Category Archives: WHO’S the CAPTAIN?

May31

TENDER TUESDAYS-PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #21

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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

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

Jan30

TENDER TUESDAYS- Prairie Girl Series #18

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TENDER TUESDAYS- Prairie Girl Series #18

PRAIRIE GIRL’S CAPTAIN IS VICE COMMODORE!

Not only did they join the yacht club, but also through questionable circumstances, husband was voted in (by acclamation) at the Yacht Club’s annual meeting! You’re shaking your head at this point, knowing that he probably has the smallest yacht in the club and sails less than anyone else. To affirm your suspicions, just review the Prairie Girl Post #15 – WILL THEY EVER SAIL AGAIN?

In the early fall, husband was called by the Past Commodore to ask whether he would consider letting his name stand for the Yacht Club’s Executive Team. Husband, now retired 9 months, didn’t have his work excuse to fall back on, now did he? So he cautiously … 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