The art of banner making on the high seas

Posted by at 9:25 AM, June 21, 2004

Hello everyone,

Hey, here's something you can try at home with the kids! Take your ship out on the ocean and make a banner. Make it 15 meters long and 2.25 meters tall, but use a roll of nylon fabric that is 1.5 meters tall. Don't forget to take your broken sewing machine, otherwise you might not get frustrated enough. You'll need to re-thread the machine every minute or so until the job is done. And hey, have fun putting that thread through the microscopic hole in the needle. You'll need to do it about a thousand times and the ship will be rocking a lot...... - -Marnee

Also, you should definitely have giant metal scissors that don't actually cut. You'll need them to gnaw away at the fabric strip of something or other you've been given to reinforce all the edges. (You can use duct tape when that stuff runs out.) That's so the grommets will be secure and not tear the nylon. Oh, that's right, you'll need to put in about 40 grommets to hold the banner in place on the side of the ship. Go get the toolbox with the grommet supplies in it and bring it up to the helicopter hanger- it's only two or three flights of stairs and the thing weighs less than most anchors. You do know how to install grommets, don't you? Next you'll need to get a laptop computer and a projector so that you can project the giant letters up on the banner and paint them perfectly. There's no place big enough or flat enough to do this part, so you'll need to figure something out. Get your markers and paint ready, and don't let the banner fly around or else the paint will smear. You do speak Icelandic, right? And hey, can you have that done by lunch, we've got something else we need you to work on.

Luckily, Rein suggested we head to the bow for a puffin sighting. There he was, just flapping away across the surface of the water. (The puffin I mean.) Then he dove down to have a look around. It was the perfect distraction at just the right moment, as the Great Banner Debacle of 2004 still weighed heavily on my mind.

Just then Donald got the go ahead to drop anchor, and we all watched. The ship stopped right in front of a part of Iceland that reminded me of New Mexico believe it or not. The land was flat-topped- a mesa as we say back home, Spanish for table. Only these tables were painted with greens and greys instead of browns and reds. Add to that the particularly blue water of today's ocean, and wow. Beautiful.

Have I properly introduced you to Donald MacDonald? He's the ship's "bosun" which is Latin for "rock star". Not only does he know pretty much everything about the ship, but he is also a great guy. He's originaly from a tiny seaside town in Scotland, and now he lives in Brighton, England, with his lovely vegan wife Amber. He's been a sailor his whole life, and it shows. He seems at home on the Esperanza, like he belongs to the sea. He knows where everything is, and he knows how everything works. You'd probably enjoy working with him because he's serious but not too serious. I find him to be interesting, well-spoken, and contemplative. He's also got a really good sense of humor. I've enjoyed every conversation I've had with him so far, and I don't expect that to change.

More bad news about Tomakint. Still no solid travel plans due to beaurocratic efforts to delay or prevent his travel visa. He may not get to Iceland until next weekend, if at all. Please send him your best thoughts and maybe even a note if you get a chance. Aboard the Esperanza, we are all looking forward to welcoming him with open arms.

- -Marnee