SSSSM - Part Deux

[goingcruzn]

To big for me nowadays. still fun to visit but I prefer the Southern Chesapeake. When you get south of Solomons you cut the number of boats in half and people still smile and wave when they pass

[HopeFloats]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

I miss Annapooolisss! Fun town!!!

Hey Monkey man! There are a bunch of us from SSSSM facepoo group meeting up during boat show">Annapolis Boat Show from as far away as BVI ...you going to stop chasing cash cows long enough to come visit with us?

[SaltyMonkey]

oh Hope! What a wonderful idea! Unfortunately, I won't be back East this year until late October. Usually I come in early october and get show in and have a roast beef sandwich, but there is a ceremonial dinner later in the month in DC I have to attend.

[goingcruzn]

Hope

That sounds like fun. There's a good chance I will have another boat by than.

Dan

[HopeFloats]

Originally Posted by goingcruzn

Hope

That sounds like fun. There's a good chance I will have another boat by than.

Dan

Hiya Dan,

Welcome to our SSSSM group - the more the merrier. There are a bunch of us here on the Chesapeake. Ye have to wade in either rest of us :-)

[flysci]

Monkey - ceremonial? You finally getting that trophy for cow roping?
Margo

[micah719]

Erm....thinking of something to post in this thread is hard....hurts my head.

Aha, an idea; and it was under my nose the whole time:...what do sailor chicks think of beards? On male sailors, I mean, not for themselves...

A properly tended splendiferous follicular magnificence is fluffy and cuddly like wool, and I become frustrated when folks make uninformed comments about scratchiness. More likely to get abrasions from a slovenly shave than a decently kempt beard. Grow it properly, or stand closer to the mirror!

Some positive points:

In summer it is cooler....sweat doesn't drip off the face, it soaks the fibres and evaporates and cools. Airconditioning!

In winter, it is a permanently attached muffler. Shaved it off in winter once, and had a terrible shock at the cold air on the chin.

It is a sensitive windvane...sensing speed and direction is automatic and very accurate, and the sound of the breeze humming through it is pure pleasure.

Built-in insect protection. Several square inches of skin inaccessible to biting critters, and without the use of chemicals or electricity.

Instant recognition of gender and age....no possibility of being confused as a female or juvenile. A counter to the androgynous society that seeks to make everyone the same.

Reclaiming the beard from the hippies, academics and terrorists....stoners, tenured pinheads and self-exploding fanatics should not be permitted to monopolise beards.

UV protection....as former military and prolific outdoor-worker, the triangle of skin between my collarbones has seen too much sun (please, no comments about Mad Dogs & Englishmen)...wearing a beard protects some of my epithelial cells from any more solar damage.

Money, time and blood saved....the fortune I used to spend on crappy razors and dubious concotions to scrape the hair off my face, is now freed up to waste on other things, like pipe-tobacco and rum. Also, I can spend another 10 minutes in bed rather than stand in front of a mirror mutilating myself. Lastly; no more razor burn, or dabbing pepper and toiletpaper on the bleeding bits. A bit of aftershave goes a long way...it fades out faster due to the greater surface area, but one still uses less.

It looks very nautical. See my profile for example, or old paintings of swashbucklers and buccaneers. Ignore modern Hollywood B-flicks....Johnny Depp is the pansiest pirate I've ever seen, Edward Teach would find it hard to hit him with a pistol ball at ten paces for too much derisive laughter.

Some downsides:

Small children stop and stare, some even run away screaming; though if I'm fast and attentive enough, a friendly smile and a wave and a beam from my lovely brown eyes can change their puzzlement to a bashful grin.

When carrying a stack of planks on the shoulder, the hairs have a tendency to get caught between them or get snagged on splinters. Ouch.

Jacket Zips. Big Ouch!

As a painter/renderer, it is unavoidable that some of the working medium ends up clinging to my beard...though it is amazing how resilient it is against various things. Mortar is the easiest to remove, silicaceaous renders are middling, solvent-lacquers are so-so, and penetrating primers or sealing paints are the worst. Nothing a good soak in the bath doesn't fix, though.

Shampoo expenses....this eats into the savings from giving up shaving and reduces the amount of funds available for baccy and grog ration.

Caution is advised when late for public transport, particularly when carrying luggage. Better to miss the bus and catch the next one....running after one with a backpack and beard flaping in the breeze may attract small arms fire from anti-terror patrols. As a precaution, consider disguising ones' self as Greek Orthodox Priest; they aren't known to detonate in public.

Suffocation whilst sleeping....it takes a bit of getting used to, having the moustache creep up one's nostrils when snoozing. May be a beneficial side-effect for singlehanded cruisers...a backup to the watch alarm.

Hairball. No need to explain, surely? Ok, that one was a joke...though complaining about a hair in the soup is not plausible any more...can't blame the chef and scam a reduction on the bill when one looks like a chimney-sweep's brush.

So, Single Skipperettes, what say ye to The Beard? Permitted aboard, or contraband?

[goldiphlox]

Idk...the positives are so ummm...positive, I may just have to let mine grow in! Lmao

[zeehag]

rofl goldi----
scratchiness is only first week or so , until length overcomes bristliness....
tom==sounds like good times in boatbuilding place....that is cooool..
we forming err re-forming a storm those in carib side of mexico had to send us for re shaping--is working-- our letter h will be a rocker--might even scare the folks in sea of cortez a tad--right now zihuatenejo is getting drowned a lil bit, and we are jus tunder northernmost portion of mess.... hooooyaaahhh... tropix rocks!!!

[Laffangurl]

Dearest Zee-no I am not atop any tables currently lol! I am back in lovely Va recuperating from San Antonio...didn't meet any sailors there, mmmm.

I get lost more over here but wanted to stop by and say HI to anyone new, anyone considering Annapolis for the Boat Show, anyone growing or trying to grow a beard...and everyone else just because!

[zeehag]

lora--quick--meet up with sandy again before she goes to maz!!!! i think is any day now--- have fun and dont go to jail--bail fund is too empty....

btw--i approve of beards and bearded gents....

[SaltyMonkey]

oh YAY to all boaty people and boatykatts and all chess peeps

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by flysci

Monkey - ceremonial? You finally getting that trophy for cow roping?
Margo

Not for me, but taking daddy-monkey to dinner ceremony awards banquet - *sigh no drive through.

Oh my! Cash cows!!

Margo margo margo...hurry up come north soon thru kanal

[HopeFloats]

Micah...

As long as there is chest hair to go with that beard!

[micah719]

A modest amount....no danger of being mistaken for Wolfman. And no backhair...