Getting ready to sail away

Wow, things have been really busy around here lately. Cappy and John decided that we are going to go on a big sailing adventure all the way to Florida, where ever that is. So we've been working really hard to get the boat thing ready to go. It's been so crazy around here that I can hardly even find time to take a nap. I still try to stretch out on the sofa every now and then, but it's never for long.

Since Cappy has been gone so much lately, I've had to help John with a lot of the boat work. We put on a new sail and new green bag thing to cover it up with; then we put on a new boom (That's just a funny word for this long pole thing that lets the sail sit on it.). We even had to work on the engine. Now, that's an odd duck for you. It's bright blue and has lots of parts and pieces; and it makes a lot of noise. I can't quite figure out how it works, but John knows, so I guess we're ok. Thank goodness I was there to help him.

When Cappy was home last weekend, I had to help her sew some things. She was making some new sheets to cover some of the bed cushions. I could tell she needed help, so I laid on them and tried to hold them down for her. I just do what ever I can to help out.

We had a really fun thing on Saturday. I knew something big was coming up because Cappy and John bought me a cool new shirt, gave me a bath (ugh!), and got me all dressed up. Then, they took me to the boat and all of a sudden, there was this big party with lots of people all around. Everyone was happy and having a good time, and they were paying a lot of attention to me. I liked that a lot! There was lots of food and things to drink. I didn't get much of either, but I did get a few bites of food and a nice big bowl of water. And, I learned that "bon voyage" means "good-bye" or "have a good trip" or something like that.

I have a new home and a new name.

I remember that day when Cappy and John came to the place where I was living. My old family couldn't take care of me anymore, so they sent me to this big place in Houston that had lots of other pups staying there. I was kind of sick when I got there, but the people there took real good care of me and I got well after a while. They fed me and played with me some, but it just wasn't the same as when I had my own family. I was there for a very long time, or at least it seemed like a long time. But then one day, the lady who took care of me told me that there was a couple there who wanted to meet me. She took me outside, and there were Cappy and John. We played and talked for awhile, and I liked them a lot. I guess they liked me too, because they took me home with them that day to live with them for ever and ever. I was so happy!

Cappy and John lived in a nice house with a huge back yard. I loved to run as fast as I could from one side to the other. There were some big dogs who lived on the other side of the fence, and they would come and talk to me when I was out there. I liked that a lot. For some reason, Cappy and John thought that I needed a new name. They said that the one I had just didn't suit me very well, so they decided I was going to be Elmo. Actually, I kind of like that name; so, I'm Elmo now.

Well, it didn't take very long, maybe a week, for me to learn about this "boat" thing. I kept hearing them talk about it, and then one day we all climbed into John's big truck and we drove for what seemed like for ever. Then, when the truck finally stopped and they opened the doors, I saw things I'd never seen before.

There was water everywhere, and there were these funny looking wooden things that were sticking out into the water. I followed Cappy and John down one of those wooden things, and then I saw the strangest thing of all. There was this big funny-shaped thing sitting in the water, and it had all sorts of poles and a jungle of other stuff all over it. They told me it was a sailboat, what ever that means. But I really didn't care because all I wanted was to be with my new family, where ever they went.

This sailboat thing was tied to the funny wooden thing that we were standing on, so John picked me up and carried me onto the sailboat. Then, he opened up this kind of a hole thing and took me down through it to sort of a living room place. He said that hole was called a companionway and that the living room was a salon. Hmmmm. OK.

Next thing I knew, John set me down on a sofa and disappeared back up through the hole and I could hear him and Cappy moving around all over the boat and making a lot of noise. Then all of a sudden, there was a loud noise coming from somewhere in back part of the boat, and the whole thing started to move. I didn't know what to do. I'd never felt my house moving before. I was kind of scared, but after a few minutes, Cappy came down to the living room, uh, salon, and got me and took me back up through the hole thing and put me down next to her on this funny little bench place.

I just sat there for a couple of minutes, and then Cappy put this awful, stiff jacket thing on me. It was pink with white polka dots, so at least it looked pretty cool, but it wasn't very comfortable at all. She told me it was a life jacket and that if I fell into any of this water that was all around us now, it would save my life. So I guess that is a good thing. Anyway, I didn't seem to have a choice about it. I was going to wear the stupid thing, and that was that.

I sat there next to Cappy for a while, sort of pouting about the whole situation, then I happened to look up, and that was when I saw it. I'm a pretty worldly pup, having moved around from place to place a bit, but I had never seen anything like this in my whole life.

There were these giant white flappy things all over the boat! They were stuck to the big poles and every now and then, they would start flapping and making a lot of noise. When ever that happened, John or Cappy would grab some long rope things and play with those until the noise stopped. I guess that noise wasn't a good thing. I heard John mention to Cappy something about sail trim. But I never saw either of them with any scissors or anything else they would have used to trim anything. I finally figured out that those white flappy things were the sails that they were going to trim, what ever that means. Such funny words, sights, and sounds. I hope I get used to it all soon.