Monday, August 16, 2010

What IS It?

SlowBoat did not get too many guesses for the August 8th "What IS It?"  (Although the guesses received were very creative!)   If you passionately want to play the game but you are having trouble using the "comment" function on this website (and your local random teenager can't set you up), remember you can also send your "What IS It" guess to slowboat@emailias.com

Scott Barbara guessed that the elaborate sterling silver item pictured was a "sink in an officer's stateroom." Close enough, and give that man a tacky postcard!  What you see in the picture is an amazing little fold-up sink from a luxury yacht.  Fold it down to wash your face, fold it up and it looks like a tasteful wooden cabinet, no hint that your stateroom is also your washroom.   It was on display in the maritime museum at Sturgeon Bay.

Let me set you to your next nautical challenge, and then I have more to say on the subject of nautical fold-up sinks.

We spent the weekend in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where we spotted a vessel displaying an unusual ensign (pictured at right).

Yes, it's a broom!

Here are your questions:

1) What kind of boat flies a broom as an ensign?  And
2) What does the broom signify?
Print your answer on a 2010 Zodiac Classic Mark 1 with outboard motor and seating for four . . . . oh, no wait, that's the Car Talk guys who ask for swag.

Just hit "comment" below.   As always, the winner gets a shout-out on the blog, AND a fabulous tacky postcard (C'mon prizewinners, chime in.  Ain't it great to get snailmail?)

Now about that fold-up sink.  I had no idea such a thing existed before I saw it in the museum--yet I had been yearning passionately for just such an amenity.

Here's the framework for this yearning:  Dragonfly has two staterooms, each with its own head (toilet) and its own wash-up sink (other boaters tell us this is a big deal). Now, OUR sinks are very conventional looking: little stainless steel numbers sunk into wooden vanities with drawers.  Ripped from any 1960s ranch house.

When the Cap'n and I were talking boat refit, I said, wouldn't it be GREAT if the sinks could somehow disappear? Currently when guests come on board, they walk through the staterooms to get to the salon, and it just seems a little tasteless that they have to pass the toothbrushes and the soap dishes.  It's like walking through someone's bathroom to get to the living room.

My original concept was to fit our vanities with faucets and knobs that could fold down--and then, you cover the sink with a more attractive countertop. Make it look more like a bureau than a sink.

But I was utterly enchanted by the fancy fold-UP sink.  Honey, I want one!


  1. I think I know the answer to this one too, but I'll give others a chance to figure it out before I post my real answer. For now I'll come up with a ridiculous answer just for comic relief. It's on a mine SWEEPER and it's up there by the radar dish so it can help SWEEP the sky for enemies.

  2. Ooooo! One I could find the answer to by googling (after trying many combinations of words)! I'll post it if no one else gets it.

    I think the Canadian mail ate my postcard. I've heard it can take around three weeks to for mail to get here (Seattle) from Canada. I'll let you know as soon as I receive it. I can't wait and look for it every day.

  3. Could it be an WWII submarine that had a "clean sweep" while out on patrol?

  4. Wheeewww. You guys are good!

    The first person to answer correctly (by email rather than the blog comment section) was Russ Hass of Kane PA who said, It's a submarine, the USS Cobia. The broom signifies a "Clean sweep of the seas. That's right, and clean sweep means she sunk all her targets.

    Congrats Russ, and keep on guessin!