A Flag For Every Country

For weeks I've been working diligently on finishing the Courtesy Flags we may need in the next year. We plan to follow the island chain down south to Trinidad and Tobago, and then hopefully continue on into the Western Caribbean.  Our prospective goal is now Panama!  And we now have a Flag for every country between here and there!

Last summer before we left Florida, I took delivery of supplies and instruction booklet from Sailrite.

I already had things like pins, fabric markers and paints,  needles, hot knife, grommet installation tool and the sewing machine on hand.  Here is a list of materials ordered for the flag project.

3 yards of Red
3 yards of Blue
3 yards of White
2 yards of Yellow
1 yard of Black
1 yard of Green
1 yard of Light Blue
1 yard of Red sticky backed Insignia Material
1 yard of White sticky backed Insignia Material
4 pks. of grommets
1 spool of white thread (and I already had some black on the boat to use)
25 ft. of white webbing
I also started out using basting tape but once I got going, I found it was more trouble than good.\
Hot knife blade for making grommet holes.  You don't have to have this but it makes grommet installation so much easier.

Using the basting tape to hold the panels while I sewed...

Starting out I made the flags for the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.  The material is a little bit difficult to work with so I used basting tape to hold two panels together for stitching.  I don't know if it was just hot and the tape got melty... or if basting tape is just known for gumming up needles, but after making the first two flags, I abandoned the use of basting tape in favor of about a million straight pins.

The Puerto Rican Courtesy Flag was the first sign of trouble...  There was no mention in the instruction book that there are two different versions of the flag, and that both are in use.  A chance comment I overheard clued me in.  We made our flags using the darker blue triangle... but looking around, I noticed that some were using a lighter blue.

Much later in our stay in Puerto Rico, I asked a friend who lives here about it.  He explained that the darker blue was used by people who approved of the liaison between Puerto Rico and the US... the lighter blue was flown by people who preferred Puerto Rican independence  Being as the same flag design is used both as the courtesy flag for boaters like us, AND is the national flag for Puerto Rican citizens... I was unsure as to which flag to fly... but I guess since we are US citizens and have enjoyed the connection - we will go with the darker blue and fly it proudly!

Wonderful memories of that day back in the Bahamas with Sally! 

The instruction book has size appropriate patterns for the different stars for all of the flags!

Dominican Republic sans emblem

France

The instructions in the Sailrite book are very simplistic.  That's no problem for some of the more simple flag designs... but some aren't as easy as others...

Perhaps a more accomplished seamstress could just purchase the stuff and the instruction booklet and it would all be easy...  But I am not that kind of seamstress...

To make it even more interesting... there are random small errors in the book and some of the flags have very little instruction at all so I really had to reason out some of the designs to avoid the seam ripper...

Adding the stars to Venezuela

Once I had the hang of folding the panels together to make alternating flat felled seams, flags like France, Colombia and Venezuela with three simple panels were a breeze.

Well, at least they should have been.  I have been fighting with my machine again.  Somehow I've got the thread tension out of whack and just can't seem to get it adjusted correctly.

The mystery is that when I use the white thread, it sews along like a dream... but when I changed to black thread, which is slightly more heavy, it made loops on the top...  Well, after sweating profusely and swearing like a sailor for about half a day, I finally got it adjusted and things went much more smoothly.

SVG and St. Lucia

My speed and proficiency increased with each flag... I decided to get creative in the middle and use white thread on top and black thread on bottom to better match the panels... but after doing a couple of flags that way, I abandoned that madness... It's just not worth the extra hassle of rethreading the machine so often.

A FOUR FLAG DAY!!!

Using the pattern to make the sunburst

I chose the more simple flags to finish first, but eventually I had to move on to the more complicated ones...

Flags with triangles that
had to be carefully fitted together were more of a challenge...

Antigua and Barbuda was one of the more difficult ones but it came out great...

Beautifully done Netherlands Antilles NO LONGER USED!!!

The most heinous error I've found is that the flag for Netherlands Antilles is no longer used.  I heard this from another Cruiser and when I went looking for information, it was difficult to find.  I'm still not sure what to do about it.

Some say that they are still flying this flag...  Others say that it is proper to now fly the country flags of  Sint Maarten and Curacao.  In this discussion I found that the flag for Martinique is also flown in addition to the French flag... which is another thing altogether!  For these I guess we will figure it out when we get there... as these patterns are not in the book!

She thinks she's helping...

One of the most difficult to make was the flag for Dominica!  It has a bunch of strips sewn together then placed in a cross pattern on the main panel...

Luckily I learned my lesson (after finishing the flag for Netherlands Antilles) and consulted the internet to verify that the other flags are correct.

WRONG!!!

The example in the Sailrite instruction book is wrong.  The stripes are not in the right order.  I would have lost it if I had finished this flag and had to tear it all out to correct the error... as it is I had to reverse the hoist and fly, and remove the emblem and reposition it, which was trouble enough...

Not helping...

I used the internet for more detail on the emblem

The complicated emblems on some flags are too intricate to be done with material.  For these I am using the sticky ensign material ordered, and either fabric paints or waterproof fabric markers to fill in the colors.

The book has patterns to be traced onto the white ensign material and then cut out and colored in.  

The only one I made that was intricate was Dominica.  I cut the red circle out from the red ensign material, then the small stars on the white and colored them green.  

Then I traced out the parrots onto the white ensign material, two mirror images so that they face the hoist on each side... (another error in the book... it said they face the fly)

Note:  The colors in the kit linked above don't include Brown so I bought this as well for the perch.  I think the flag for Mexico also uses brown...

I found the pattern in the book to be a little too simplistic so I copied flags I found online for a little more detail but this is an optional step.

Painting the stars with fabric paint... I could have used the markers on this...

It took me two days to finish the birds due to drying time for the paint.

I actually did end up putting the emblems on upside down and had to remove them and replace them correctly... My mind was boggled by the time I was done!  I worried that the material would be less sticky after being removed so I sewed a zig-zag stitch around the perimeter of the red circle.
I was happy to finish the flag for Dominica and I really hope it holds up to the elements...

St Lucia

I found that the instructions for some of the more difficult flags didn't provide the most efficient way of putting the pieces together...  St Lucia was that way...  The instruction kind of said that you could just crease the hems of all three triangle pieces, line them up on the flag front and back kind of freeform, and sew them on.  I felt that making the triangle pieces one first by stitching them together and THEN placing the two parts onto front and back made it much more easy to sew them onto the flag.  Making the pieces match one another took a lot of trial and error.

As the days marched on, my pile of flags was growing... It was actually becoming kind of fun using my Cruiser Brain to figure out the parts and pieces... A little bit of a challenge now and then is good for me!

Grenada was another of those challenges...  The triangles again!!!

Luckily they didn't have to be exactly the same to match up in the center because the small red circle covers the offset...  The stars were cut out of the white ensign material and I used fabric markers to color them yellow.

Same with the little nutmeg symbols... two mirror images in white, but then I cut the little nut out of the red ensign material.  I thought that if I had used red fabric marker, it would bleed into the yellow and look messy... This way it's nicely well defined.

Dwindling down on the list... Aruba was another easy one and is the only flag I made that used the light blue material.

I cut out a white star and then stuck a smaller red star on top of it.  That wasn't in the instructions but since I had both colors, I hope the colors of the ensign material will hold up better than the fabric markers in the wind and weather... we shall see...

Perhaps the most difficult flags to make and the ones that left my mind feeling like I could have done them differently were St. Kitts & Nevis... and Trinidad & Tobago...


When the diagonal parts are folded over at the top, bottom, hoist and fly, the strips don't line up as they curl around the edges...  They are very thick at these points and difficult to sew...

It's more obvious in this photo...

So when I made Trinidad and Tobago I tried to fix this.  It was touch and go there for a while as to whether or not I would have to completely remake the diagonal parts.

If you zoom in on this photo, you can see white zig-zag stitches at the top border of the black material.

What I did was pin both pieces of the diagonal panels onto the red flag body and then I cut off the parts that extended past the edges.

Then I used the cut pieces to fit back onto the opposite sides and stitched them together after I folded the top hems and stitched them...

I'm not sure if that really makes sense but if you make this flag you can kind of understand what I did.  The zigzag part is where my seam joining the pieces back together wasn't quite robust enough so I tacked it down with a zig-zag.  I didn't have to do that on the bottom end as I stitched it better.
I guess I didn't take comparative pictures of each side... but they look more identical than the two sides of the St. Kitts & Nevis flag shown above which show the mismatched stripes.

I made the stars before I began sewing the panels

Anyway... Moving on around to the Western Caribbean... Last on the list was Panama.  This was another flag that might look easy, but I'm an expert now and I don't need no silly instructions...  That's a good thing because there weren't any!

It took me a bit of figuring to make the pieces fit together using the proper seam joins and yet still have the panel colors line up perfectly...  But I got it done and if you save this flag for last, you should be able to do it as well...  The only mismatch that couldn't be helped was the hoist and fly where the colors curl around and overlap...  dratts!

Suddenly I had a pile of nearly completed flags!  I could have continued on and made a Diver-Down flag using knowledge I've gained from this book...

I could have created new handmade US and Texas flags... or maybe a ships ensign for Dos Libras with our symbol on it... but let's get real here folks!  I've been sewing these things for most of two weeks and I still have other projects that need doing before we leave here.  And time is growing short!

So I got out the grommets an the hot knife... and spend most of a morning installing grommets onto the hoists of 17 flags!

Using the special tip for the hot knife for making holes.. I carefully marked the position of each grommet.

It takes great concentration and a steady hand to burn the holes through the fabric without melting too much.  It's delicate work but with practice it began to go faster.

You could probably figure out a way to make the holes without the hot knife using a punch of some sort, but some of the material you have to go through is very thick so it would be difficult.

Installing the grommets is easily done with the right tools and it went pretty fast as well. The first two flags I made were done with larger-than-recommended grommets that we had on hand.  I don't advise this, use the smaller grommets.  They work better.

Labeling the flags with coordinating colors in paint

Once I had the grommets done, I used fabric paint to label the flags and point which way is up.  This is an extra step and maybe unnecessary, but I didn't want to have to dig out the book every time we hoist a new flag...  I used paint which took an extra day of drying time before I could run all of my flags together up the halyard for the ultimately triumphant photo op!

I am supremely happy with how they all turned out.  After a few rough patches, the project on the whole was fun and I wish I had begun it earlier in the summer and done those extra flags mentioned above.  Perhaps we will stop somewhere and another sewing jag will hit me.  I still have quite a bit of leftover material after making all of these.  And there are still a few flags I did not make in the book...

Before we took off cruising, I searched the internet and blogs to find out where people were getting their courtesy flags.  There wasn't much mention of it outside of other people who made their own, or the occasional coup found on Ebay or somebody selling off their stock.

Some people are buying the really cheap stick flags and altering those to go up the halyard... I applaud their thriftiness and ingenuity but I just couldn't do that.  Our Bahamas flag was store bought and although it cost $19.99 at West Marine (and only $10 in the actual Bahamas) the quality is extremely poor... we replaced the Bahamas flag three times before we left there the second time.

One tip if you are buying ready-made flags, if you sew another seam along the fly it can extend the life of the mass produced flags...

I made my flags using the Sailrite LZ machine, with size #16 needle.  But these flags could well be made on a non-commercial machine so give it a try!

Was it worth it?  Buying the flags online can cost between $19.99 and $49.99 if you don't go the stick-flag route.  My materials cost in the neighborhood of $150 because I already had some of the supplies needed... and I still have supplies leftover...but I would say that I have a full set of very sturdy flags that will withstand the elements far better than the machine made flags.  If they do get torn up I can repair them... And I had fun making them.

And this concludes all I know about making your own Courtesy Flags!  Unfortunately I don't know of an instruction booklet for other flag groups... if you do, please share in comments!

Year Three Reflections On The Cost-Of-Cruising

I never learn.  Last year when I posted our total Cruising Costs I said... "We've spent a LOT of money on upgrades this summer.  But our hope is that when we leave the dock later this month, we will be good for a while"...

Yes.  That is what I said.  And this year when I saw the total, I thought once again that my own words have been used to slap me silly!!!

But when you look at the breakdown, there isn't any one thing that really stands out.  The boat insurance was double because of the timing... we paid it at the beginning of this year and again at the end because we paid it a bit early.

We no longer have a car, so there are no expenses for that this year, but we have a home and the costs to insure it should not be considered for Cruisers who don't plan on keeping a home so I have removed those.

But otherwise, I would say that our costs this year are realistic for a couple cruising on a boat similar in size to ours who have "Normal Cruising-Life Expectations".

But what does that mean?  What is "normal"? For us it means that this is our life.  We aren't on a "trip".  We don't expect to be out here for a year, or two years, and then return to what we left behind. In fact, our mindset has shifted during this last year.  When we left the US we were still "on our way to somewhere".  We had a destination in mind and we were sort of in a hurry to get there.

Edited to remove House Expense

It's difficult to even quantify that to someone not in this situation...  Everyone asks us "Where are you going next?".  And we've always had an answer...  When we arrived here in Salinas for the summer, we really HAD no answer to that question.  We had several options in mind, but had no definite plan.

At some point in the summer I realized that we have truly adjusted to life as Cruisers.  We are just out here doing whatever we feel like today, and that our plans are completely fluid.  Of course we must have SOME sort of idea in mind that helps us to make  our daily decisions... and we do... but it is completely open ended.

The transition has been so insidious and sneaky, that we were truly amazed when we realized that in the past 6 months we have been within about a 160 mile area.  We arrived to Puerto Rico on April 4th and have not been further than Anegada in the last six months!  We've just been moving around the area at leisure, not hot to get anywhere...  And it feels nice!

This is where we live... No more do we save up our visits to the Doctor or the Dentist for when we get back to the US.  No more do we need to provision for end-of-times... we just buy groceries like everyone else!  Well maybe not entirely, there ARE places in which groceries cost less than others we will visit soon, so we do sort of stock up...  But there will be another place along the way soon where we can re-stock again...  We've also been buying things from Amazon Prime because they DO ship to Puerto Rico and it's just so easy!

But back to the question:  What IS normal?

I would say that it is splitting the time between anchoring, mooring and marina stays.  Sure we love being at anchor, but there are lots of places that being near the "action" means paying for a mooring.  For us it means that we get a slip either for a day, a week, a month or longer whenever we feel the need.  It is just much easier to do repairs or host visitors while in a slip.  We have made a habit of finding a reasonably priced slip in which to spend the hot summer months.  There's no need to languish on the boat, sweltering and sweating profusely when we can plug in and be comfortable all summer long.  We aren't masochists and there are no prizes for martyrdom out here...

We rent the occasional car both for running crucial errands and just for fun.  We do some touristing and we eat out when we want, which I will admit is not really that often...

Is it possible to forego these pleasures and get by more economically?  Sure it is... but this is our life.

So... take a look at the breakdown below... and see how we spent almost $50,000 this year!  <gulp>

And because I never learn... I'm going to say it once more... I HOPE we will get through year four on less... wish us luck!

Oh, and because I nearly gave somebody a heart attack... Cruising costs can vary widely for different size/type boats.  We cruise a 1995 Catalina Morgan 45'.

Answers to questions received:

What's in Technology?  That's where I put things like iPad navigation apps and purchased electronic charts.  This year the biggie was for a new Mac computer.

The liquor bill is ridiculously low, what's up with that?  The liquor category on the spreadsheet only includes liquor purchased independently.  In the islands, hard liquor is mostly purchased in grocery stores and I'm not going to pick my grocery bills apart.  So it looks like we don't buy much, when actually it's hiding in the grocery category.

Tips?  The tip category only includes those handed over in cash and does not count what's on our dining out and bar tabs, so tips we have paid are really more.

Edited to remove house expenses

Healthcare Outside the US - Our First Dental Experience

We were early, nobody in the waiting room but us!

Bruce never complains.... unless it's serious!  So when he began to mention having some pain in one of his right side molars... I took notice.  A friend told us that there was a Dentist's office near the grocery store so on one of our recent grocery runs, we stopped by to make an appointment.  

The receptionist didn't speak much English, but with my limited Spanish, I was pretty sure she said that no appointment was needed, and that the Dentist was only there Thursday's through Saturdays... 

Long story short, after several aborted attempts (only open Thursdays AND Saturdays) due to my ignorance and several weather delays...  We finally made it to the office at 8 am on a Thursday... and the Doctor was IN!

We arrived all sweaty from a muggy bike ride but had plenty of time to cool off as the employees began to show up.  Our experience here was very different from what we were used to back in the US.

My experiences with Dental care/insurance have been long and varied.  I've been treated with and without dental insurance coverage, as has Bruce.  In my experience, it's nice to have dental coverage because after the first year it covers 100% of preventative services, then 80% of things like fillings and other basic things, then only 50% of the biggies like root canals and crowns...  The catch is that there is usually a yearly max of about $2,000.  If you have either really good teeth or really bad teeth, your premium costs can be more than the benefits received, or the only real benefit can be the discount you get for having the coverage...

Wouldn't it be much more sensible to just have reasonable costs in the first place???  That's what we found here in Puerto Rico...  No frills, just decent care at a fraction of the cost with no BS!!!  It began with the sign-in process.  Our names were placed on the first-come-first-served list... then we were asked to write our names and date of birth on one single sheet of paper that had the diagram of a set of teeth... that was our medical record.  That's it.  No other information was required of us.

They realized that Bruce and I were together, so we were called back to the exam room together.  I was asked to sit in the chair and a technician with limited English asked me what we were here for.  I told her we needed cleaning and exam, and that Bruce has had some pain recently.  

We waited as the office staff got going with their morning routine... turning on equipment and such.  I looked over the equipment in the room... There were only a few disposable items, the suction tube and some drapes were disposable, but most of the instruments were not.  

The lights and spit sink had all seen better days.  There was a good bit of rust around the bases of the larger equipment items and the x-ray machine was not protected by any means... It was just a simple machine over by the wall.

The Dentist came in and told us the cost for the cleaning and exam would be $40 each... OK?

We agreed and she left, but soon a receptionist returned with our receipt... Bruce forked over the $80 cash and our treatment commenced...sort of.

The x-ray machine...

The suction power supply was right there in my exam room...

There was a bit of a problem with the suction machine.  My technician flipped the breaker back and forth with no result... She excused herself and went off to another room, the Dentist came in and messed with it, then told me there would be no suction and handed me a small spit-cup.

Left alone for a bit to ponder this... I had to laugh when I thought about my friends back home and how they would take this latest development...  luckily before my cleaning began, I heard the suction tube kick into gear.  Hooray!  They got it worked out!

I was relieved to see my technician change to a new pair of gloves before she leaned me back, positioned the light, hung the suction tube in my mouth and got to work.  She was quick and thorough and as usual, my cleaning went without a hitch.  I am blessed with wonderfully strong teeth and no issues were found.  

Next it was Bruce's turn.  His cleaning went much faster and when the hygienist was done, the Dentist returned to take a look.  She asked us both if we had any problems and I told her about Bruce's recent complaints of pain, but that he was not feeling it presently. 

She took a look and said that she could see two cavities.  She advised x-rays, cost $10 and said that the cavities would cost $35 each to fill. We agreed and they asked Bruce to sit on the edge of the exam chair.

The brought the x-ray machine over put the slide into his mouth and simply took the x-ray.  No drape, no lead room... That was it.  He reclined once more as they disappeared to develop the film.  

Soon the Dentist returned and told us that the fillings would require a bit more... one was "two surface" and the other would be more involved with "three surface" filling required.  The added cost would be $45 and $55 respectively...  We agreed, a receipt was produced and we forked over the additional $110.  

We were moved to another exam room where the anesthesia was administered... We waited for it to take effect...  Meanwhile we watched as the staff moved efficiently and happily around the office.  Other patients were brought in and we could understand a little of their complaints and treatment.  There were no rooms, just simple stalls in which the chairs and equipment were really only partially hidden from general view.  Privacy was nonexistent, but then who cares???  We're at the Dentist's office... everyone can pretty much guess why we're here!!!

The staff were all very nice as they went about their morning routine, moving patients in and out as their cleanings and exams were executed... It all worked like a well-oiled machine...  The Dentist fluttered in and out of the different rooms checking this, exam here, instructions given there...  Finally it was Bruce's turn again and we were once more moved to a different chair. 

He leaned back and the Dentist got to work.  Her assistant stood on the other side with a syringe with which she irrigated the work area as the Dentist drilled.  I was actually glad for the blocked view!  All the while they kept up lighthearted conversation some in English and some in Spanish.  The Dentist questioned me about our life on the boat... she had recently sold her power boat because they never had time to use it.  Her husband started raising Lovebirds and they never went out to the boat anymore...  

The chit-chat was such a change from what we are used to back in the states, and I have to say that the overall atmosphere and level of happiness displayed by both office staff and patients alike, marked a startling difference compared to US offices.  It was all just so relaxed and free of politically correct, HIPAA BS...  Just get over it people!  

Bruce experienced no pain and very soon, we were almost done.  I hadn't had my exam yet.  The Dentist asked me if I was experiencing any pain, I referenced a couple of spots and relayed to her what I had been told previously about my one trouble spot.  She further explained some things to me and took a look.  She pronounced me cavity free and we were done!  

Things that would not have happened in the US:

There would have been a LOT more paperwork

We would have been separated into enclosed exam rooms

The x-rays would have been done in a different place and we probably both would have had x-rays before anything else was done.

We would not have witnessed any of the inner workings of the office equipment malfunctions

We would not have seen or heard any of the other patient's problems or care

The equipment would have been newer and more plentiful

We would have learned of the total cost after the visit

We would have been reschedule to come back for the fillings

There are people who may read this in horror!  It's not safe! It's not private!  But that is just evidence of the decades of propaganda we've all been bombarded with causing us to live in fear.  What we need is just simple care at a decent cost.  A total of about three hours of our time and $190 cash were the cost today.  We were both thrilled.  Once again the walls of a lifetime of medical propaganda are steadily crumbling down...