Yeah :) Our boat cards have arrived! This is another step in becoming a "sea dweller"...boaters (cruisers actually) exchange boat cards just like business people exchange business cards...it's a fun way to introduce yourself to your fellow cruisers :) Boat cards usually state the name of the vessel, the name of the owner(s), the home port, and contact information, e.g. email address, website or blog, cell phone. Since cruisers usually travel a lot outside of their home country telephone and cell phone numbers may change...for this reason they are often not included on the boat card.
So here is our new boat card (SV stands for Sailing Vessel just in case you were wondering). I designed it on Vistaprint on the internet and they printed and sent them to us for a very reasonable price. I could have printed them myself, but we have an ink jet printer like most people have at home...only when you are in a boating environment things can be a little moist at times and ink jet has a tendency to run when in contact with water...just wet your fingertip and rub it against an ink jet printed paper...you'll see what I mean! Professional printing companies like Vistaprint print their stuff on laser printers...no running ink whatsoever from a wet fingertip or even a whole glass of water poured on top...or (for more practical matters of the sea) a big wave of salt water drenching your short pockets, one of which contains your boat card! So my sweetie and I opted to go the professional printing way and Vistaprint delivered fast and with outstandingly good quality...I have used them before, but this time I uploaded our own picture...I can not say enough good things about this company! They even have cards for free...from a selection...you just pay for shipping!
I take this opportunity to thank our cruiser friend Lynn for taking the picture of us two sweeties on Orion...We met Lynn and her husband Paul here in Salinas two years ago and became friends :) Lynn has a special photo collection of her cruiser friends...the unique part is that she takes pictures of them on their own boats with the boat name visible on the picture...she says it helps her to remember people better, because you usually remember the boat name...how cool is that? Well...now you know how I got the picture for our boat cards...it is just perfect, don't you agree?
To round up the printing excitement I also had a boat stamp made by Vistaprint. The stamp is self inking and lists the name of the vessel, the name of the owner(s), the home port, and the USCG registration number. Our fellow cruisers have advised us to have a stamp, because it makes checking in and out of countries more official...just as a reminder, the Caribbean consists of many independent island nations.
So now you know...if you meet us "out there" we have a boat card just for you :)
