Jun 11th 2012 08:20 am Leaf nothing to chance
What kind of boat is that in the comic strip, anyway? Well, the type of boat is a schooner, as has been mentioned before in the strip and here on the blog. It isn’t supposed to be any particular make of boat, and if you pay close attention, you’ll see details changing day to day, as I play with the drawings and tweak my own perception of how it should look. There is a specific boat I go to for details and general guidance and that is this boat.
For those of you tired of all this boat business, I’ve included a gardening cartoon for today’s classic A&J.
Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J
46 Responses to “Leaf nothing to chance”
Whistling Rufus on 11 Jun 2012 at 9:02 am #
I’m thinking Gus’ boat is not steel hulled like the specs (and I assume the Orbit), but fiberglass- surely not wood (MAJOR upkeep). Can’t tell about the one in the pic, it might be steel. BTW, does Gus’ boat have a name? I don’t recall if it does.
Mindy on 11 Jun 2012 at 9:10 am #
The plot unfolds. First night on the boat…Arlo will get romantic…and Janis will be seasick, even moored at the pier. Or vicey versey? Incidentally, John is the one in the family who hates to prune vegetation. I’m the savage.
Alyre on 11 Jun 2012 at 9:10 am #
sounds like this will Janis’s first time living/sleeping on a boat….hope she is not prone to sea-sickness!!
Symply Fargone on 11 Jun 2012 at 9:21 am #
Boats are funny things, I do not have the yen to won one, though I have water front property…I tend more towards the kayak, canoe, seacycle ( http://www.sea-cycle.com/images/sea-cycle%20page%201.jpg )type of propulsion, guess I leave all my noise on the roads when i am on two wheels. I do not like the tranquility of a body of water disturbed by motors….Oxford County in Maine outlaws personal watercraft on their lakes btw.
@Mindy,
Likewise in my house I am Conan the Destroyer of all wild vegetation. This year it has been about 35 white pines and 35 red oak trying to regain a toehold on the invisible demarcation I have awarded them. The only recompense I have found is due to the wealth of low bush blueberries emerging from under the white pines shroud(they have some sort of symbiotic relationship which I am certain we can get someone like EMB to tell us about
. This actually saves me some work as I was going to transplant them from Maine to massachusetts and now that is not necessary…
One last question, anyone know how to legally make a woodchuck Symply Fargone? Seems he is living under the rocks bordering my driveway, about 30 yards from the ladies’ veggie garden.
a demain
Mindy from Indy on 11 Jun 2012 at 9:34 am #
My money is on Arlo getting seasick and Janis falling in love with the boat.
Mindy on 11 Jun 2012 at 10:15 am #
That’s the perfect twist, Mindy!
Simply Fargone, how far is the nefarious woodchuck from the nearest resident [human] and how far are you? If you have no reservations, a 16-ounce plastic bottle, soft drink variety, taped over the muzzle of a .22 makes a decent silencer…
Isn’t it amazing, the things one can learn in here?????
hc on 11 Jun 2012 at 10:17 am #
ah .. the boat! When I was in my youth – before having to seriously consider a career, I had the notion that I would be an architect/designer of sailboats – big sailboats to go in big oceans. These boats would have really big, heavy keels! I spent many happy hours drawing/designing these boats – inside and out. (The schooner pictured doesn’t have a great big keel and is gaff rigged — I prefer Bermuda…) But then somebody (smarter than I) told me I had to be good at math to be an architect – so I got a degree in photographic illustration instead (and spent 9 years proofreading medical journals, and 15 years in the investment business – figure that one out) I am having fun dreaming along with Arlo. My sailboat yearning days are over … but I do enjoy watching them sail. I spent several summers in Maine sailing a Herreshoff with a big keel- originally built in Bristol RI, next to the town where I lived in my middle youth.
Ginger in Auburn on 11 Jun 2012 at 11:31 am #
I dream as much as Arlo does about being out sailing! (will this post ever leave moderation???)
Boise Ed on 11 Jun 2012 at 11:32 am #
There are some interesting comments at http://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2012/06/11 over just what the “learning curve” is about. Only JJ knows for sure.
Mindy on 11 Jun 2012 at 11:44 am #
Hi, Ginger! You left moderation!
phil in Missoula, MT on 11 Jun 2012 at 11:55 am #
I went on a Barefoot Cruise some years ago on a windjammer with about 50 other people. We had a cabin on the third deck down and slept soundly with the rocking of the boat in motion. One night everyone hauled pads up and slept under the sails on the deck. Wonderful. I have heard that one of the B vitamins is good for seasickness and Bonine worked well for my wife. I don’t usually get seasick, but as part of pilot training, I did some stall-spin recovery manuvers in an aerobatic plane on a very hot day. Boy howdy. After about 45 minutes of that I didn’t care if the plane recovered or not…I just wanted it to be done. So I can sympatize with those who do suffer from sea sickness.
phil in Missoula, MT on 11 Jun 2012 at 12:01 pm #
As I re-read that, it strikes me that I implied that all 50 people were in that cabin, which wasn’t the case. Just so you knew…
Mindy on 11 Jun 2012 at 12:20 pm #
John’s fertile mind was twirling, phil in Missoula, MT. He’s a DOM. And I don’t mean “dominant.”
Mindy on 11 Jun 2012 at 12:20 pm #
He’s not submissive either!!!!!!!!!
Ghost Rider 6 on 11 Jun 2012 at 12:24 pm #
Mindy! A homemade silencer? Really? I think you’re starting to scare me a little.
p.s. However, that is a fairly effective field expedient measure. I’ve been told.
And thanks for ruining my come-back to your next to last post.
phil: You sure know how to take the fun out of a good sea story. And ain’t it amazing that while you’re spinning that sucker, you’d swear you’re going straight down while looking through an orange juice can with both ends cut out it.
Mindy on 11 Jun 2012 at 12:47 pm #
Ghost, I’ve used it. Not on people. Nelson DeMille wrote about it’s use. I’ll try [almost] anything. As for ruining your come-back, I’m getting to know some of you guys!
It’s like family.
Dave in MA on 11 Jun 2012 at 12:59 pm #
Learning curve? I presume it’s on how to use the ship’s head….. What’s the big mystery?
phil in Missoula, MT on 11 Jun 2012 at 1:00 pm #
GR6, it IS hard to talk your brain into rational action when it is gabbling Purblind Panic at your body.
Dave in MA on 11 Jun 2012 at 1:02 pm #
Those who wonder what the learning curve is about, try reading this and decide if you’d like to use this in the middle of the night while docked….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_%28watercraft%29
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 11 Jun 2012 at 1:56 pm #
Symply:
“. . . low bush blueberries emerging from under the white pines shroud (they have some sort of symbiotic relationship which I am certain we can get someone like EMB to tell us about). Not being a botanist, I know little about such symbioses, but I did a search. A companion-planting site:
http://www.growinganything.com/growing-blueberries.html
does suggest planting blueberries near “ericaceous” trees such as pines and oaks. No, it’s the blueberries that are ericaceous, as are cranberries; ericaceous in a strict sense means members of the heath family. As related sites will tell you, probably most temperate zone trees and shrubs thrive only in association with various mycorrhyzal [sp?] fungi, and it may be that the appropriate fungi also associate with pines and oaks.
Dave in MA on 11 Jun 2012 at 2:19 pm #
While we’re talking botany…..
Why don’t lilacs smell nice any more? The lilacs around this part of the country (New England) used to smell strong and wonderful. Most of them have almost no scent to them anymore.
Mindy on 11 Jun 2012 at 2:46 pm #
They’re still great in SW Virginia Dave!
phil in Missoula, MT on 11 Jun 2012 at 2:53 pm #
And for those who were wondering (since we’re on the subject) the poop deck on a ship is not named for redolent anatomical activities. From Wikipedia:
The name originates from the French word for stern, la poupe, from Latin puppis. Thus the poop deck is technically a stern deck, which in sailing ships was usually elevated as the roof of the stern or “after” cabin, also known as the “poop cabin”. In sailing ships, with the helmsman at the stern, an elevated position was ideal for both navigation and observation of the crew and sails.
Another good sea story shot to heck.
Dan McD on 11 Jun 2012 at 3:17 pm #
Thanks for the reference! But one little thing’s been bugging me – and I wouldn’t even have brought it up, if you hadn’t mentioned your reference – on the 6/7 strip, last Thursday, the lovely four-panel reveal of the boat… what’s going on with the helm in last panel? Is it backwards, or is the pillar it’s mounted on just looking “fat” or something?
John in NY on 11 Jun 2012 at 3:37 pm #
Phil in Missoula – That reminds me of an A&J strip with Arlo and Jani on the back deck and Arlo explaining, because it’s small and behind the house. Why did you think I called it the poop deck? Still picturing Janis’ face makes me laugh.
Mark in TTown on 11 Jun 2012 at 4:47 pm #
Phil in Missoula, MT. When I was in the Navy I made several cruises sharing a “cabin” with over 80 guys. Not much different than sharing open bay barracks, until the weather got rough. We were located above one of the fuel bunkers onboard and it got rough enough to send it through the hatches into our berthing spaces. Whoo, what a stink.
Probably the learning curve is learning how to use the head without backing it up.
Fortunately for me, I only got seasick once. It was during my first cruise on the Oklahoma City and I guess my body adapted. I can really feel for those who never adapt.
Mary in Ohio on 11 Jun 2012 at 4:49 pm #
“Always throw the slops to leeward.”
Mark in Boston on 11 Jun 2012 at 5:35 pm #
We didn’t meet Arlo & Janis until after they were married, but given the date when we met them and their age at the time, I think it’s almost a certainty that at some point before their marriage they had a waterbed. So both of them should be used to boat-like motion.
Jack in Minnesota on 11 Jun 2012 at 6:10 pm #
EMB, Pines, oaks and blueberries all prefer the same kind of soil, a little on the acidic side.
Mindy on 11 Jun 2012 at 6:24 pm #
And, Mary? Always throw your husband off to leeward as well. If you throw him into the wind he’ll probably come back just like the slops.
Did I just say that?????
And, Jack? I just came across a great, easy recipe for blueberry turnovers!
Ghost Rider 6 on 11 Jun 2012 at 6:39 pm #
Yes, Mindy, you are getting to know some of us pretty well. Scary, isn’t it?
And it is somewhat like family here, as it can also get to be with our co-workers. In fact, when one of the younger members of my all-female office staff decided to move on recently, she told me she would really miss me, because I was like the uncle that would buy beer for you. I’m still trying to decide how I feel about that.
Does anyone know from where comes the expression “under the weather,” without looking it up?
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 11 Jun 2012 at 8:10 pm #
Dave: The lilacs in n. MN still smell. I’ve heard that sense of smell can diminish with age, but I still have that. Could be a loss of function of particular smell receptors rather than an overall loss of the sense. Eye lenses replaced with plastic, but none of my joints, yet. I can still hunker quickly, but getting up is slower than it was.
Wife could never hunker, and I kidded her that she just fell backwards because of her big butt. [It wasn't, which made that kidding ok.] It was just that her ankles were too tight for her to lean far enough forward to get her center of gravity over her feet. One is blessed when one’s wife’s greatest defect is that she cannot hunker.
John in Virginia on 11 Jun 2012 at 8:13 pm #
Jimmy, thanks for the clarification of the type boat. I couldn’t recall seeing it identified here before and as a sometimes/wannabe wind sailor I couldn’t see enough of the rigging to tell if it was a schooner or a ketch, just that it had two masts. Thank you for the identification. Now tell Mindy that I really deserve to get my own sloop and that it would be great for my health and welfare. And for Christmas I want…
Jerry in Fl on 11 Jun 2012 at 8:14 pm #
Same place that”on cloud nine” comes from I suppose. You guys got a break when weather took my “bundle” out. Everything came back this afternoon and we had no flooding around here. I caught up on the posts and now I know why my dad planted the blueberries next to the pines. Got to go for now. I’m watching the National Geographic Channel. Love that HDTV.
Jack in Minnesota on 11 Jun 2012 at 9:09 pm #
Mindy, new recipes are always welcome, please post it if you don’t mind sharing it.
One of my favorite childhood memories is of picking wild blueberries. We would come home with buckets of them and Mom would make pies. The berry patches are all gone now, developed into streets, housing and lawns.
Mark in TTown on 11 Jun 2012 at 10:27 pm #
Jack in Minnesota, your last sentence reminds me of a line from Lynyrd Skynyrd: “I can see the concrete slowly creeping, Lord take me and mine before that comes”.
Judy in Conroe on 11 Jun 2012 at 11:33 pm #
Wow. That’s a big boat.
Blueberries are ripening here in Southeast Texas, and my husband and I picked 11 pounds last Friday. I do not have a recipe for blueberry turnovers, but here’s a great one for blueberry cobbler:
EASY BLUEBERRY COBBLER
from Moorhead’s Blueberry Farm
3 c. blueberries
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon (optional)
¼ tsp. nutmeg (optional)
a pinch of ground cloves (optional)
1 beaten egg
½ tsp. vanilla (I usually use 1 tsp.)
6 Tbsp. melted margarine
Spray the bottom of a 10×6 baking pan (I substitute a square cake pan) with Pam. Put berries evenly in pan and sprinkle with lemon juice. Sift together dry ingredients (I just stir them), then add egg & vanilla. Mix together with fork till crumbly. Sprinkle this mixture over berries and drizzle with melted margarine.
Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Good warm or cold, and especially good warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Keeps well in refrigerator or freezer.
Note: The original recipe does not call for the spices, but I always add at least the cinnamon. That’s why they are marked optional. Enjoy!!
sideburns on 12 Jun 2012 at 2:27 am #
That recipe looks great, Judy. I wonder how it would work with cranberries, because I just happen to have a bag in the freezer.
Dave in MA on 12 Jun 2012 at 6:17 am #
emeritus Minnesota biologist – I assure you it’s not my age that makes the lilacs smell less.
But thanks for the laugh about hunkering. Even my kids say the lilacs around our area don’t have any fragrance. Other people have commented on this the past few years and I wasn’t around any lilacs to take notice, but now that there are some around us, I’m noticing it as well.
It’s a shame. The ones in the area when I was a kid could be smelled a block away.
Rick in Shermantown, Ohio on 12 Jun 2012 at 7:02 am #
When I first read the description of the schooner, I saw “Obit” instead of “Orbit.”
Considering what happens to a schooner owner’s bank account, that misreading might be financially correct.
hc on 12 Jun 2012 at 7:51 am #
The birds ate my blueberries – ba humbug ! and they were still bright green. We are just about to pick strawberries – blueberries won’t ripen ’til later in July.
phil in Missoula, MT on 12 Jun 2012 at 8:07 am #
I don’t know that huckleberries are cultivated around here, but the wild variety start showing up in the farmer’s markets after about mid July. People go up in the mountains to pick them and they’re pretty pricey. I’m sure the birds eat them. but for the pickers, the problem is that the bears eat them. The berries, that is, although occasionally it’s the pickers too.
On the other hand Tillamook Creamery makes Huckleberry ice cream that is to die for, so someone must cultivate enough to sell to them. If I ate as much of that as I’d like to, I’d probably die of a heart attack.
Jeannine on 12 Jun 2012 at 8:08 am #
My husband pruned our hydrangeas a few years ago and they are just now beginning to forgive us. They haven’t bloomed for the last 2-3 years but are teasing us with a few blossoms this summer. When it comes to pruning them again, I’m with Janis!
Mark from Maine on 12 Jun 2012 at 8:18 am #
Dave – the lilacs this year were pretty lame, both in size and smell, but I’m guessing that’s what happens when you have once-a-century warm spring. last year they were particularly smelly!
Dan in SWMo on 12 Jun 2012 at 2:46 pm #
Our lilacs, due to a warm spring, bloomed early but did not last long. They do smell sweet every year, however.
Mary in Ohio on 13 Jun 2012 at 5:14 pm #
Good point, Mindy! I am, at this point in my life, much more likely to acquire a sailboat than a husband!