March 5 2015
Dear new cruiser just about to set out,
Might I suggest you bring extra flags? They don’t last all that long, even the ones look well made. This is our second in three years and some might say we’re due for a new one.
(I really don’t understand this, but it seems that U.S. flags are kind of hard to find in Australia and New Zealand. What gives? Doesn’t everyone carry U.S. flags? Leaders of the free world and all 😉 )
And not extra of just your home country flag but extras for those countries where you might spend a couple of cyclone seasons or a lot of time. We’re on our second New Zealand and Fiji flags.
I’d really like plastic flags. Maybe just a piece of thin plastic with a nice, colored sticker of the flag on each side. When it fades, peel off the sticker or just paste a new one over the old. It might rattle less in a breeze, and would stay fully unfurled even with no wind. (Silly me, I’m sure there’s some curmudgeon-written flag-flying protocol that would label that as inappropriate.)
-Rich
