Category Archives: Sailor Doodle

Ft Lauderdale to Miami

After a week in Ft. Lauderdale we were ready to leave. On Thursday morning, November 29, 2018, at 0647 we dropped the lines at the New River Docks. Since the railroad bridge goes down frequently and the two bascule bridges on the river we have to ask to be raised are closed between 0730 and 0900 on weekdays, we needed to plan carefully to get out to the ocean. We waited for the 0730 opening of the 17th Ave Causeway bridge and then were out on the ocean.

Mark finally got the watermaker working so on the way to Miami we filled some gallon water jugs for drinking. We left Ft. Lauderdale with our three water tanks (120 gallons) full, so no need to make water for them yet.
It was a beautiful day with wind under 5 kts and following seas with a small swell. Proof that it was comfortable was that Sailor stayed under the helm seat through the Port Everglades Inlet and all the way to Miami. He has quickly remembered what goes on when we are sailing. He recognizes the difference between the ocean (which he usually doesn’t like), the ICW and the New River and when we leave the ocean through an inlet he quickly realizes that it is “safe” to go outside. However, this time he was fine staying outside through the Pt Everglades Inlet where amazingly we were the only boat in it and then again at Government Cut into Miami where once again we were the only boat. That was extremely unusual. The picture below is Sailor on the ocean just after we left Ft. Lauderdale. We stayed about a mile offshore the whole way following the coast south.
After entering Government Cut we motored to Crandon Park Marina in Biscayne Bay where we got fuel. We then continued across the Bay to the Dinner Key Mooring Field and picked up Ball 84 at 1347.

We came to Miami without our jib sail on and will be getting the parts for the furling mechanism in about two weeks. In the meantime we will enjoy walking around Coconut Grove which has a small downtown area with restaurants, stores, and coffee shops. Sailor is thrilled that we can walk to the best dog park we’ve ever seen, Blanche Park. There is no dirt, just AstroTurf, paved walkways, lots of benches to sit on in the shade, balls for the dogs and best of all the dog owners watch their dogs and the dogs are well behaved. Sailor goes there every morning and then goes ashore again for a shorter walk in the afternoon. It gets dark early in December so he doesn’t get a nighttime walk since we have quite a long dinghy ride in the dark to the dinghy dock at the marina. Below are some pictures of Sailor enjoying the area.

Sailor always has fun at Blanche Park. There is a dog park and a separate fenced playground for children.
Sailor is standing by a fountain in the shopping/restaurant area of Coconut Grove in the photo below. The area that had a two story outdoor mall with a theater, restaurants like Cheesecake Factory, stores and a large Starbucks with a lot of outdoor seating is gone. A highrise building is going in its place. We will miss that area of Coconut Grove this time of year since it was always decorated beautifully for Christmas and had a nice place to sit outside.

Sailor is posing in this photo next to another sailor.
This is one of the many peacocks that can be seen around the Coconut Grove area.

We can walk to two nice, although pricey, grocery stores, Milans (an IGA) and Fresh Market. Since all we need to buy is fresh produce, either one works for us.

One advantage of being on a mooring ball is that you get to use the marina facilities. When we go to the marina office building we can use their free wifi, a nice laundry room, and great showers and bathrooms. While we can easily shower and wash clothes on the boat, we would have to also make water or bring it in five gallon jugs from the marina. We’ve decided we’ll take showers in the morning at the marina and wash our clothes there to save on water and power on the boat.

Another way to save water is to give Sailor a bath using the free water at the marina dock. We have to use the Honda generator plugged directly into his blow dryer when we get back to the boat. If we don’t blow him dry he gets very matted. Also, to keep the boat clean, since his feet get very dirty walking on the city streets, we use a “paw plunger” to wash his feet after he gets out of the dinghy.

We love seeing dolphins but when we see manatees they are usually under water and not very visible. Also they aren’t as interesting to watch as dolphins since they usually just float around. Dinner Key Marina has a manatee named Puffy who has lived here for several years. In this photo Puffy is cleaning the dinghy dock so we were able to get a close up view.
After our jib furler arrives and is installed we will leave for Bimini or possibly Great Harbour Cay in the Berries at the next good weather window. We hope to be able to do this before Christmas and will then head straight to the Exumas and Georgetown. However, the most dangerous thing on a boat is a schedule so in reality we’ll get there when we get there.

Continue reading →

Cruising is a Waiting Game

Leaving Miami at daybreak on Friday, January 1, we had moderately rough seas for most of the cruise to Bimini. The forecast was for light wind, but unfortunately we were going right into it. We decided to stay on the mooring ball at Dinner Key Thursday night since it was New Year’s Eve. Normally we stage at No Name Harbor at the eastern end of Key Biscayne, which is right at the entrance to the ocean, the night before we leave for Bimini. We knew that there would be many boats out on the Bay celebrating and watching the midnight fireworks, and anchored in or near No Name would not be comfortable as it is next to a channel. Leaving from Dinner Key added an hour to our trip but at least we got some sleep. We left at 0650 and arrived in Bimini at 1500. The distance from Miami to Bimini is about 50 miles. Since we were motorsailing into the wind, we didn’t get much help from the sails.

Below is is a photo taken with Miami behind us and a screen shot of what our SPOT track looked like for the first hour, leaving Dinner Key and entering the Atlantic Ocean. (The SPOT track is always available on our website located in the “Location” menu.)

While it was a bit rougher than we like, headed into the waves and “hobby horsing,” to show how comfortable it is in a catamaran, I took a picture of a glass of water that was on the galley counter while the boat was rocking. Notice the water isn’t moving and the glass is not falling over nor is anything else on the counter moving. Outside in the cockpit, our plants are not sliding off into the ocean. This is one of many reasons why we like living and cruising on a catamaran.

As we approached Bimini, we were happy to see the Bimini Sands Marina and the narrow opening to the harbor. It is not much wider than our 25 ft beam. Once we are in the marina the water is always flat and backing into the wide slips is easy. This is the only marina we have ever stayed at where all slips are wide enough for two monohulls or one catamaran with no post in the middle. There is no extra charge for a catamaran.

We knew we would be in Bimini at least a week because we only had one more day left of the current “weather window” and that would get us to an anchorage in the Berries. There is a very nice marina called Great Harbour Marina in the Berries, but we would be arriving in the dark and have never been there so we decided to wait out the current weather system in Bimini. We have stayed at Bimini Sands many times, and it is always amazing to us that so many boats go to the North Bimini marinas instead of staying here. There are only a handful of boats with us at Bimini Sands while the marinas in North Bimini are much busier. Several of the popular marinas there are $1 a ft while at least one is $1.50 a ft. We are paying $1.50 a ft and it is so quiet and calm here compared to North Bimini where the streets are very busy and the docks, which aren’t floating like we have at Bimini Sands, are hit by the wakes of powerboats rushing back and forth in the channel next to the marinas all day long. We are completely surrounded by condos and the water is always flat. For us, it is well worth the extra $20 a day.

We have been waiting since we were here last May to return to the Bimini Sands Beach Club for their seafood pizza covered with big pieces of lobster, shrimp, and conch as well as veggies. We bought an extra pizza to take back for leftovers. The free shuttle took us to the the Beach Club at the southern end of South Bimini and picked us up after our delicious meal with boat buddies Sandy and Tom (Renaissance II). The colors of the bus match those in the Bahamas flag.

seafoodpizza Just like the weather in Miami was unusually stormy while we waited there, we haven’t had much sun in Bimini this week. It makes walking around the town difficult when rain clouds are overhead and the wind is blowing hard, but on Monday we took the water taxi the short distance from South Bimini to North Bimini. Our one goal was to go to Batelco, (Bahamas Telephone Company), to get a new phone and a SIM card for it. After several years of exclusively using our iPad with a Batelco SIM card while in the Bahamas to get online and a small cheap phone to make calls, we decided to get an unlocked smartphone with a hotspot feature so we could also use our US phones and computer online. Our current US smartphones are locked so we can’t put a Batelco SIM card in them. We were lucky to find a Samsung smartphone for a little over $100. It kills me to use an Android, after owning Apple products since the first one came out back in the early 80’s, but I have to admit this Samsung is a nice phone and has all the features we need while here.

Many of the readers of this blog know that I talk to my 36 year old daughter Jennifer, who is autistic and lives in Florida, each night at 9:30. On past cruises, I used a Batelco phone which cost about 80 cents a minute when I called her each night for 3-5 minute conversations. This season we are using Facebook Messenger when we talk, which is free and uses very little data. The Samsung smartphone has an APP for Messsenger so I am still talking to her on a phone and it seems to be working beautifully, plus I am saving a lot of money.

The Bahamas started providing cell phone service with towers on or near every inhabited island a few years ago with SIM cards that can be easily topped off online or by using purchased cards. When we first came here in December, 2009, we had a wifi extender and used free or prepaid wifi. It was very expensive for the prepaid ones and the unlocked free wifi spots were few and not necesarily safe or broadcasting strong signals. Each year Batelco has improved their plans for cruisers and tourists who are not here all year. This year we can get 5 GB’s for $55. Last year it cost $30 for 2 GB’s and that option is still available. The year before it was $30 for 1 GB. Year round residents can get 15 GB’s for $75 after putting $300 down and there are other cell phone plans for people who are here all year.

We were in Bimini last May and during that visit my son Peter was with us so we took him to all of our favorite places. This time we have been spending most of the time relaxing and as always there are things to fix on the boat. As I write this, Mark is repairing our deck wash system. Sailor was happy to get to his first Bahamas beach of this cruise, just a few steps from the marina. The photo above of the entrance to Bimini Sands shows the beaches to the north and south. They are almost always empty or with one or two other people on them. The beaches on North Bimini are more used since the bulk of the residents of Bimini are located there, as are most of the tourists and cruisers.

DSCF2092 DSCF2096 DSCF2099

Tonight we will pay our marina bill, minus 10% for being here a week, and go to sleep early. We will leave before sunrise Friday morning at around 0530 and round North Bimini, headed to Chub Cay (pronounced Key) in the Berry Islands. It’s a long day, but we’ll be on the shallow Bahamas Bank most of the time, so the water should be relatively calm. We will arrive at the anchorage after sunset and it is an easy one to enter in the dark. We have reservations to stay at the Nassau Harbour Club on Saturday and will hopefully leave there for the Exumas on Sunday. We were smart to stay in Bimini this past week. Last night there were reports of squalls in the Exumas with gusts to 106 kts in Cambridge Cay and sustained 70-80 kt wind with gusts up to 105 kts in the Georgetown Harbor with five foot seas at the Chat ‘n Chill Restaurant on Volleyball Beach! This is extremely unusual and we heard that many anchored boats dragged and some landed on the beaches in Georgetown. When we are there we stay on a mooring ball in a very protected hole. That weather has moved out of the Bahamas and we will hope for “fair winds” for the next few days.

Swells Are Not Swell

On Saturday, 12/20/14, we hauled the anchor in Lake Worth at 0745 and motored (still without our sails) south on the ocean to Ft. Lauderdale. As is typical in Southeast Florida on a weekend, the ocean was littered with boats, mostly fishing. The combination of them stirring up the water and swells hitting us on the beam made for an uncomfortable ride. From the shore, there were no white caps and the seas were less than two feet so it probably looked like a nice day on the ocean. However, swells hitting us every ten seconds made the boat rock side to side. We were very happy to get into a slip on the New River at 1530, making the cruise 7 hrs 45 minutes.

Poor Sailor threw up for the first time on the boat. This was after sailing to the Bahamas last year, sailing around the islands for four months and sailing back to Florida and north to Stuart never getting seasick. In the photo below, I believe Sailor is rethinking this boat dog thing. Once he realizes that he will be in the Bahamas soon enjoying the beaches every day, he’ll come around. We call this look “the stink eye.”

Mark made good use of the time and spent most of Sunday cleaning the very dirty deck. This will be the last time we have unlimited water until we return to the US at the end of May. When we clean the boat in the Bahamas, we use salt water and soap to wash it and rinse it with fresh water. We have hoses that dispense salt and fresh water on each sugar scoop and on the foredeck we have a deckwash system with fresh and salt water.

Below we are at slip 35 on the New River, just before the 3rd Ave. Bridge which can be seen in the second picture. There are numerous bridges over the New River since it goes right through the city. There is a park next to us and of course we are surrounded by condos and right on the Riverwalk. Boats are constantly going up and down the river, from megayachts being towed to the Lauderdale Marine Center for repairs farther up the river to kayaks, powerboats, commerical tour boats, and sailboats.

This morning, Monday, 12/21/14, the riggers arrived on time at 1000 with our sails. Two hours later they finished and we left the river to head out on the ocean and SAIL to Miami. Or so we thought. We are headed right into a 17-20 kt wind, thus no sense in raising the sails. Sometimes we rock side to side and sometimes front to back. Not fun, but we’ve been in much worse. The sun is shining and it’s 80 degrees. Today is a short trip, about 5 hours. We are headed for an anchorage in Sunset Lake near South Beach for a few days at least. We’ve never anchored in this area so are looking forward to exloring it. The weather is changing tomorrow and we won’t have a window to leave for Bimini until after Christmas. Today probably would have been a good day to go, and we had planned on it until the riggers forgot to bring the sails and delayed us. However, as always on a boat, plans are written in sand.

Ready, Set, Stop

Yesterday the riggers finished most of what they broke on the boat. After they left Mark had to fix some more of the electronics that weren’t working. Just when he thought all was well, he noticed the chart plotter screen getting dimmer and dimmer. We don’t know if it had anything to do with the other electronic problems caused when cables were cut, but regardless we realized we had to replace it. Unfortunately in the five years since we installed our Raymarine E120 chart plotter, the company has completely changed their chart plotters and they are now digital. The only way to get the display fixed is to send it to Raymarine to be repaired, or we can buy a used one online. We did the latter and located one about an hour and 15 minutes south of us near Ft. Lauderdale. We purchased it and are driving down there to pick it up tomorrow morning. That is one advantage to being on the east coast of Florida. There were actually three displays on eBay located within an hour and a half drive of Stuart. All were probably removed when the owners replaced their units with the new digital model.

If we could have left this morning, we would have been in Miami on Monday and could have sailed to the Bahamas on Tuesday when the current weather pattern is good for going across. Starting Wednesday, not so much. We subscribe to Chris Parker’s weather forecasts, Marine Weather Center. He sends out detailed marine conditions for the US East Coast, Bahamas, and Caribbean. He also does a daily weather webcast which is simultaneously broadcast on SSB radio. Here is part yesterday’s email forecast.

Sat22-Tue25 should be OK for motoring BOTH Routes/Directions…but N Route may be mildest Sat22-Sun23, possibly Mon24 / S Route may be mildest Mon24 and possibly Tue25. Forecast confidence decreases Wed26 onward, with risk for inclement weather increasing dramatically late Wed26 or Thu27.

Miami to the Bahamas is the south route. If we leave on Monday and get to Miami on Wednesday, we will have missed the current weather window. It gets worse. Here is what he said about the coming month of March:

OUTLOOK for MARCH:
Winter continues! S Branch of JetStream is active, and ColdFRONTs/possible LOs may form and/or track along GOMEX-FL-N Bahamas & waters N of Bahamas…and waters near or even S of Bermuda. March may bring a cycle which repeats every 7 days: 1-3 days of LO/FRONT/TROF with nasty weather (possible GALEs, at-least in squalls) along the axis detailed in previous sentence…forcing wind-less RIDGE S of 25N. 1-3 days of brisk N<E wind following FRONT in all of W Atlantic including ALL Bahamas & FL. 1-2 days of pre-Frontal clocking S<W wind ahead of next impulse mainly N of 25N / S of 25N moderate E<S wind. Then cycle repeats.

Miami is at 25N. So we may be waiting for awhile in Miami, but that is not new. Unfortunately if we could have left earlier in February, there were multiple days of good crossing weather.

Dolphins cannot help but bring a smile to your face and no matter how many times we encounter them, we have to stop and watch. Today they were playing in the marina by our boat tossing fish back and forth to each other. I didn’t get a shot of that, but I did get a picture of one dolphin diving. We needed a reason to smile.

Sailor has learned a new trick. When a window in the salon is open, he likes to jump up on the couch, stick his head out and watch what is going on. He’ll have a lot to look at when we finally leave the dock. We’ll definitely need to keep him tethered and in a life jacket because he doesn’t get that he can fall in the water.

He does the same trick from outside standing on the foredeck and looking into the salon. He hasn’t tried to leave or enter through that window……yet.

Cruising Plans Written in Sand

I spent the last three weeks in Maryland and California and flew back to Florida four days ago assuming we would be able to leave for the Bahamas in a day or two. I had done all of my preparations before I left to be with Peter for his surgery and recovery. Mark worked hard while I was gone and finished almost all of his projects. However, two major problems are now holding up our departure. First, on the way to the airport on January 15, we were rear-ended in rush hour traffic on I95, one exit before the West Palm Beach Airport. It took several weeks to get the car owner’s insurance company to start the repairs on our car. We should get it back early this week. Second, we are waiting for repairs to be made to our radar and anemometer, both of which were damaged when the mast was taken down. We have been waiting since the mast was put back on in November to get the repairs done, and now we are getting angry. Hopefully we’ll get these parts repaired in a few days and be on our way by the end of the week.

The time I got to spend with my son Peter was wonderful. The surgery successfully removed a tumor at the bottom of his spine and then we flew to California for two weeks. Peter was my tour guide every day as we visited beach towns, tourist destinations like Hearst Castle and Sequoia National Park, a Monarch Butterfly Park, wine tastings, Farmers’ Markets, and many walks on the dunes and various beaches. Rather than put entries about the visit on this blog, I posted pictures on my Facebook page, the link for which is on the top right hand side of this website and also here. Flying into West Palm Beach last week, I caught this view outside the window as I was watching the sunrise above the clouds. It reminded me that in a short time we would be passing large container ships like this on the ocean as we cross from Miami to Bimini.

Today, Mark dived under the boat to clean the props. The St. Lucie River is so filthy from runoff in Lake Okeechobee that he couldn’t see more than five or six inches in front of him. He’ll finish cleaning the bottom when we get into cleaner water. Mark uses a Brownie’s Yacht Diver Electric System to allow him to breathe air while cleaning the boat bottom or for any other reason we might need to dive under the boat.

One of our recent unplanned purchases (there have been many) was a new XM Radio for the boat. We have always had an XM radio with a small speaker unit on the boat but it stopped working this fall so we bought a new one. We have speakers in the salon and outside in the cockpit, but had never tried to connect the XM radio to it. We did that today and now can use the indoor and/or outdoor speakers in the cockpit to play XM stations. Right now we are listening to a pleasant “spa” station which shouldn’t annoy our dock neighbors.

I was afraid that Sailor might not remember me when I got back. At first he seemed confused but happily took the new toy I brought him. Hopefully we will get to leave Sunset Bay Marina this week to begin our next cruise to the Bahamas and Sailor can become a real boat dog.

Plans are Written in Sand

Our “plan” had been to leave for the Bahamas next week when Sailor is six months old and “legal” to enter the Bahamas, but then life happened. My son Peter is scheduled to have spine surgery on January 17th, so we will keep the boat at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart until I return from being with him for his surgery and recovery. The surgery will be in Bethesda, Maryland, and then he and I will fly to his house in Oceano, California where he will recover. I should be back in Florida sometime in early to middle February, depending on how long Peter needs me. I am so happy to be able to do this for him and any cruising delay is not a consideration. We’ll still have plenty of time to go to the Bahamas this season.

In the meantime, we have been busy NOT getting ready to leave. Mark is probably quite happy to have more time for his projects. Currently he is working on a dining table for the cockpit. The small “coffee table” in the cockpit can by switched with the large dining table in the salon, but we never do it. Mark has built a beautiful drop-leaf table which matches the other tables. It has been a long drawn-out project. In the photo below, Mark has the three pieces on the dock while he is coating them with epoxy. Notice Sailor is overseeing the work. His next big project is to install a solar panel above the dinghy davits for the hot water heater. This will enable us to always have hot water (as long as there is sun during the day). In the past, if we wanted hot water while anchored or moored we had to turn on the generator.

Last week we went down the St. Lucie River to get the mast stepped. (We had it unstepped last June so we could get under a low bridge on the canal and be hauled out in case of a hurricane warning. Thankfully, there were no hurricanes in Florida this season.) A large crane lifted the mast they had stored for us off their truck and in the photo below the men are putting it back on Seas the Day.

The workers didn’t have time to put the sails on so we went back to our slip at Sunset Bay still a motor vessel. They also didn’t reconnect the electrical wires that run down the mast but should be finished this week and then we will once again be a sailboat.

A week ago we drove to Vero Beach to visit good friends and boat buddies Cathie and Tom on Interlude. Apparently we were so busy talking we forgot to take any pictures. We were hoping to cross to the Bahamas with them, but they will beat us there. We’ll be sure to catch up with them in the Exumas and hopefully sail together again.

Of course, Sailor continues to grow in size and as a fantastic boat dog. He is six months old in a few days on December 13 and weighs 38 pounds. Last Sunday we drove to Boca Raton for our second “Doodle Romp.” There were 17 Goldendoodles there from Moss Creek Goldendoodles. We had a great time at the Canine Cove Dog Park. The doodles all kept together and stayed close to their people. Occasionally an SOB (Some Other Breed) dog came near our group, but they didn’t stay long.

After several hours we drove a few miles to Ruby Tuesday in an upscale Town Centre for lunch. The dogs behaved perfectly and the restaurant was very accommodating, bringing each dog their own bowl of water.

After lunch, we went across the street for a group picture. Some of the families had left by then, but as always the doodles were well behaved even with shoppers and vehicles going past them. Sailor, Mark, and I are at the end on the right side. Almost every color of Goldendoodle was represented at our romp. One of the most unusual is Orli, the parti colored doodle in the middle.

While Mark has been working on projects, I have been doing very little to get ready for our cruise. However, before I leave for Maryland on January 15 I will have us totally provisioned with the boat organized for four months in the Bahamas. First on my “to do list” for the next month is to make a “to do list.”

Mutt March

Since we are within a month of (hopefully) beginning our 2013-14 cruise to the Bahamas, our blog entries will start focusing on preparations and destinations. Therefore I have added a new page under the “Sailor” section of the menu called “Sailor’s Adventures” where the boat dog information will be located. The first entry there is about what we did today, with a short description below.

Every year, shortly after Halloween, the “no kill” Humane Society of The Treasure Coast, located in nearby Palm City, holds a fundraiser in Stuart. Called the “Mutt March,” people pay to enter their dogs in the festivities and buy tickets for a raffle. The dogs come dressed in costumes, participating in a parade and a variety of fun events. More details can be found in the “Sailor” section of this site, located here. The photo below is one of the winners of the costume contest. Walking behind them, I actually thought a real little boy dressed like a cowboy was riding this dog. Very clever costume and very gullible me!

Happy Halloween!

We had a Halloween get-together at Sunset Bay Marina today. Sailor was the only dog wearing a costume. I got there late and told Sailor to pose for a picture. With all the distractions going on around him, he saw the camera, sat up and posed.

Eventually he fell asleep with his head on Mark’s foot. We didn’t tell him his butt looks big in his costume.

Sailor’s First Beach Walk

Mark and I grew up in Duluth, Minnesota and their forecast for the next two weeks is snow with lows in the 20’s. It appears they might get an early winter this year. Seasons in Florida are changing too. When we first moved aboard the boat five years ago we were getting a car to rent and were picked up by a Hertz employee. While talking to him about the weather he informed us that, “There are two seasons in Florida……hot and damn hot.” We are now entering the “hot” season, with “damn hot” hopefully almost over. Today seemed like a good day to take Sailor for his first beach walk. Unlike Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, almost all the beaches in this part of Florida allow dogs and there are a number of designated “dog beaches” where they can go off leash.

Stuart Beach is just six miles from the marina. After we parked and made our way towards the water, Sailor seemed quite interested. He had never walked in sand before and on the wide beach that’s about all he saw at first. He was straining, obviously wanting to run across the sand, but we had no intention of removing his leash.

For his first ocean beach experience, we probably should have gone to nearby Bathtub Beach, where there is a reef that keeps the waves off shore. Unfortunately, today the waves on Stuart Beach were a bit high and the tide was coming in. We connected a long training leash to his harness and waited to see his reaction. Sailor is always curious about new things and he stood at the edge of the water looking out at the ocean, not knowing that the edge would soon change.

And then it did and he wasn’t quite so curious anymore. As the water came towards him, Sailor ran backwards while Mark let out some of the leash.

Not wanting to scare him, we walked along the beach for awhile staying away from the water’s edge. Eventually, two off leash dogs came by and Sailor got curious again. They played for a little while and then the dogs continued their walk.

Daisy’s first beach experience was along the coast of Lake Superior and those waves scared her. Eventually, she learned to love walking on the beach and I’m sure Sailor will too. He has a lot of them in his future.

Weekend With Sailor

Sailor had his last puppy shots on Wednesday and on Saturday we decided to take him out to dinner with us and then to his first visit to the Stuart Bark Park. Below, Sailor waited for Mark to set up his ramp. He always sits patiently until we say “OK” and then he is allowed to walk down the ramp to the dock below. During previous car rides, Sailor has been a bit unsteady sitting or standing on the back seat. We bought him a “hammock” and this was his first ride in it. There are openings for seat belts, therefore he can still have his seat belt harness locked in. Yes, he is getting bigger and can now see out the car windows. He weighed 23 pounds at his vet visit on Wednesday.

This was his third visit to Toojay’s and once again he behaved perfectly. He slept under the table while we ate and when we were finished he sat and waited while we got ready to leave.

After dinner, we walked next door to West Marine to buy some hose for our new washdown pump. West Marine allows dogs in the store, especially ones as well behaved as Sailor.

Next we went to the dog park. We brought him into the “little dog area” but he seemed to want to be in the “big dog area” on the other side of the fence. Actually, the little dogs felt that way too, either barking at him or refusing to play. They were nice dogs but weren’t interested in rolling around on the ground with a puppy. Perhaps there needs to be a “puppy area.”

More fun was in store for Sailor on Sunday. We had been in contact with another Moss Creek Goldendoodle family who live near us in Palm City. We met Marilynn, Ray, and Smoochie at the Downtown Stuart Craft Show, a short walk from the marina. Smoochie is the sister of Sailor’s father, Bentley, so today he met his aunt. It took a long time to walk through the show because we had to stop every few feet for people to admire and ask questions about Smoochie and Sailor (aka Mini-Me). We met quite a few other dogs, including several Goldendoodles. One, named Max, turned out to be another “relative” from Moss Creek. Stuart is a very dog friendly town.

We met in the park near the marina and Aunt Smoochie had to explain to Sailor, with a few barks, that she wasn’t interested in puppy play. Eventually they calmed down for a picture and we walked to the craft show.

One of the dogs we met at the fair was another Moss Creek Goldendoodle named Max. By next summer, Sailor will be the size of Max who is much bigger than he appears in this picture.

After a fun time, and four new scarves for Sailor purchased from one of the venders, we headed back on the boardwalk. When we got to the boat, an exhausted Sailor slept for the rest of the day. As a boat dog, Sailor will be meeting many new people as well as lots of dogs, and this weekend he showed us that he is up for the challenge.

SV Seas the Day

Life Aboard Our Lagoon 420 Catamaran