Anticipation...

Holly A. Tompkins
5 days ago
6 min read

Wow, it's been ages! You probably forgot about us.

Last we left you it was back in late 2024 and we were going through quite a lot and decided to step away and see where the process took us. While it has been truly stressful and Brad and I have struggled at times to deal with everything - including each other, it's boating time again and we have much to look forward to. Brad's younger daughter said that it would all be worth it when we're leaving the dock, headed to the club for a glass of rosé and a dip in the pool, then back to the dock while the sun sets. She's not wrong and this is she after a bit too much of that rosé. I think we laughed over this for hours.

Anyway... we have worked our way through the extensive repairs and reconfigurations, and the boat is planned to launch next week. Close friends have been our best support and shoulders to cry on. One day, it was so bad that a girlfriend came over with a bottle of wine and a 500-piece puzzle and we proceeded to finish both. I started the day distraught and inconsolable, and ended it feeling only gratitude for great friendships and how much fun we had. Which brings me to the present and the fun times we are soon to have with the new and improved CAYUGA.

Sidebar: I can't help but think of the song and how it applies to our situation. We've been waiting on this boat every year (2022, 2023, part of 2024, and so far, 2025), but we need to be present; for each other, for other boating adventures, and even in the mundane like me puttering around in my gardens or enjoying typing up this log entry. Fitting that this live performance was done by the water (Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard).

Looking forward to a summer without fuss (how many fingers are you crossing right now?), Brad mentioned designing a house flag for CAYUGA. It was prompted by a friend who recalled there having been plaques of house flags hung on the columns of the first deck of the club. Unfortunately, they were either discarded or returned to their owner during a renovation, and they never came back. But our friend has a brilliant idea to restore the tradition with a club event where members are given crayons, markers, paper, a few glasses of wine of course, and create new flags. That said, I'm not going to assume everyone knows what these flags are. They are also called private signals or personal flags and are of a unique design that represents a boat owner's personal identity. Really, anyone at all can have a house flag. Also, typically they are a "swallowtail" flag shape, but can be any shape. Here's an example:

While waiting for friends to join us the other night for dinner, we asked the bartender to hand us paper and pen, and we got a thinkin'. Believe it or not, after all the conflagrations over the past months whenever the boat is the topic, we clicked on this.

Our design criteria were reasonable and few:

colors of our respective state flags, NY and PA
use our initials (first, middle, or last)
had to a be a swallowtail flag shape
uncomplicated design
easy to read, identify and understand
something that incorporates CAYUGA.

Let's start with the colors. I did a quick web search and found a super site for flag color specifications: Flags Color Schemes - SchemeColor.com. Awesome resource. We agreed that the background should be a blue. The initials might look best in yellow. And our graphic probably good in gray. Although we allow that these colors might switch positions once the flag is mocked up by Prestige Flag. More on colors, keep on reading!

Regarding initials, Brad started the design with a C shown first and then a T. I wanted to consider the flag shape and how to incorporate the initials with the shape. The best way was to lead with the T, follow with C, and the C use the swallowtail as its open counter. Open counter? Frankly, this is what I was thinking... one order of ankimo onegaishimasu!

Maybe you knew. While I didn't, my intuition was sure there had to be a name for it, and per Wikipedia and the now all too prevalent AI overview search results, it's defined as: the area of a letter that is entirely or partially enclosed by a letter form or symbol. An open counter is a counter that is not completely enclosed by the letterform. Examples of letters with open counters include "c," "e," "G," "s," and "u".

This is where the idea came from, the house flag of E. Bates McKee (see ship's log Final Voyage: Xanadu II).

Now we've got to incorporate CAYUGA into the flag which given the designer, Hunt, was so obvious. Hunt uses an arrow as the crossbar in the letter "H" (I have this hat with CAYUGA embroidered on the back). We'd use an arrow to connect the T and C together! Awwww.... so cute!

The only thing left is to finalize the colors and get the proof from Prestige. For argument's sake, these are the state flag colors we're working with:

NY's colors are L-R - Catalina Blue, True Blue, Cyber Yellow, American Yellow, Electric Orange, and Salem.

PA's colors are L-R - Resolution Blue, Tangerine Yellow, Middle Blue, La Salle Green, Venetian Red, and Arsenic (yikes!).

Feeling patriotic? Resolution Blue and American Yellow are pretty good choices. But contrast wise, Catalina Blue and either Cyber or Tangerine Yellow might be better. We shall see.

As for the arrow, we'd like it to be gray to match CAYUGA's colors, either Awlcraft Medium Gray or Whisper Gray, but it may be best in Insignia White.

This is where having studied Interior Design in college probably gets a little bit in the way; I'm totally taking these colors way too seriously. Mercifully, the state flag colors are provided in not just RGB and CMYK but also Pantone so Prestige can get it just right. Isn't that special?

Without further ado, this is a rough drawing I did in Adobe Fresco. I am still working on swapping around the colors though. Funny enough Brad's daughter's initials are TC, both daughters actually. Rosé daughter caught that.

Last but not least, a little flag etiquette for everyone and let's just call it a refresher for the 2025 boating season. (a wry post I came across that says it funnier than I)

Regarding a house flag, it's flown at the top of a single-masted boat (sail or power), or from a starboard spreader, or the forward (or in some cases main) mast on a multi-masted boat. On a mastless boat, it can be flown from the bow staff, although I've read that it would not be flown at all in that case (but what would you do if you had a house flag? come on, ya gotta fly it).

A house flag is akin to a family crest (but could you this image on a flag??) not really... therefore, the design should be simple but still reflect personal interests, family traditions, initials, or hobbies as well as in good taste and avoid duplicating designs used by others or foreign ensigns (fancy nautical speak for a national flag).

I was disappointed that Brad did not want a unicorn on our house flag.

On another front, there's some controversy over the starboard spreader and what flies there. The Cruising Club of America (CCA) has specifics, as does Chapman's Piloting and Seamanship, and even our own club. Though, most importantly, Brad's take on flying flags from spreaders unless it is per CCA rules is clear.

But grumpy old guy aside, according to what I've stumbled across on the innerwebs, starboard is more important than port for flag regarding hierarchy. It may be all in the same vein as starboard's priority when sailing or the starboard under power rules, or even that left-handed was not a thing long times ago.

Anyway, if I had a sailboat, conceivably, based on the research, and all caveats ever, I could fly my Past Commander's flag on starboard spreader and the house flag on port spreader. "Pfffft" says Brad.

The last word on house flags, and if you just like yachty words:

The private signal is normally displayed when the ensign is hoisted. It may be displayed at the mainmast truck of schooners and power yachts and at the mizzen truck of yawls and ketches. Cutters and sloops may display the private signal sewn to the leech of the mainsail, approximately two thirds of the length of the leech above the clew, or at the truck in lieu of the burgee except when at anchor. At anchor, they may display the private signal at the jack staff. The private signal may be displayed at night. - Fleet Captain Ernie Godshalk, March 29, 2024 (CCA)

In the end, CCA simply has this to say, "flags shall be flown properly or not at all".

To sum up (by way of example): burgee at the bow, yacht ensign at stern (our staff happens to be located slightly to starboard - proper), and my U.S. Power Squadron (America's Boating Club) Past Commander's flag at the mast, which is where the house flag will fly.