Tag Archives: Mary Laudien

TENDER TUESDAYS-Prairie Girl Series #39

TENDER TUESDAYS-Prairie Girl Series #39

TwoCan XL Renamed…IRP

(Inheritance Reduction Plan)

Episode Four

Maintenance…Maintenance…Maintenance

Totally pumped and provisioned for a Desolation Sound adventure, Prairie Girl and husband set off with anticipation of meeting up with their SCYC friends in Gorge, Rebecca Spit, or Cortez Is.  They hadn’t travelled that direction since the TwoCan XL had been purchased. They were anxious to try new anchorages and revisit some of the coves they had enjoyed in the past.  That’s why they set off on a lumpy crossing to False Bay on Lasqueti Island. Of course, the wind was coming straight at them, so no sails went up that day.

The anchorage was lovely and all went well, until evening when husband went up the … Read the rest

TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #38

TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #38

TWO CAN XL Renamed… IRP

(Inheritance Reduction Plan)

Episode Three

Maintenance…Maintenance…Maintenance

Apprehensively, the next morning, Prairie Girl and husband departed Port of Sidney to return to the shop that had neglected to replace the seal.  To their mutual relief, they made it without incidence.

As expected, it took till after 5:00 that day to finish the job and splash the TwoCan XL. Their buddy boat friends were hailed and just before entering the BC FERRIES NO SAIL PASSAGE… SURPRISE! You guessed it! The motor was dead as a door knob and wasn’t coming back to life.

Luckily husband was prepared and set up his 20 litres of fuel to go directly to the motor and THEY … Read the rest

Tender Tuesdays-Prairie Girl Series #37

Tender Tuesdays-Prairie Girl Series #37

TwoCan XL Renamed…IRP

(Inheritance Reduction Plan)

Maintenance…Maintenance…Maintenance

EPISODE TWO

With the next weather window a few weeks later, the trek to Sidney was repeated, to have the shaft seal replaced, with Prairie Girl aboard. Their friends had to leave a day earlier than them, so no buddy boat accompanied the TwoCan XL that day.

All went well until they came out of the Sansum Narrows, before entering the NO SAIL area of the BC Ferries. Suddenly, the motor stalled and would not start.  Prairie Girl looked at husband and husband looked at Prairie Girl and then they sprang into action. Immediately, the sails were hoisted and the (somewhat inept) Prairie Girl was left at … Read the rest

TENDER TUESDAYS-Prairie Girl Series #36

TENDER TUESDAYS-Prairie Girl Series #36

TwoCan XL RenamedIRP

                    (Inheritance Reduction Plan)

EPISODE ONE-  MAINTENANCE…MAINTENANCE…MAINTENANCE

Due to Covid restrictions and travel bans, husband was more anxious, much earlier than usual, to have the TwoCan XL serviced in preparation for an early spring sailing adventure.  We’re talking January, dear readers. You know, the time of year on Vancouver Island from which one normally escapes to sunny international destinations. The kind of weather that is hovering around 0-6 degrees Celsius, wet, and smattered with serious gale force windstorms.  Prairie Girl put her foot down and pressed for the end of March, early April to deliver the boat to Sidney for this IMPORTANT service. The compromise made, you’re wondering?  The next appointment booked in Sidney … Read the rest

TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #28

TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #28

SCHOONER COVE YACHT CLUB’S

NON-TRADITIONAL SAIL PAST 2019

It is the beginning of May and Yacht Clubs all over the Pacific NW are celebrating their opening day of the boating season with a dignified Sail Past ceremony. Schooner Cove Yacht Club, located in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island, had such a day planned for their membership. Now if you recall from reading other Prairie Girl Learns to Sail posts and previous COCKPIT CONFESSION stories, Prairie Girl’s husband became Commodore of the SCYC in November, 2018. Of course, the Sail Past is something that all members and guests love to participate in with the dock ceremony and the parade of boats sailing past to salute the Commodore and the Commander of Read the rest

TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES#25

TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES#25

NEW BOAT DILEMMA

For those of you who follow my Prairie Girl Learns to Sail posts, you will know that husband recently decided that their 28 foot Catalina (the TwoCan) just wasn’t adequate anymore and became the proud owner of a 35 foot Beneteau (the TwoCanXL). And if you read my blog (Prairie Girl Series #23-Dec. 2, 2018), you will also know that Prairie Girl is somewhat challenged in the sailing skills department. This is noted in the author page of her book, WHO’S the CAPTAIN? that states:

“MARY LAUDIEN (alias PRAIRE GIRL) is a fair weather sailor (better known as a cruiser). She has never taken a sailing lesson or a power squadron/VHF Radio

Read the rest

VALENTINES’ DAY PRESSURE

VALENTINES’ DAY PRESSURE

TENDER TUESDAYS- Prairie Girl Series #24

Each year, husband constantly reminds his Prairie Girl  how much he dislikes Valentines’ Day.  Why, you ask? Well, the long and the short of it is that he has an issue with feeling obligated to create a ‘HALLMARK MOMENT’ when someone else deems it necessary. Prairie Girl calls it his “BAH HUMBUG” syndrome. He pretty much feels this way about any contrived gift-giving celebration.  Now don’t get the wrong impression, it isn’t that he resents giving a gift and a card, (although one might regard husband as somewhat frugal); its really about being expected to celebrate something that he hasn’t bought into.  Prairie Girl understands his sentiments, but she does not let him … Read the rest

TENDER TUESDAYS- PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #22

TENDER TUESDAYS- PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #22

PRAIRIE GIRL AND HUSBAND SAVE A SEAL PUP

Anchoring out on the serene waters of Winter Cove in July, left Prairie Girl and husband with a completely unique and endearing experience. This post is not one of Prairie Girl’s usual humorous tales… this one actually is a perfect TENDER TUESDAY post.

It all started early morning, after a peaceful nights sleep on the hook. A thumping against the hull awoke Prairie Girl, but she never thought much about it. It wasn’t until they went out to the cockpit to have their morning coffee in the blissful sunshine that they discovered a baby seal pup, sniffing and trying to suckle the bottom of their dinghy. This little seal just never … Read the rest

TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #21

TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #21

PACIFIC YACHTING MAGAZINE PUBLISHES A 3rd PRAIRIE GIRL BLOG ON COCKPIT CONFESSION PAGE

Prairie Girl loves a surprise, don’t you?  Last week husband and Prairie Girl found a couple of open days free to take the TwoCan out on the water for a short ‘shake down’ cruise to make lists of what they needed for provisioning before setting out to Vancouver after the upcoming BMW Lasqueti Island Regatta weekend. They really didn’t go far… from Stones Marina to Marks Bay – seriously! For those of you not familiar with this area, it is about a 15 minute motor  across to a buoy in the bay. However, in their defense, they did venture out both days for a couple of Read the rest

TENDER TUESDAYS- PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #20

TENDER TUESDAYS- PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #20

A FISHY START to the BOATING SEASON’S

OPENING DAY

May 6th was the official start to the BOATING SEASON for our Yacht Club.  Members spent days ahead of the event with haul outs to power wash their boats, scrub the hull and paint the bottoms, finishing off with the onerous process of waxing and buffing.  Prairie Girl, in the past, had never shared in this part of the boat prep. Of course, it didn’t help that husband kept making bookings and cancelling them. (Apparently the forecast was for rain… which, she might add, did NOT materialize on the second booking!).

 

However, the real glitch in the booking process ended up being the timing.  Of course, the pull-out’s 3rd Read the rest