Gail’s Trip to BA is Postponed

Gail is packed for a factory trip but has postponed her flights. She packed 2 crates, 1 long box for poles (fishing and man-overboard), and 1 duffel.   The duffel is heavy and has the density of a dead body but I have been told it contains fishing gear, day mark signals and our ensign.

I am the reason for Gail’s postponement. I have been on the road for work for 4 out of the last 5 weeks.  (Singapore, India, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Germany, France,and twice to UK ).   Instead of bringing home a snow globe, I brought home a decent fight with the flu.   So I was banned from work by Doctor Gail.   After spending a bunch of days in the apartment my head is clear enough to type-progress from shivering while covered with 3 blankets and blasting heat.   Hopefully the health czar will issue a go to work pass soon.

Our Antares friends sent us photos updating us on the progress after hearing of Gail’s postponement.  Our boat (hull #44) is being built in tandem with #42.   This helps both boats since we get advantages of scale.  If the builders are installing a water maker they get to do it twice in a row.   Faster and easier.  Kind of like when you assemble IKEA furniture.  The first chest of drawers is slow but by the second you are slapping it together faster than a NASCAR pit crew changes tires.  I know this for a fact since I watched Gail put together tons of IKEA stuff for our London apartment.   If you need help with your IKEA assembly, email me and we can negotiate Gail’s rates.

Earlier in this rambling post I mentioned that the duffel contained day mark signals.   What the heck are day mark signals?  They are a way of communicating to other boats about your status.   During the night this is done through a selection of running lights.   During the day lights are useless so day mark signals are dictated by the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 (COLREGs).   We purchased a cone to show when we are under sail and power.   When a sailboat is running the auxiliary (motor) and has a sail up it is considered to be a motor boat.   When we raise this cone we are making it clear to others what are the navigation rights we deserve.  We also purchased a ball which indicates when we are anchored.   At night the ball is lowered and replaced with the anchor light.   We did not buy a cylinder (constrained by draft), 3 balls (aground-I bet we will need it one day), or, a diamond (being towed).  Using day mark signals is not common but we strive to be as seamanship-like as possible.  Let’s see what happens when we hit the water.

Day mark signal – “at anchor”