During my time in The Bahamas I had the honor of flying a flag which flew over the Maryland State Capital and was presented to a past crewmate as a retirement gift for his service as a police officer (the fact about having a police officer and a firefighter living together in a confine area for a month could be a future blog, but besides quite a bit of ribbing each way we had a great time). I proudly hung his flag from my topping lift placing it over my cockpit and in the place of honor on a boat. On more than one occasion I was told people recognized me as I came into an anchorage because of his flag. But sadly after six months flying on a boat the flag ended up shredded and tied into a ponytail I had to spend over an hour unraveling. I should have retired it before it got to this point, but I want to tell my crewmate his flag flew the entire time during my six month cruise seeing 75% of the Bahamas islands (as you know in the fall I went back and saw the Abacos leaving Inagua Island as the only area I did not see).
After my summer hiatus I never got around to buying a new flag until I arrived in the USVI. By then I had $50 in gift certificates to West Marine due to the being in the gold member program, where you get a $10 certificate for every $250 you spend (SWEET!). So I order a new Taylor made flag and had my dad pick it up (the closest West Marine to me is in Puerto Rico) and mail it down as part of the package that took seven weeks to arrive. Now Old Glory is finally flying from my boat again. This flag seems to be made of a heavier material and stitched more robustly, so hopefully it will last longer in its boat life where constant winds take a toll on a flag it would not normally have ashore.
PS – I will be uploading the first of two travel videos for New York City on Wednesday. I hope you will check back and watch it. If you think it is good then please share it with anyone you think will enjoy it also.
That would be great. Thank you.
I have the American and Texas flags that the 6th graders lowered as I was leaving Rankin Elementary the day I retired. They handed to me a as my final parting gift. If you would like to fly them on the Guiding Light, I would be glad to give them to you. Many of the kids follow your travels so i know they would be honored to know that a flag that previously flew over their school is know flying over a boat on the high seas!!!!!