The Family Circus

The Zodiac's deckhands- best crew on the seas. "And I mean that in the street sense."

I really love this time of year-- mini-reunions abound as crew members start to show up that we haven't seen since last season.  The long dark of winter is over and moods are high as we get ready for the Bellingham Bay Rendezvous.

Beth is below decks, cleaning the ship and old friends are arriving all day. The schooners begin to pull into dock around 4PM and as my daughter said yesterday, "It'll be like Christmas!"

We are about to start dressing ship (flying the festival signal flags from our top mast down to the bow sprit and the boom tip). Jeffery is showing up at noon to rig the lights that make her look so gorgeous at night.

Its a pretty exciting day down here at the ship.

Now, we just need the jolly fat man with the snowy white beard to arrive from the frosty north, toting his bags of good stuff.... Santa Claus?... Nope, better than that--Ian the cook stepping off the Alaska Ferry!

Happy Days!

CFR 160.041

Zodiac's spankin' new life ring.

So, what in the heck is a C.F.R?

Tuesday was our date with the coasties.  My crew showed up bright and early for our scheduled appointment, CPR cards and random drug-testing forms in hand. It was a banner day, as we passed muster for almost everything with flying colors and a commendation from the coast guard officer regarding the quality of our performances during the safety drills and raising sails.

Three teensy weensy little items to cross off of the list before we obtain our certificate of inspection: 1.] New life ring...easy (expensive, but easy).   2.] labels on the life jacket boxes.... piece of cake.   3.] replenishing the inventory of medical supplies in our first aid kit... no sweat--wait! .....huh?

Not quite as simple as I thought (whoda' guessed). First of all it meant that I needed to go online and research the CFR for ship's medical and safety equipment. Code of Federal Regulations--the name alone should have clued me in as to what my morning was going to entail. Anything that has the words federal and codes...well you know.

So, 160.041 seems to take the code part pretty seriously...as in encryption.  Let me show you:

- Items. The items contained in first-aid kit shall be as listed in Table 160.0414(b).Table 160.041-4(b)_Items for First-Aid Kit ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No. of Item Number per package Size of package packages ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bandage compress_4[inch]....................... 1........................ Single................... 5 Bandage compress_2[inch]....................... 4........................ do...................... 2 Waterproof adhesive compress_1[inch]........... 16....................... do...................... 2 Triangular bandage_40[inch].................... 1........................ do...................... 3 Eye dressing packet, \1/8\ ounce Opthalmic 3........................ do...................... 1 ointment, adhesive strips, cotton pads.
Bandage, gauze, compressed, 2 inches by 6 yards 2........................ do...................... 1 Tourniquet, forceps, scissors, 12 safety pins.. 1, 1, 1, and 12, Double................... 1 respectively.
Wire splint.................................... 1........................ Single................... 1 Ammonia inhalants.............................. 10....................... do...................... 1 Iodine applicators (\1/2\ ml swab type)........ 10....................... do...................... 1 Aspirin, phenacetin and caffeine compound, 6\1/ 5........................ Double................... 1 2\ gr tablets, vials of 20.




See what I mean?

1 dot, dot, dot, single dot, dot, dot, 5 bandage etc. etc. etc.....

The definition of hodge-podge

After several hours of group-think, deciphering table B of the CFR, we admitted defeat. The complexity was too much for our feeble brains. They must do this sort of program inventory pretty regularly and if its that hard for us to figure out the amounts versus the packages, then I can only imagine what the payroll at the Pentagon must look like! We had bandages, tourniquets, dressings and ointments spread out across the galley table. It looked like black Friday at a Rite-Aid.


In exasperation, I finally went back online and ordered a brand new first aid kit from some operation that knew the coastie's requirements. Sure, I think we coulda' cobbled together most everything that they wanted of us...but between the wasted man hours of interpreting their super-secret CFR table and then running around to drug stores to fill in the blanks, I opted for throwing money at the issue.

Now viola!  We are compliant with our CG-835's and  raring & ready to go SAILING!!!


*For more stories about my experiences with the coast guard, go to:
"Prepare to Come About" excerpt from chapter: Dismasted

The Transition Time from Mom to Mate

Today I am frantically gathering the adequate safety gear, the proper emergency signage and all the requisite paperwork for schooner Zodiac's USCG C.O.I. (Coast Guard certificate of inspection). The Coasties board tomorrow morning and we take her out for a brief spin around the bay; fire drill, M.O.B. drill (man over board) and inventory of all of our safety equipment/ review of security protocols.

All of this is necessary for a certified passenger vessel. It is quite the kerfuffle, as far as the officers and owners of inspected small passenger vessels that carry over 6 passengers are concerned.... Needless to say, it's crunch time for the first mate.

This week is a funny time for me. I ease out of the boat-mom role on Kwaietek and move over to the first mate role on the Z. Aside from the ongoing transfer of my proverbial shit from one vessel to the next, it requires a dynamic shift in attitude and priorities that sometime interfere with family relationships.

The kids hate it when they have to take orders from their mother the "mate". Often times, predicated by the sentence, "I'm talking to you as the mate here so listen up." In fact any time they hear "OK. Listen up!" it means they're getting an order that can't be argued with or whined about or even returned with over-the-top exaggerated eye rolling.

Juliet, who is currently entering her teenage years with a vengeance, particularly despises crewing on board the same ship as her mother the mate.



Megan at least, has reached the mature age to roll with it pretty well. The chapter in my memoir, Prepare to Come About   mentions the intricacies of being mom on one boat and mate on another boat. Prepare to Come About, "Locking Through"



I've pretty much been able to make it through the initial rough patches of working with my husband on both of the boats.  There is no doubt that Jeffery has more sailing experience, and has read more nautical books than I could possibly find an interest in delving into. The first few years were interesting as we adjusted to my new role as the deck officer who ordered him around. I remember several times when the captain would send me forward to pass messages to Jeffery that he needed to readjust his sail because he was "killing the tack", where I would finally feel inclined to suggest that the captain deliver these messages himself--as the reaction I'd been receiving was growing frostier with each occurance.

Now-a-days, I can make the call myself, and deliver it with little resistance. It's been a good confidence building exercise. To believe that I have the knowledge and skill set to keep the ship running smoothly and safely. It has also cemented Jeff and my relationship as partners and sailors.

Now, as I run to the marine store yet again in preparation for our inspection, I am eagerly looking forward to my third full season as the first mate. I  like knowing that the captain relies on my organization and preparation and that I have a solidly trained core deck crew, (including one surly teenager).


I spend the next six months on the charter ship and transition back into boat mom in the fall... then my orders are met with somewhat more resistance and 14 year old attitude!

Can't wait.

~ Chris

Airing (clean) Laundry....

After a short spell away from writing on the blog, (the fire in Squalicum marina left me a little spare on words for a few weeks)... I ponder what I wanted to write about next.

While back on Kwaietek, I set to hand-washing my laundry from the past week onboard Zodiac. I think about potential topics that I might expound upon.  Certainly there has to be something eventful and terribly nautical to write about. Nothing really sparks my interest.  I fall into the zen of scrubbing the clothes and then rinsing and wringing them out one by one. I hang the pants and shirts over Kwaietek's life-lines; clothes-pinning them so as not to find them drifting in my neighbor's slip. The more delicate items, I take up into the salon and string them up on a make-shift clothes line running fore and aft. Lucky Jack glares at me as I set about this task--the sunny spot in the salon is directly in the drip-zone.

It occurs to me as I finish this chore, that it is a subject worth writing about. Not for being at a loss for topics, but because it becomes a very satisfying task. It takes me back to what life had been like growing up on our farm. Simple tasks that slowed the rate of a fast-paced life somewhat and gave one a certain appreciation of what one had and what one could do. Sure, throwing the laundry into a machine, splashing some detergent on it and walking away would have been much easier, but less "present".

I smell the soap and chlorine as I hang the clothes on the lines...I enjoy the scent of sunshine drying laundry. It reminds me of helping my grandma hang the laundry when I was a little girl. I loved her baggy gingham apron with it's over-sized pockets that held a never ending supply of wooden clothespins.

Now, I am draping my laundry over the life-lines and reaching for the same type of wooden pins to secure the clothes. Oddly, it makes our old forestry boat seem much more homey and cozy--if not quite nautical and maritime-esque.

And so I find, that even the most mundane items in the life of a sailor are worth appreciating and taking a moment to expound upon.

I am glad I get to live on a boat.

Spring Sailing

The captain decided on a whim to take Zodiac out for a little shake down sail in the bay.
What a fabulous day!  Not a lot of wind, but clear skies and just enough breeze to set sails and tack a few times on a beam reach.

All the long months of rain, wind and cold are worth it when spring arrives and we appreciate it all that much more. this must be why we remain here in the PNW.


Here is a photo of Abby the ship's cat, surveying the quarterdeck upon our return to the dock. Apparently all must have seemed ship shape as she eventually left the helm satisfied for below decks.

If you are near Bellingham next weekend, (4/28 & 29), come down and tour the Zodiac as well as six or more other classic schooners and classic boats that will be docked next to her for the weekend of the Bellingham Bay Rendezvous. (And it's free)!