Slow Boat

DD: 12  Spiders: 0  Mission accomplished!

Congratulations to Russ Hass, the winner of the August 16th "What IS It?"  Russ correctly explained that submarines attach a broom to their conning tower to show they have made a "clean sweep" when they return from a mission having sunk all their targets.

For his efforts Russ wins a tacky postcard, not to mention the glory of being named a winner.

(Previous winner Scott Barbara, please reply to slowboat@emailias.com with your snailmail address to collect your prize!)

On the subject of submarines:  You may know that, when you dock at a marina, you pay by the foot.  So . . . longer vessels get charged more than shorter vessels. Dragonfly is 41 feet long--longer than many pleasure craft--so marina fees can be on the hefty side.

Our son had a clever idea:  Add a conning tower.  Waterproof the boat.  Outfit the bilges to work like those on a submarine.  Makes sense, right?  Steel-hulled vessel, torpedo shaped, slow moving . . . Then, when approaching a marina, submerge--all but the conning tower.  Then key channel 9 on the radio:  Windward Marina, Windward Marina, vessel six feet in length seeks transient berth. Over."

Naw, we didn't actually do it. But fun to think about.

Meanwhile, in the spirit of the S.S. Cobia,  DD is victoriously making a clean sweep of the spiders.