Steve's Marine Service Blog

Queen Margaret of Scotland was apparently five years old when she came up with the notorious February 29 proposal trap. If a man did refuse the proposal, he would be fined a kiss, a silk dress or twelve pairs of gloves.  Women either have to wear breeches or a scarlet petticoat to pop the question, according to tradition.

One in five engaged couples in Greece will plan to avoid getting married in a leap year. They believe it is bad luck.

 People born on February 29 are called "leaplings" or "leapers".

 The poet Lord Byron was born on a Leap Day.

The plot of Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance revolved around Frederic's discovery that, because he is a leapling, he must remain apprenticed to pirates and serve another 63 years before he can join Mabel, his one true love.

 Anthony, Texas is the self-proclaimed "Leap Year Capital of the World". It holds a festival which includes a guided trip to Aztec Cave, "fun at the horse farm" and square dancing.

Matthew Goode, the British film star who acted in the film Leap Year, said he knew the movie would be remembered as the "worst film of 2011" but wanted to be "close to home and able to visit his girlfriend and newborn daughter."

Today you are working for free if you're on a fixed annual wage.

Astrologers believe people born on February 29 have unusual talents, such as the ability to burp the alphabet or paint like Picasso

Hugh Hefner opened his first Playboy Club on February 29 1960.

The frog is a symbol associated with February 29. The Australian rocket frog can leap over two meters

Be Careful how you answer that these days......

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City transit officials say a passenger angry that a bus driver told her to stop smoking took the vehicle for a brief joy ride.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Kevin Ortiz says the bus driver noticed the woman smoking, asked her to extinguish her cigarette and asked her to get off the bus shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday on Manhattan's upper East Side.

Ortiz says the woman became irate and the driver began transferring riders to another bus.

But he says the woman jumped into the driver's seat and started driving off.

Ortiz says the bus went about four blocks before a dispatcher managed to reach through the window and shut it off.

The woman was taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation. Police say charges are pending

So I love my jeans,  always have, always will I suppose. Nothing fits better and feels better than those broken, wear faded, pantaloons of pleasure.  So the age long question, just how often should they be washed? I read this weeked. What do you think?

Today in denim news, we learn that machine-washing a good pair of jeans can be super damaging to the material. So basically, those of us who have been washing our jeans (even every once in a while) have been going about denim care all wrong.

While this news makes some sense, it’s hard to imagine not washing a pair of jeans that a) smell and b) have stretchy butt (you totally know what we’re talking about here). But here’s the logic behind all of this kinda uncomfortable information.

Levi’s CEO and President Chip Bergh says he never washes his jeans, but “spot cleans” stains with a toothbrush. This seems like it would be a lot of extra unnecessary work, but according to Bergh, if you want your jeans to last a long time, don’t wash them.

While talking to Fortune in a video from 2014 that is making its rounds on social media, Bergh said, “The point I was trying to make… it was a wake-up call to consumers that we go into autopilot. And after we’re finished wearing something, we just automatically toss it into the laundry.”

Which, according to Bergh, is exactly the behavior we need to change. “A good pair of denim doesn’t really need to be washed in the washing machine except for very infrequently or rarely,” he said. He argues that washing a good pair of jeans (we all know the difference between a solid pair of jeans and jeans that basically fall apart after one wear) is not only a waste of water, but it damages the material.

Bergh wrote this piece for Huffington Post back in 2014 where he explained that it’s fine to wash your hang out jeans, but not jeans that are meant to be your nice pair. “I believe we don’t need to wash jeans as often as most people think we do,” he wrote, adding “Now, to be fair, these were also my very best pair of Levi’s, which I normally wear to the office — not for playing soccer in the park with my daughter!”

If you’re still not sold on the idea, other denim companies give the same advice on their websites. Hiut Denim offers this advice: “Raw denim is best given a good six months before washing. The longer you can leave it, the better your jeans will look. The reason for this is that the indigo will have worn off in places where you make natural creases. Just by sitting down, putting your phone in and out of your pockets, your hands in your pockets. All these daily little things will make your jeans look great.”

“When it comes to the big day, the indigo will fade where you made those little creases to reveal the contrasts that give it the well worn look,” the website continues. “If you wash your jeans too early, the indigo will wash off uniformly so it will give it an even, dark indigo cover which means the magic will have gone. Like anything in life, there are no short cuts.”

So there you have it. No more washing your nice jeans, unless they’re really dirty, in which you can clean them using a toothbrush — preferably not the one you brush your teeth with. Unless you’re cool with that.

We all have gotten that letter for jury duty directing us to call for instructions, but this time if you called, you got a big surprise. Check out this story...

Jury summons directs people to call sex hotline

    February 2, 2016 8:55 AM

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) — Hundreds of southeastern Mississippi citizens received jury summons that incorrectly instructed them to call a sex hotline.

Multiple news outlets report that at least 350 jury summons with the incorrect phone number were sent out in Jackson County to potential jurors.

Circuit Clerk Randy Carney says people started calling the circuit clerk's office Monday morning to report the problem. Others stopped by in person to address the issue.

Carney says he doesn't know what caused the mix-up. He has drafted an apology letter that will go out those who received the erroneous summons. He says he doesn't know if his office will be liable for costs associated with any potential jurors billed for using the hotline.

Carney added that he'll personally review summons before they're mailed out from now on.

So I'm all for common sense and prudent thinking and all, but cancelling an ice festival in February because its too cold? Really?

Like what temperatures were you expecting? If you are into stuff like this , don't you think they are into the cold?

What do you think?

MANHATTAN, NY — An ice festival planned for Valentine’s Day weekend in Central Park has been canceled because it’s too cold, park officials announced Friday.

At the festival, scheduled from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13, ice sculptors from Okamoto Studio were commissioned to “use electric chain saws, chisels, and picks to transform more than 6,000 pounds of ice into a glistening replica of one of the Park’s most beloved statues.”

Event organizers said they were forced to cancel the ice festival due to a frozen weekend forecast.

“Due to extreme temperatures and high winds the Central Park Ice Festival scheduled for this Saturday, February 13 is cancelled,” they wrote on Facebook. “It will not be rescheduled.”

Patch has reached out to officials at the Central Park Conservancy for more details on the cancellation, in hopes they will respond with some sort of nerdy winter pun. We have yet to hear back.

Assault With A Deadly Alligator: Man Arrested For Chucking Gator Through Drive-Thru Window

A man has been charged with throwing a three-foot alligator through the window of a drive-thru Wendy’s. 

After grabbing the gator from the side of the road - they’re a bit more plentiful in Florida than in the UK - back in October 2015, Joshua James drove to the Wendy’s, picked up his order then casually chucked the creature through the window. 

The 23-year-old has just been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon as a result, as well as illegally killing, possessing or capturing an alligator. 

But James’s parents insist it was just “a stupid prank”, adding that Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter who was killed by a sting ray in 2006, is his idol. 

After its brief trip to Wendy’s, the alligator was later released back into a nearby canal.

Sleeping in space is more difficult than you think

Since March of 2015,  Astronaut Scott Kelly has been living on the International Space Station as part of the One Year Mission. He and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will ultimately spend 365 days in orbit to see how the human body copes with extended periods of microgravity — research that could help agencies prepare for future missions to Mars. (Kelly's identical twin brother, Mark, is staying on Earth as a control.)

Many Earth-dwellers might assume it's entirely pleasant to sleep in space. You just float. But Kelly points out that this actually makes snoozing more difficult.

"Sleeping is harder here in space than on a bed," Kelly writes, "because the sleep position here is the same position throughout the day. You don't ever get that sense of gratifying relaxation here that you do on Earth after a long day at work. Yes, there are humming noises on station that affect my sleep, so I wear ear plugs to [bed]."

He's not the first to lodge this complaint. A 2014 study found that a large portion of astronauts on the space station suffer from sleep deprivation — with many resorting to sleeping pills. This is one problem NASA will have to solve before sending people to Mars, since that journey is likely to take years and it'd be no good if the astronauts are perpetually exhausted.

And what about dreams? "My dreams are sometimes space dreams and sometimes Earth dreams," Kelly wrote. "And they are crazy."

So You Have A Boat Now, have taken a few classes, and you think you know everything.

You feel good about yourself and think you are a "Salty"

Think again, Here are some characteristics of what true boys(and gals), of the sea say makes them seasoned sailors

A sailor…

         Knows what phase the moon is in                                                  

• Can tell the wind speed by feel

• Can light a cigarette no matter the weather conditions (French sailors)

• Has lost a digit in a winching accident

• Dresses in primary colours

• Gets upset when people call the British national flag the Union Jack

• Always passes port to the left (unless he’s in America)

• Can sleep anywhere

• Has an eclectic collection of yacht club-branded T-shirts

• Sports sun-yellowed eyebrows

• Is not afraid of seasickness

• Does not carry an umbrella

• Sniggers when hearing someone say ‘Over and out’ in a movie

• Can always find a parking space

• Drinks beer/rum/whisky for breakfast (after a long trip)

• Never uses a wheelie suitcase

• Finds it acceptable to eat and drink out of plastic

• Owns a spork

• Can fix anything (usually with epoxy or duck tape)

• Can throw a great party in the smallest of spaces

• Can make friends in an instant that last a lifetime

• Is good at keeping in touch

• Is adept at sewing up holes (in sails, in clothes)

• Is good at whipping 

• Daydreams of adventure

• Actually goes on adventures

• Shies away from botox, knowing that lines speak of a life well lived

• Never goes for a manicure

• Does not use the word ‘hurricane’ lightly

• Is not daunted by third world lavatories

• Is open-minded and big-hearted

• Knows the name of a good pub or restaurant in every port town in the western hemisphere (and much of the eastern)

• Has a friend in every port town in the western hemisphere – often a bartender

• Can whip up a hearty meal consisting entirely of tinned and packet foods

• Is not phased by the idea of making tea at 30° (whether lat, long or angle of heel)

• Knows the difference between latitude and longitude – and is always aware of where he or she is

• Has seen more sunsets and sunrises, dolphins and views of the Milky Way than anyone else they know

• Is not afraid of the dark

• Knows that lists like these are for desk-based landlubbers who aren’t busy off having adventure