ShipStore.com Beacon: The October Scramble & Camping Chairs
Issue 54, October 21, 2005
http://www.ShipStore.com
Floating your boat since 1982 TM


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IN THIS ISSUE:
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~ CAPTAIN'S TIP: The October Scramble
~ CAPTAIN'S SPECIALS: Camping & Deck Chairs
~ CAPTAIN'S CONTEST: "Win a Shopping Spree" Drawing

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~ CAPTAIN'S TIP: The October Scramble
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The October Scramble.

Sounds like the name of an old North Country square dance! But it's not, not by a long shot. The October Scramble is that eleventh hour panic to get all of your fall chores completed before an early snow surprises you, reminds you that winter can come earlier than expected. You just never can tell when the white stuff will start to fall.

So we've all been scrambling recently. Getting deck and lawn furniture stored. Coiling hoses. Stacking firewood. Covering boats. Cleaning and storing wetsuits and lifejackets and waterskis. Two days ago, while my new wife (Just married!) and I were retrieving our windsurfer, inflatable raft, canoe and kayaks from the waterfront my mind wandered. I was lumbering up our dirt driveway, avoiding bumps that might upset the stack of boats I had lashed precariously onto the John Deer Gator, and I remembered a very different experience a couple of years prior.

Before I'd had a chance to collect the same small boats mentioned above, the season's first snow had arrived early. My brother and I spent the following day dragging each one individually across the snow with snowshoes like a couple of Eskimos! We swore we'd never let that happen again.

And I'm doing my best to keep that promise.

With my mind wandering to snowier autumns, I remembered something else too. This summer ShipStore.com hired a summer intern named Stephanie Stevens. She might well have been the most hardworking member of our crew, focusing on data entry, inventory research, and writing. I remember a piece Stephanie wrote about North Country winters, and after getting our small boats tucked away for the winter, I decided to dig up Stephanie's mid-summer reflection on the snowy months. I'd like to share it with you:

"Winter in Westport! That is something scary and amazing at the same time. How can that be? Well the first snowfall of the season is so amazing. You feel alive and ready for everything. But sometimes we have huge storms that can be pretty scary. We tend to lose electrical power in Westport when we have huge snowstorm, but that's nothing unusual in for us."

"But even when the power is out there's a lot to do. Sledding in Ballard Park is one of the most popular. Have you ever tried sledding down a hill at midnight? If you have a place you know well (think safety!) and you want an adventure, you should try it. It's amazing. Everything is so silent, and it's really cold but you don't realize this until you are in your house trying to warm up later. And, in addition to sledding, there's always skiing, snowboarding, and ice skating."

"And there's plenty of fresh powder on the ground and new snow falling from the sky, you can try to catch snowflakes on your tongue. I know it sounds sort of silly, I mean, why would you want to catch something coming out of the sky in your mouth? But if you live here it's something you try to do every time the snow falls."

"And if you don't want to go outside, you can always sit inside and admire the beautiful view outdoors. Westport is truly spectacular in the wintertime. It's also a very romantic season. Sipping hot chocolate by the fire with that special someone is something that always brings good times."

"Winter is the longest season around here. It starts in November and ends in March if we are lucky. Sometimes it starts in October and doesn't end until April. That's a long, cold season, but it sure can be fun."

"Then there is the not so fun part: taking care of your stuff before the first snow falls..."

This is one of the last few sentences in her short reflection. She laments the pre-snowfall tasks, but focuses on them only obliquely. It's clear that, despite the fact I had encouraged her to write about those end-of-fall-beginning-of-winter chores, Stephanie was far more intoxicated with the joys of snowy winter. And to think she was composing her reflection in early August!

Well, that's about enough dilly dallying. Gotta get back to that October Scramble...

George Davis, Beacon Editor
editor@shipstore.com

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~ CAPTAIN'S SPECIALS: Camping & Deck Chairs
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Sevylor BEACH AND DECK CHAIR
http://www.shipstore.com/ss/html/SEV/SEVCF734.html

Sevylor DECK CHAIR
http://www.shipstore.com/ss/html/SEV/SEVCF774.html

Sevylor FULL SIZE CAMP CHAIR
http://www.shipstore.com/ss/html/SEV/SEVCF733.html

Sevylor MINI CAMPING CHAIR
http://www.shipstore.com/ss/html/SEV/SEVCF7051.html

Sevylor MULTI-FUNCTION CHAIR
http://www.shipstore.com/ss/html/SEV/SEVCF620.html

Sevylor RUSTIC LOUNGE CHAIR
http://www.shipstore.com/ss/html/SEV/SEVCF772.html

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~ CAPTAIN'S CONTEST: "Win a Shopping Spree!" Drawing
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Win a $100.00 credit at ShipStore.com by submitting your 4th of July photos for the First Annual Independence Day Photo Contest. Photos should clearly capture the Independence Day theme, but the subject is totally up to you. Get creative. To be eligible, all you have to do is send us your photo(s) before August 1. If you have a digital camera, please send your photos as an attachment, preferably in JPG format. If your photos are printed, please scan them and send the digitals as an email attachment to: editor@shipstore.com . It's that easy!

You'll be sent a confirmation email to let you know that we've received your submission. Good luck.

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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
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COPYRIGHT 2005 ShipStore.com (tm) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Permission is granted to electronically copy, print or forward this newsletter for use as a shopping, boating or travel resource as long as it is not altered in any way and sent in its entirety. Any other use of materials on this Web site--including reproduction for purposes other than those noted above, modification, distribution, or republication--without the prior written permission of Westport Marina, Inc. is strictly prohibited.

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CONTACT INFORMATION
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ShipStore.com
6039 Route 9N
Westport, NY 12993
Telephone: 518-962-2700
Toll Free: 877-SHIPSTORE (US and Canada)
Fax: 518-962-4582

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