!

s/v NP

We Have a New Ship in Town: The Schooner Zodiac!!

Saturday, April 16, we had the pleasure of celebrating the arrival of The Schooner Zodiac to its new home port of Bellingham, Washington.  It was a huge celebration, including a rendezvous of other tall and small ships from around the Salish Seas.

  

Besides tours of all the vessels, there were artisans offering their crafts, vendors selling warm food and hot cocoa, and even mini classes available for children to build small wooden ships.

  

It was a great day!!

     

This tall ship was built in 1924 for the heirs of Johnson & Johnson.  It was built in Minnesota at Hodgson Bro.'s Shipyard and modeled after the American Fishing Schooners. 

It has an interesting history found HERE.

She is A GIANT.  Her length is 127 feet on deck with her length sparred being a full 160 feet!!  The main mast is over 12 stories high and her sail area is more than 7,000 sq. ft.!!  She has one of the largest working mainsails on the north coast.  That all adds up to one WHOPPER OF A HUGE SHIP!!   

The details are gorgeous...

and mostly wooden.

The Zodiac has a 500 HP Caterpillar Diesel engine and a Hull Speed of 12.5 knots.  Can you imagine how spectacular it would be to watch a bunch of these schooners race??

HERE is your chance!! 

Two new beautiful wooden masts were installed, just recently, and a new mainsail is on its way.  Today's cruise out into Bellingham Bay was without the new sail.

I love all the brass details too. 

 I just picked me up a porthole like this for the NP...except it's made into a mirror for the head...so charming!!

 

What a great place to plot a course!!

This is the Baggywrinkle-maker-guy.  

Baggywrinkles prevent the rigging from rubbing on the sails, therefore extending their lives.  

See the piece of rope near his knee?  He cuts the rope that length, untwists it and splits it into ~90 pieces.  He then wraps the individual pieces around two long lines and pushes them together tightly.

So the line of rope (above) is eventually frayed and twisted to look fluffy (above and below).

It is then wrapped around the rigging in various places (especially where chaffing is most prominent) to prolong the life of the sail.

The unveiling of her new home-port name was preceded by a few speeches, lots of cheers, and SOME VERY LOUD HORNS from around the port.  It was awesome!!  Wish you could've been there!!

And off she sails....

WELCOME TO BELLINGHAM ZODIAC CREW!!

The Schooner Zodiac's 2011 season of cruises is available.  2012 is also starting to fill.  

How about a "Victoria Tall Ships Cruise" or a "San Juan Islands Schooner Race"?  Or if just an evening aboard is preferred.....how about a "Summer Solstice Dinner Sail"?  

They all sound good to me.....SIGN ME UP!!  

See you onboard!!

http://www.schoonerzodiac.com/cruises.asp

s/v NP

I'm linking up to Watery Wednesday where you can find LOTS more gorgeous photos relating to water.

An Evening at the Beach

Our sunsets are always so beautiful!!

Birch Bay State Park, Washington

 

9 Teens, 3 Sailboats and SUCIA ISLAND!!

I'm getting myself psyched up for sailing weather and posting past stories while the weather is still unfavorable.

Here's one of our favorite weekend trips to Sucia.

  DAY ONE

   

We followed S/V Air Apparent to Sucia.

Maggie and Ainsley were hangin' out on the bow.

A view of Shallow Bay.  This is where we usually drop anchor.

The view from our anchoring spot.

So peaceful...

So beautiful...

After we were all situated, the kids took the crab pots and dropped them near the entrance to the bay.  Then they all played in the dinghys for awhile.

Here's Lauren and Tessa learning to row a boat for the first time.  It was HILARIOUS to watch!!  They swirled in circles, cussed, argued, laughed and about threw the oars overboard!! 

"Here, JUST LET ME DO IT!!" they each yelled.

  

 So after Lauren tried...

and Tessa tried...

they finally decided teamwork was the best way to do it.

Taylor and Christopher (in the Coleman Inflatable) decided the best way to get the boat somewhere was to be towed by the dinghy with the ENGINE!!  Now THAT was getting somewhere!!

They did this for hours...

and hours...

until the sun started setting.

On this particular evening, after the sun had set, a cruise ship (probably bound for Alaska) passed by off to the West.  All of its lights lit up the night and looked magnificent.  We all sat on deck and watched it go by.

DAY TWO

The kids loved to go pull up the pots every few hours or so, to check for crab.

Maggie is holding a keeper!!
Guess you know what we had for dinner!!


There is so much to do on these trips... 

like hangin' out on deck...

and in the cockpits,

or playing guitars...
Maggie was our awesome musical entertainment!!

We usually "raft" all the boats together depending on the weather, tides, conditions, and how many boats are with us or around us. 

Here are S/V's Cyclone, Air Apparent and our New Perspective all rafted together. 

It's like a giant party deck!!


 Other things to do are...


after beachcombing and collecting broken shells, driftwood, and other tiny finds...

the kids made name plaques out of the found items.  A bottle of glue was all that was needed!!
 
They were all so creative finding things to do...

like stunts...

and more stunts...

and swimming...

The water was super cold at first!!

 But they had a blast!!

The sunsets were spectacular!!

And when darkness came, we were still out playing!!

 

On this night, there was a Bachelor party going on...until the wee hours of the morning.  A HUGE group of guys had a couple of power boats and a bunch of tents onshore.  They had bonfires, played guitars, sang songs...it was fun to listen to!!  We even sang along with them!! 

DAY THREE

In the morning, before loading up the boats and heading home, we all went to shore.

Chris, Ainsley and Maggie explored the "China Caves."

 

Ainsley and Maggie

Raymond explored the caves too.

Josh rock climbed while Bill looked on...

and scaled the heights!!

He worked his way up...

all the way to the top!!

Emily started the construction of a "Wee Beach House"...

while Ainsley covered her legs with a volcano.

So cool!!

And Maggie found the perfect smoke.

Run!!  It's erupting!!

We laughed so hard!! 

We all went digging for clams too...

 

Jim showed us how to find them.

We didn't have shovels with us, so we just dug with our hands.

Taylor was SO GOOD at whipping those buggers outta the ground before they disappeared too quickly!!

You have to dig fast!!

 

Taylor kept getting one after the other!!

It was the perfect trip!!

s/v NP