Home   |   The Boat   |   First Mate   |   Admiral   |   Guestbook 

Date: 26 June 2016. Marking my Paddles (dinghy safety equipment)

© janice142
 

Being on the water is fabulous. Having Stuff is okay too. Keeping my items from the nefarious is an ongoing concern. This is a mobile society. Boats come and go. I do not want my perfectly good dinghy paddles to disappear with the town bum. To that end I have a solution.
 

 

My goal is twofold:

 
  1. Keep my goods from being acquired.

  2. Make mine less tempting than yours.

 


I do not have to have the Best System.
It's just got to be slightly better than yours.


If your items are easy to snatch and mine are not... well, suffice it to say I believe yours will be more tempting than mine. To that end I mark Seaweed on my stuff.
 


I recently replaced my dinghy oars with brand new paddles from Walmart. I wanted to permanently mark them. Ideally one of those etchers would have been the perfect tool for this job. I do not own one. Buying a tool for a single use is a waste of resources. Thus I got out my soldering iron and had at it.

My writing could have been better and neater. It is Good Enough and now those paddles are permanently marked as  belonging to Seaweed.
 

 

IMPORTANT!

 

Just because your dinghy has a motor does not mean you can forget about oars. You definitely NEED them in your dinghy. If the outboard quits you should be able to row yourself to safety.

Also you'll want the following: (affiliate links in blue)

  1. A whistle to alert others when you need help (required)

  2. A life preserver for each person onboard (required) I prefer the less bulky Auto Inflate Life Jacket Vests

  3. A bottle of water (or coffee, tea) (smart to have)

  4. An anchor with sufficient line to keep you in one place (smart to have) (Get at a nautical flea market)

  5. If you run after dark, Red and Green Running Lights (required)
  6. A Cobra VHF handheld floating 6 watts to call for help (smart to have)

 

 


 


While chatting with my friend Cheryl we realized I had marked the paddles with the name of my boat. Thus anyone at a dinghy dock will be able to know Seaweed has no one aboard her. ARGH. Obviously I was not thinking. I should have marked the oars Algae. Thanks Cheryl -- good catch!


Marking your oars is a Good Idea. I am glad I did so.
I just wish I had written Algae instead of Seaweed.
 


Such is life on the waterfront. I'm having fun using Seaweed. It's cool to be the boat that moves regularly enough that neighbors comment. Next stop is the fuel dock. I'll be doing that on Tuesday or Wednesday.
 

Would you attempt to change Seaweed to Algae on those oars?
If so, how would you do it? (Paddles are a soft rubber.)
 

Regarding the Comments Section, found at the end of every article:

  • Before you type in each block be sure to hit the backspace key. Coding inserts a space in every box. Your email address will come back as malformed unless you remove that space. (You don't have to include your email address.)

  • The capcha is case sensitive.


COMMENTS:
 

© 2016, 2023

Categories: Characters, Gear, Security,

Safety Nets ~ Previous Post ...    ... Next Post ~ Boat Buying Decisions (what is important?)

Archive

The Archive holds a running list with synopsis of published articles, and links to same.

A favorite aphorism:  You can either ask someone to do something or tell them how you want it done; not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

Contributions to my Cruising Kitty via
 
are always appreciated.

Every gift helps.

The Cruising Kitty is what boaters refer to as spending money. There's never enough aboard Seaweed!


I am also an Amazon Affiliate.


My Buddy, and his girlfriend...

Copyright © Janice Marois  |  Home  |  Archive  |  Topics  |  Boat List  |  Site Map  |  Email Me  |