NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2018 May 5, 12:06 -0700
Jackson, you wrote
"What is nautical orange? Why radical craft at a seaport dedicated to traditional water craft and traditional craftsmanship?"
One example of nautical orange: the cover of a traditional US (not British and not modern commercial) Nautical Almanac?? Of course, that's an exceedingly narrow reference. For most people, orange in a nautical context is the color of a PFD --a color of alarm and emergency, and many people have already made jokes about the "sinking ship" at Mystic. as for the word "radical", I feel they're trying to appeal to the younger generation. See, "kids" (not kids today, but kids 25-30 years ago) used to refer to everything as "radical". Radical meant cool, and Mystic Seaport Museum wants to be "cooler". Unfortunately, they may have overlooked the fact that this term was "cool" over a generation ago. Sure, it may appeal to some future donors in their 40s, but it's not really a 21st century slogan. "Radical craft: get into it" ...straight out of 1993.
At least now I think I understand better why there has been zero marketing for celestial navigation classes this year. I assume that all marketing efforts have been tuned to the "orange is the new blue" reboot. Unfortunately, this marketing "focus" has cost me a ton of money, personally.
Frank Reed
