veterans day & tea towel for the engine room

Print your own fabrics! re-upholster your bunk, make cool pillows, and frame your porthole with your own designs!  Spoonflower, is a site based in Durham, North Carolina that prints your designs at their ‘mill’. Read more about them here.

In honor of Veterans Day (today: 11.11.11) they just held their military fabrics contest which I missed, but inspired me to make a tribute fabric anyway. (I never knew the symbolism of poppies until this contest.)

The Ships Ahoy Tea Towel calendar is now available! The fabric measures 21″ long by 18″ wide, but the edges are raw and will need to be finished:

All ships are denizens or frequent visitors of NYHarbor, and run on their own power. I love our historic vessels, but will save those for the Dead Ships Dinner Napkins series.

Here are past Bowsprite fabrics. I am going to do one with egrets and booms, a la Tugster! Have an idea for a fabric? drop a line!

radar tuning

Pick a new recruit.

“Ok, kid. We have to tune the radar. We’re going to wrap you in this, 360° so we can monitor your movements. Try not to wrinkle it.”

“Don’t wrinkle it! God!”

“No. No good. I think the whole range has to be covered. Come back here on the boat, let’s get the arms too.”
“Yeah, and cover the neckline. We need a higher range here.”

“So, how is it?–Keep walking, but go slower.” “No, no. This is not good. I’m missing the top. Maybe we have to go higher.”
“Ok. Come back on the boat.”

“You can’t do that. He can’t see! How’s he supposed to stay on the dock?”
“Ok. Here. Eyeholes. And I’ll throw in nostril holes too. Boy, kid, this is your lucky day.”
“Ok, go back out there, please. This is taking too long.”

“Good! good! stay there! got it?” (camera taking photos)
“Ok! now move a bit more to the west. Just a few steps—stop! good!… ok! go back, move away from the boat… good!”

Thank you, Capt JJ.

and, this is great (“we need a wheelwash sample…”)

Coast Guard Cutter ESCANABA (WMEC-907)

Coast Guard Cutter ESCANABA (WMEC-907) – “Medium Endurance cutter”
Built: 1983, R. E. Derecktor Shipyard , R.I.
Class and type: Famous-class cutter
Displacement: 1,800 long tons (1,829 t)
Length: 270 ft (82 m)
Beam: 38 ft (12 m)
Draft: 14.5 ft (4.4 m)
Propulsion: Twin turbo-charged ALCO V-18 diesel engines
Complement: 100 personnel (14 officers, 86 enlisted)I do love deck fittings and ground tackle!

The CGC Escanaba was docked at Pier 17 this weekend.  Her history is here, their blog is here!