Nov10
Category Archives: WHO’S the CAPTAIN?
Nov8
TENDER TUESDAYS
WHO’S the CAPTAIN? BOOK LAUNCH & SIGNING in a Marine Store!
… Read the restMary Laudien has been a super engaged author these days! She and Dave Alavoine are busy preparing for their BOOK LAUNCH of WHO’S the CAPTAIN? The event will be held at Martin Marine (1176 Welch Street in North Vancouver) on Saturday, Nov. 26th from 12:30pm-2:00pm. Martin Marine is the PERFECT venue to launch their nautical book, as a long established North Shore ‘family business for boating families’.
Dave Alavoine is a long term North Shore resident, sailor, sailboat builder, former British Merchant Marine…and most importantly, Pacific Yachting Magaizine’s nautical cartoonist! Mary Laudien is a 4th time B.C. children’s author and the former proud principal of West Bay and
Oct28
FUN KIDLIT FRIDAYS
WHO’S the CAPTAIN? is FINALLY AVAILABLE!
What is FUN KIDLIT FRIDAYS?
It’s a Picture Book/ Middle Grade Book Review post that will be shared every other Friday. I intended to start this much sooner, but publishing WHO’S the CAPTAIN? seemed to take over my life for the last year. Now that it’s finally available, I can start posting regularly the picture books and early novels that I cherished reading with students when I was a teacher/principal in West Vancouver schools. I know many of you are always seeking out worthwhile, entertaining reads for you to share with your kids or grand-kids. That’s the purpose of FUN KIDLIT FRIDAYS... to introduce you to KIDLIT that’s FUN! I‘ll … Read the rest
Oct25
TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #8
A COZY MEMORY…
ABOARD THE ON EDGE
It’s a rainy, dark October day, and as I write this TENDER TUESDAY post, adding to my collection of early sailboat ownership experiences, it felt like the right kind of day to share a magical New Year’s Eve memory. (It may just inspire my readers with sailboats to plan a romantic evening on their boats at dock on a cold, dark winter night.)
New Year’s Eve arrived quickly, a few months after purchasing our old/new Catalina, the former Y KNOT (later renamed the ON EDGE). Husband had been working his way methodically through his TO DO LIST, in preparation of sailing in the spring.
The boat was still moored in North … Read the rest
Sep27
TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #7
IMPATIENT TO CRUISE
Husband and Prairie Girl couldn’t wait for any opportunity to take the ON EDGE out on the water. Two busy professionals had to scramble to find extended periods of time to take off on their annual two week sailing vacation at the end of each July. They would be so covetous of their time on the water that they usually chose to ignore the weather warnings. Sometimes this worked in their favor, and other times…not so much! Prairie Girl ALWAYS trusted husband’s decision-making! (After all, he wouldn’t be trying to OFF his new wife, now would he?) Husband is responsible, but when getting out on the water might mean a delay, his common sense might have … Read the rest
Sep20
TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #6
The Y KNOT Gets a NEW Name! 
Husband and Prairie Girl just didn‘t like the name of their new (old) boat. The Y KNOT was just a little too common, even though they could justify it as a cheeky response to their impulsive sailboat purchase, in the first place. They’d had several brainstorming sessions over the winter months, trying to find the “just right” name, but to no avail.
Finally, their scheduled two week cruise mid-summer arrived, and the Y Knot had been provisioned, complete with a new shower bag to use while in anchorages. The crossing from West Van to the Gulf Islands was smooth and everything seemed perfect. (Seemed is the key word here.) They had … Read the rest
Sep12
TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #5
THE FIRST OVER-NIGHTER at ANCHOR
… How did he get Prairie Girl back onboard again?
Well, let’s just say, husband didn’t get Prairie Girl back onboard for that entire fall and winter- and not just because she was still traumatized from moving marinas! No it was too late in the season and husband had a TO DO LIST 3 pages long to deal with before setting sail. He was anxious to have the boat updates done before next summer when they’d be ready to go cruising – of course they would be!
So the kinds of projects that husband took on brought the reality of boat ownership home quickly to Prairie Girl. Mooring fees were one thing, but … Read the rest
Sep11
FUN HAPPENS! CHANGES URL
ATTENTION ALL FUN HAPPENS! FOLLOWERS
I am in process of moving my blog to a new site: https://www.marylaudien.com
I value your visits to my WordPress Blog and the comments you leave. I am hopeful that you will subscribe to my new site of
FUN HAPPENS!:
… Read the restHUMOROUS KIDLIT & TENDER, SASSY POSTS
You can expect to find two types of posts:
TENDER TUESDAYS
FUN KIDLIT FRIDAYS
I’m looking forward to meeting up with you on my new site. Please copy the URL now, so that we can continue to share fun stories with one another. (https://www.marylaudien.com)- easy to remember if you know my name…
Aug23
TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #4
YOU MEAN WE HAVE TO TAKE IT OUT ON THE WATER!
Sailboat ownership was new territory for Prairie Girl. She was so busy getting the new school year launched, that she barely had time to perseverate on the fact that they now owned their very own Catalina. Warm, fuzzy feelings descended upon her whenever she’d mention to her colleagues and parents at her school that they were now proud sailboat owners! (Oh yeah, she was still locked into her rosy vision of the beautiful people sailing in white, flowing nautical clothing, sipping champagne in the evening under the stars.) Obviously not grounded in reality! DUH! Instead of seeing a Catalina 27 that had had better days, she was transporting herself … Read the rest
Aug16
TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES # 3
WE BOUGHT AN OLD TUB! REALLY? REALLY!
One Sunday afternoon, as husband (that’s right-no longer boyfriend) and Prairie Girl took a walk around Granville Island on a hot summer afternoon, they ended up in a boat broker’s office. What a surprise! Of course, husband had been checking out sailboats for a very long time! (Prairie Girl was too busy to notice…) The broker just happened to mention that there was a one-time owner Catalina 27 languishing in a slip nearby that would be reasonably priced and encouraged them to go aboard to check it out. They had nothing better to do, so Y Knot?
One could tell that the boat had been much loved by its former owners. … Read the rest