Sunday, May 12, 2024
Temperature: 89
Humidity: 68%
Precipitation: Not happenin’
Blacktip Island Leaders Announce Island Slogan Contest
Blacktip Island residents and visitors have flooded the small Caribbean island’s Heritage House ballot box with suggestions for the island’s new slogan. (photo courtesy of WrS.tm.pl)
Concerns about dropping tourist numbers have prompted the Blacktip Island Chamber of Commerce to launch a contest to create a catch phrase to attract more visitors to the small Caribbean island.
“We need something that’ll grab folks by the heartstrings and not let go,” C. of C. president Harry ‘Scratcher’ Wrasse said. “We’ve got a whizz-bang tourism product here. The problem’s getting folks to notice. Right now, we get lost among the other Tiperon Islands. Blacktip’s motto might as well be, ‘Hey, We’re Here, Too.’
“Ideally, a catchy saying’ll also drum up community spirit,” Wrasse said. “Everybody on the island—resident or visitor—is invited to make as many suggestions as they want. Then, end of the month, we’ll have a community vote on which one’s best. And once the final vote’s announced, there’ll be the usual celebration and debauchery afterwards.”
Island leaders hoped to focus the slogan on the island’s natural beauty.
“These catch phrases needs to focus on nature and the sea and fish and such,” de facto island mayor Jack Cobia said. “Scuba diving. That’s the sort of thing that’ll draw folks in. Our favorite suggestion so far’s my ‘Blacktip Island: Surface With a Smile!’ It may be hard to top that one.”
Other popular suggestions include:
- If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It
- Well, I Heard . . .
- Blacktip Is Fin-tastic
- Free Beer! (Just Kidding)
- Welcome To the Coconut Telegraph
- If Your Heart Ain’t On Blacktip, Get Your Ass Off
The contest elicited strong emotions among island residents.
“I’m doing everything in my power to make sure that ‘Surface With a Smile’ bollocks goes down in flames,” Coryl Bleeching said. “I’m stuffing the box with, ‘Mako My Day.’ If it looks like ‘Surface With a Smile’s gonna win, that suggestion box may get damaged after hours. Or burnt, so folks get the message. With ‘Blacktip’ in the mix, anything not shark related is complete shite.”
Island authorities have hired security personnel to safeguard the voting process.
“We’re taking vote integrity quite seriously,” Island Police Constable Rafe Marquette said. “Private guards have been retained to keep a 24-hour watch on the suggestion box to discourage ballot-box shenanigans. Booger and Dermott Bottoms will take eight-hour shifts, with broom handles at the ready.”
Residents and visitors wishing to enter slogan suggestions are encouraged to place them in the suggestion box at the island’s Heritage House. The winner will be announced June 1, to mark the beginning of the hurricane season.
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Blacktip Island Weather
Sunday, May 5, 2024
Temperature: 88
Humidity: 67%
Precipitation: Soon come
Filed under best scuba diving novels, Caribbean, Scuba Diving
Mood-Ring Dive Gear To Improve Communication On Blacktip Island Boats
A Blacktip Island scuba outfitter has launched a line of thermochromic crystal-infused dive equipment so divers can tell at a glance what mood their fellow divers are in. (photo courtesy of Moodman001)
A Blacktip Island entrepreneur this week announced a new line of scuba diving equipment infused with 1970s-era thermochromic mood-ring technology in an effort to facilitate communication on the small Caribbean island’s dive boats.
“Rocking boats, seasick divers and disappointing dives can lead to tension and misunderstandings on dive charter boats,” Bamboo You president Piers ‘Doc’ Planck said. “People tee off on each other with little or no warning. Dive staffs tend to bear the brunt of it. That’s where heat-sensitive Mood-O-Dive comes in.
“With one glance you can tell what mood a person’s in, then proceed accordingly,” Planck said. “It started with mood rash guards, but then we realized the technology could be applied to so much more—wetsuits, masks, sunscreen, you name it. It’s inspired by the way squid flash colors to communicate. All we’re saying, is give mood a chance.”
Island dive staff applauded the development.
“Lots of times, you can’t tell whether a diving guest is pissed off, queasy or just Zenning out,” Eagle Ray Divers divemaster Marina DeLow said. “That can lead to saying the wrong thing and a major confrontation. With Mood-O-Dive, you can avoid all that. If their gear’s red, they’re pissed; yellow they’re seasick; blue they’re chilling. And we have charts posted on the boat so everyone can tell what each color means.”
Some divers were skeptical.
“As nice as it is to see someone’s mask turn red and know to back off, but it can also lead to misunderstandings,” dive guest Suzy Souccup said. “This morning I thought my husband was happy to see me, but he was just wearing a new blue wetsuit. And it’s a total invasion of privacy when I pee in my wetsuit and it turns bright orange, for all the world to see.”
Others embraced the new technology.
“Truth be told, I’ve never been able to read people’s moods” Chip Eunick said. “With this gear, though, I can tell. I check the tags and logos to make sure it’s real Mood-O-Dive. Then, if the wetsuit turns black or red, I back off; blue or green, I’ll start a conversation. It helps avoid faux pas between dives.”
Others refused to use the gear.
“Nobody’s business what moods I’m in,” diver Joey Pompano said. “And I already know. If somebody can’t tell what mood I’m in before coffee, I can’t help ‘em. I just slap a Mood-O-Dive sticker on my black gear folks leave me the hell alone.”
Planck has plans to broaden his use of the technology.
“If Mood-O-Dive proves as popular as we think it will, we’ll phase into thermochromic benches on the dive boats,” he said. “We’re also experimenting with heat-sensitive deck paint, in case people refuse to use our sunscreen, so dive staff can adapt their dive briefings mid-briefing to better serve the dive guests.”
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Blacktip Island Weather
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Temperature: 86
Humidity: 69%
Precipitation: Sunny day, sweepin’ the clouds away
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Chautauqua Event Set For Blacktip Island This Weekend
An artist’s rendition of a 19th-Century Chautauqua tent meeting, which Blacktip Island organizers hope to revive this weekend at the island’s Heritage House. (illustration courtesy of Jerrod Ephesians)
The Blacktip Island Ecumenical Council Thursday announced it will host a Chautauqua a two-day event, to provide island residents with education and entertainment, this Saturday and Sunday near the small Caribbean island’s Heritage House.
“It’s an old-time idea that needs to be resuscitated,” said BIEC leader, the former Reverend Jerrod Ephesians. “For an isolated place like Blacktip, it has special importance. This is a chance for Blacktippers of all walks of life to come together for conversations, readings and discussions of the issues of the day.
“We get too caught up with our daily tasks and lose sight of the big picture,” Ephesians said. “This’ll give us a restart to think about culture, art and new ideas with everyone in the community. Just because we’re a small, backwater island doesn’t mean we have to be cut off from the rest of the world.”
Organizers noted the weekend would feature a variety of learning opportunities.
“There’ll be offerings under the tent for everyone,” Blacktip Island Community Players director Doris Blenny said. “In addition to yodeling, impromptu interpretive dance and lecturers, we’ll also have workshops in painting, dominoes, philosophy and pantheistic religion.
“It will be as if a 19th Century French artistic salon was transported to Blacktip to provide everyone with a moral and spiritual uplift,” Blenny said. “The event will conclude with an open-mic poetry reading where attendees can describe their weekend experience.”
Some residents questioned the reason for the event.
“Sounds like a bunch of hippy nonsense to me,” Linford Blenny said. “Folks beatin’ on drums and givin’ themselves Indian names, I ‘spect. Just another excuse to drink and smoke dope, like everythin’ else on this little rock. Moral uplift? Anybody moves to this island, they gave up self-improvement long ago. That sort of thing just messes you up on Blacktip.”
Others welcomed the event.
“I think it sounds lovely,” seamstress Chrissy Graysby said. “The kiddos will love the entertainment and French classes, and I’ll be able to finish that sonnet cycle I’ve been working on this past month. And if some religion gets mixed in, so much better for everyone, so long as they don’t beat us over the head with it or ask for donations.”
Ephesians was frank about his expectations.
“This is something Blacktippers have been clamoring for, whether they know it or not,” he said. “But realistically, we are competing with the island’s bars on the weekend. And karaoke night. We just hope it proves popular. Or, truthfully, that anybody shows up.”
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Blacktip Island Weather
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Temperature: 85
Humidity: 68%
Precipitation: Oh, yeah
Filed under best scuba diving novels, Caribbean, Scuba Diving
The Blacktip Times 