Category Archives: Dave Alavoine

May30

TENDER TUESDAYS- PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #20

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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

Apr17

TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #19

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TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #19

PRIMED FOR SAILING SEASON

How did it happen to be mid-April already?   Some of Prairie Girl’s and husband’s friends already had their boats hauled out in March and have them in tip top shape, ready to sail when the weather clears up. They’ll be out on the water in a flash.

Not so for this sailor and her Captain. They’ve actually cancelled their haul- out twice now, believing they didn’t have a good weather window. Wrong! The sun shone after the morning showers and husband freaked out that he had let his coveted haul-out spot go. When will it possibly get done with the many Yacht Club executive meetings and regattas (He is a Vice Commodore, after all…) and … Read the rest

Oct22

TENDER TUESDAYS

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TENDER TUESDAYS

PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #17

PAN PAN PAN PAN PAN PAN

CALL:  Duchess of the Seas (1 to 3X) (named after their dog)   This is TwoCan   Over

Reply: TwoCan   This is Duchess of the Seas   Go to Channel six eight   Over

Response:   Duchess of the Seas    This is TwoCan  Roger six eight  Out

After switching to the working channel six eight:

Establish Contact:     TwoCan   This is Duchess of the Seas   Over

(To be continued at the end of this post. You know you want to read the final portion of this transmission!)

Sounds simple, right? You’d think a former principal who was relaying information to staff and students daily over the PA SYSTEM would not find using the boat’s VHF/DSC radio … Read the rest

Sep6

TENDER TUESDAYS- Prairie Girl Series #16

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TENDER TUESDAYS- Prairie Girl Series #16

SAILS ARE HOISTED! YIPPEE!!

Prairie Girl knows that you were starting to think that she and husband never actually raise their sails… Admit it- you were! Well, seriously, with all the hurdles involved in getting out on the water this summer, including illness and loss of very dear family members, reduced strength requiring a new windless installation, Prairie Girl and husband finally made it out mid-July to find themselves experiencing a pesky transmission issue. And just when they thought they had that fixed, the instrument gauges started to go mad.  Back home again to find a mechanic to solve that mystery.  This only took a couple of weeks to get someone down to the marina to tell them the new … Read the rest

Aug28

TENDER TUESDAYS- PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #15

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TENDER TUESDAYS- PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #15

WILL WE EVER SAIL AGAIN?

Last year’s sailing season turned out to  be a bust for husband and Prairie Girl. Husband had a 2 week window in his incredibly insane work schedule. And wouldn’t you know it? On their first night out, anchoring in a local, familiar bay- they hit a ROCK! (Refer to Prairie Girl Series #1 2016/07/27 in the archives.)

As you’re aware from former posts, husband’s 93 year old mother was hospitalized the week that he was discharged from the hospital after his emergency surgery. Let’s just say, the TwoCan wasn’t getting any attention whatsoever, the entire spring! (Other than the new installation of a windlass and a bigger dinghy…) Sadly for their family, husband’s mother passed … Read the rest

Aug16

GOOD OLD BOAT NEWSLETTER BOOK REVIEW AUGUST 2017

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GOOD OLD BOAT NEWSLETTER BOOK REVIEW AUGUST 2017

It has happened again! WHO’S the CAPTAIN? has been reviewed by GOOD OLD BOAT’S Newsletter Reviewer, Carolyn Corbett.  I am so thrilled with how she caught the complete essence of this humorous picture book targeted for  boating families, that I just had to share it with you!

GOOD OLD BOAT -August 2017 Newsletter

 

WHO’S THE CAPTAIN?

BY MARY LAUDIEN, ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVE ALAVOINE (CREATESPACE, 2016; 56 PAGES, PRINT $13.99 USD/$14.99 CDN; EBOOK $7.99)

REVIEW BY CAROLYN CORBETT (LAKE SHORE, MN)

Who’s the Captain? is a 56 page picture book of sailing life according to Dad and his crew. The humor in the text is accentuated by clever, colorful cartoons. Older kids who are familiar with the ins and outs

… Read the rest
Aug7

Pacific Yachting Magazine (08/17) Book Review: WHO’S the CAPTAIN?

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Pacific Yachting Magazine (08/17) Book Review: WHO’S the CAPTAIN?

 

Imagine Prairie Girl’s delight when she opened up her August copy of PACIFIC YACHTING MAGAZINE and found a half page BOOK REVIEW of WHO’S the CAPTAIN?  it embraced the magic of the collaboration between David Alavoine (PY’s cartoonist/ COCKPIT CONFESSIONS page) and myself in creating a humorous book that would appeal to all members of sailing/boating families.

Both storyteller and illustrator must have been synced closely during this collaboration, as Alavoine’s cartoons seem to mirror so closely the mood of each of Laudien’s vignettes.

There’s something to resonate here for every sailor- or sailor wannabe, I’m betting. Laudien has fun with some of the curious and puzzling nautical terms and how they can be misconstrued, with family dynamics, and

… Read the rest
Jun28

WHO’S the CAPTAIN? BOOK REVIEW in 48° North Magazine

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WHO’S the CAPTAIN? BOOK REVIEW in 48° North Magazine

DO YOU HAVE YOUR COPY OF WHO’S the CAPTAIN? ABOARD to SHARE with YOUR KIDS/GRANDKIDS?

It is just too rewarding to see sailing magazines and yacht clubs embracing WHO’S the CAPTAIN?  They are always so immediate with their response and wanting to share the book with their boating families. It’s the time of year that young sailors are taking sailing lessons and boarding family sailboats for sailing vacations.  What a perfect book to have on board! (Okay, I, the author of this little gem may be just a little biased, but as a former innovative educator I know what an engaging book this is.)

As Cherie Thiessen (Pacific Yachting’s Book Reviewer) stated,

“There’s something to resonate here for every sailor

… Read the rest
Jun27

TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #14

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TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #14

Our YACHT CLUB Wants PRAIRIE GIRL to Write Articles for their Website reporting on REGATTAS, SAIL PAST EVENTS, and COMMODORE BALLS! SERIOUSLY?

Imagine Prairie Girl’s reluctance when approached to create articles for their Yacht Club’s freshly updated website. That’s right… horror! If she thought she was getting away with fudging her ability as a sailor on spring cruises, it would quickly come out in the open- once she began writing articles about regattas! What did Prairie Girl know about racing? She had only participated in the CLUB REGATTAS and the JACK and JILL RACES organized to include those cruisers who NEVER race… not even for the less competitive Wednesday Night Fun Races. Now she was expected to review these events … Read the rest

May21

SAILING SEASON START-UP on the PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST

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SAILING SEASON START-UP on the PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST

SAILING/BOATING FAMILIES ALERT!

It is the May long weekend (Victoria Day) in Canada and boaters are out on the waters for the start-up of the season.  PRAIRIE GIRL is wondering if you have your copy of WHO’S the CAPTAIN? aboard your vessels? Remember what Pacific Yachting’s Book Reviewer (Cherie Thiessen) had to say,

“There’s something to resonate here for every sailor- or sailor wannabe, I’m betting.”

And then there is the endorsement from David Eggert (Director of Development and Relief Captain), SALTS Sail and Life Training Society- “Training Young People, By the Sea, for Life”,

“I loved the book. Great humor and fantastic illustrations.  Most certainly to be enjoyed by cruising families.”

Why is WHO’S the CAPTAIN? a must

… Read the rest