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Goofy, fun additions? (plus questions on flag etiquette, ratlines)

11K views 40 replies 21 participants last post by  SailNet Archive 
#1 ·
Hello,

Just this summer I got a 25' Tanzer. I don't plan on racing it (its rating would be through the roof), so I plan on making it as fun of a cruising vessel for college kids like myself as possible. I get my racing fix on a J34 - I'm willing to sacrifice speed and beauty for fun on my boat.

I want to add ratlines for no purpose other than to make it look more like a pirate ship, and perhaps get a bosun's chair or harness just for fun. I'm working off a college kid's budget, so I was curious as to whether any of you had suggestions for a very cheap way to install ratlines.

I was also curious as to whether painting the hull all black would be a bad idea for any reason other than reducing resale value.

Where would I fly a pirate flag if I wanted to do so with proper flag etiquette? My guess is that I should do it on the backstay below an American flag. If I wanted it to be bigger and more of an eyesore, though, couldn't I fly it off the port shrouds or spreaders or something?

Please let me know if you have any suggestions for interesting, creative additions that don't require electricity. It's ok if they're an eyesore or are impractical for blue-water cruising. What would you do if you were a 20 year old who didn't worry about his boat being an eyesore?
 
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#38 ·
re

Haha. wow. Good thing I found out that flying a jolly roger off the shrouds of my 25' Tanzer would cement me as a supporter of not only rape, murder, and theft, but also junk bonds and felonious corporate accounting! Thanks. I assumed that the fact that several US military units past and present (four squadrons of the 90th Bombardment Group of the Fifth Air Force in WWII, several USN Fighter Squadrons, including the current VFA-103, the VF-84, the VF-17, etc.) as well as the entire Royal Navy Submarine Service have adopted as their emblem would have made it apparent that the jolly roger no longer stands explicitly for rape and murder but rather for bravado tinged with lawlessness. Somebody better write all those jet pilots and perhaps the Queen of England and let them know exactly what they're getting themselves into.

I would argue that the historical connotations of the flag have been overruled by more recent usage in military and popular culture. Connotations change. The swastika was a Hindu symbol for prosperity, welfare, and luck. If you were to fly it today, people would associate it with the more recent, popularly understood use of the symbol (The Third Reich) rather than the meaning assigned to it centuries beforehand.

As to the hypothetical aspersions on my character and the assertions that I'd be seen as a 'drunk hillbilly' (by the way, you might want to double-check your epithets - hillbillies live in rural and mountainous areas and have not been spotted in boats larger than 8'), I can probably live with the occasional disapproving glance from hypersensitive yachtsmen. You'll forgive me if I don't deem it necessary to defend my reputation to you. I hope the Coast Guard and any naval vessels I encounter will hold their fire, choosing to capture rather than kill the four or five teenagers aboard the 25' bermuda rigged sloop.

Thanks for the input on black hulls/other fun accoutrement. The plank definitely seems do-able and within my limited carpentry skills. My boat is in RI so it sounds like the black hull might be ok. I might go with a dark blue or green just in case. Cannons look like fun but I might stop short of exploding munitions and stick to a mounted water balloon launcher of some sort. Thanks to whomever suggested getting another set of standing rigging - I was a little worried about messing up mine. Special credit to whoever took the painstaking time to type up 3 paragraphs in pirate speech.

Cheers. And to all of you naysayers - beware, there's a water balloon with your name on it.
 
#40 ·
Haha. wow. Good thing I found out that flying a jolly roger off the shrouds of my 25' Tanzer would cement me as a supporter of not only rape, murder, and theft, but also junk bonds and felonious corporate accounting! Thanks. I assumed that the fact that several US military units past and present (four squadrons of the 90th Bombardment Group of the Fifth Air Force in WWII, several USN Fighter Squadrons, including the current VFA-103, the VF-84, the VF-17, etc.) as well as the entire Royal Navy Submarine Service have adopted as their emblem would have made it apparent that the jolly roger no longer stands explicitly for rape and murder but rather for bravado tinged with lawlessness. Somebody better write all those jet pilots and perhaps the Queen of England and let them know exactly what they're getting themselves into.

I would argue that the historical connotations of the flag have been overruled by more recent usage in military and popular culture. Connotations change. The swastika was a Hindu symbol for prosperity, welfare, and luck. If you were to fly it today, people would associate it with the more recent, popularly understood use of the symbol (The Third Reich) rather than the meaning assigned to it centuries beforehand.
good point.

As to the hypothetical aspersions on my character and the assertions that I'd be seen as a 'drunk hillbilly' (by the way, you might want to double-check your epithets - hillbillies live in rural and mountainous areas and have not been spotted in boats larger than 8'), I can probably live with the occasional disapproving glance from hypersensitive yachtsmen. You'll forgive me if I don't deem it necessary to defend my reputation to you. I hope the Coast Guard and any naval vessels I encounter will hold their fire, choosing to capture rather than kill the four or five teenagers aboard the 25' bermuda rigged sloop.
You never met Cam... he's got a boat a bit bigger than 8' and is often described as a drunk hillbillie... :) ;) :p

Thanks for the input on black hulls/other fun accoutrement. The plank definitely seems do-able and within my limited carpentry skills. My boat is in RI so it sounds like the black hull might be ok. I might go with a dark blue or green just in case. Cannons look like fun but I might stop short of exploding munitions and stick to a mounted water balloon launcher of some sort. Thanks to whomever suggested getting another set of standing rigging - I was a little worried about messing up mine. Special credit to whoever took the painstaking time to type up 3 paragraphs in pirate speech.

Cheers. And to all of you naysayers - beware, there's a water balloon with your name on it.
I like the water balloon slingshots... :)
 
#39 ·
Nay, I'm not the stuffed shirt type -- I have, and occasionally fly, a Jolly Roger. But out of respect for my country, I never fly it with the Stars and Stripes. Not above, not below, not abaft, not on the same vessel! I am proud of my country and it's flag, unlike certain misguided politicians and their wives. So I say, have fun, fly your Jolly Roger, walk your plank, climb your ratlines, paint your hull black! Just don't paint your deck black if you go barefoot! We need to figure out how to launch a water balloon with an authentic looking cannon!
 
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