We have a boat card. If you're not a cruiser yet, you might even wonder what a boat card is. Well, it's like a business card but with boat and crew info on it instead of corporate stuff. Why have a boat card? Well, because everyone else has one, that's why.
See? These are some of the ones we've collected in the past few months. Cruisers exchange boat cards. It's what we do. Exchange, as in they hand you theirs and you hand them yours. If you don't have one to hand back, you'll get funny looks. You'll be considered odd, and since cruisers are odd by definition, to be an odd cruiser is like being a geeky geek. Big Bang Theory geeky geek.
I suppose the reason for having a boat card is when, after anchoring your boat, you see "Wet Dream" anchored next to you. You know these people! You met them at the Isle of Hope Marina's potluck dinner, only you can't remember their names. So you go to your stack of boat cards, shuffle through it and there it is. Their names, their dog's name, cat's name, everything. Saved!
Yes, that's why cruisers have boat cards. Poor memories.
Many cruisers have their boat cards printed by printing companies. They look pretty slick, for sure. Very professional. We are not and do not. Our crew seems to change too often for a run of a thousand and so I make ours myself. It's an easy thing to do. Here's how.
I have Windows 7 on my laptop. It came with Microsoft Word Starter 2010. I'm not sure exactly what Word Starter 2010 means other than they want me to pay them to buy the full featured version. No. This works fine, thanks.
The only tricky part for a non-geek is opening a template in Word Starter 2010, so if you don't know how just go to "help" and read about templates. I use Avery Matte White Ink Jet Clean Edge Business Cards #8871, available everywhere. The instructions on the package of Avery 8871 cards say to use template 8371, so I did. It presented me with a screen where I could choose my background and type in Drift Away's information. I filled out the first card and copy and pasted it into the other nine cards on the sheet.
We have a Hewlett Packard laser printer on the boat. HP laser printers are the best on the planet, by the way. I wouldn't touch anything else HP makes with a ten foot pole, but I love their laser printers. It's only black and white, but that's fine by me. I took my laptop down to the jun... store room and printed off a few sheets.
and then snapping off the cards.
As our crew changes, so too does our boat cards. The latest version includes Pamela and me, and our daughter Megan. And also Chevy and Ruby the Pitbulls, Olivia our German Shorthair Pitbull, and Gertie the cat. "It" the kitten is not on the boat card because "It" isn't a crew member, only a passenger until we deliver her to Pam's mom in July. Include your boat's name, cell phone numbers, email addresses, and your blog's URL.
Yes, surely you'll have a blog, with really good photos. I need something to read in the home that Pam puts me in.
See? These are some of the ones we've collected in the past few months. Cruisers exchange boat cards. It's what we do. Exchange, as in they hand you theirs and you hand them yours. If you don't have one to hand back, you'll get funny looks. You'll be considered odd, and since cruisers are odd by definition, to be an odd cruiser is like being a geeky geek. Big Bang Theory geeky geek.
I suppose the reason for having a boat card is when, after anchoring your boat, you see "Wet Dream" anchored next to you. You know these people! You met them at the Isle of Hope Marina's potluck dinner, only you can't remember their names. So you go to your stack of boat cards, shuffle through it and there it is. Their names, their dog's name, cat's name, everything. Saved!
Yes, that's why cruisers have boat cards. Poor memories.
Many cruisers have their boat cards printed by printing companies. They look pretty slick, for sure. Very professional. We are not and do not. Our crew seems to change too often for a run of a thousand and so I make ours myself. It's an easy thing to do. Here's how.
I have Windows 7 on my laptop. It came with Microsoft Word Starter 2010. I'm not sure exactly what Word Starter 2010 means other than they want me to pay them to buy the full featured version. No. This works fine, thanks.
The only tricky part for a non-geek is opening a template in Word Starter 2010, so if you don't know how just go to "help" and read about templates. I use Avery Matte White Ink Jet Clean Edge Business Cards #8871, available everywhere. The instructions on the package of Avery 8871 cards say to use template 8371, so I did. It presented me with a screen where I could choose my background and type in Drift Away's information. I filled out the first card and copy and pasted it into the other nine cards on the sheet.
We have a Hewlett Packard laser printer on the boat. HP laser printers are the best on the planet, by the way. I wouldn't touch anything else HP makes with a ten foot pole, but I love their laser printers. It's only black and white, but that's fine by me. I took my laptop down to the jun... store room and printed off a few sheets.
It is then a simple matter of breaking off the trim around the edges by bending it...
and then snapping off the cards.
As our crew changes, so too does our boat cards. The latest version includes Pamela and me, and our daughter Megan. And also Chevy and Ruby the Pitbulls, Olivia our German Shorthair Pitbull, and Gertie the cat. "It" the kitten is not on the boat card because "It" isn't a crew member, only a passenger until we deliver her to Pam's mom in July. Include your boat's name, cell phone numbers, email addresses, and your blog's URL.
Yes, surely you'll have a blog, with really good photos. I need something to read in the home that Pam puts me in.
"it" is not a crew member, "it" is not a crew member, "it" is not a crew member.
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