Yikes! I don't know a lot about all this sailing stuff, but I'm pretty sure things are not going too well on our big adventure. I keep hearing John and Cappy use words like "nightmare" and "disaster," and I don't think those are good words.
Anyway, we were all excited when we left the marina back home because some of our boat neighbors, Jo and Jim and Ann and Dick, came down way before daylight on Saturday morning to tell us good-bye, and one lady even brought us coffee, tea, and muffins. I didn't get any, but it sure smelled good. It was super windy when we left, but we were finally on our way to Florida. You might want to look that place up on a map and see exactly where it is; but it must be a pretty cool place, because everyone was all happy about it.
That first day, things didn't go very well. We had some problems with one of our sails, the jib. John said it was too big for the kind of wind we had, so we, well, he and Cappy, changed it out and put up a smaller one. But then he said that one was too small. And apparently, the one that they wanted to put up, hadn't made the traveling team. It was back home in the garage. Oops. Then there were some other problems and things that needed to be changed, so we turned in between two islands (Galveston and Pellican, John said), and they did a bunch of stuff to the boat. But when we started out again, they said the wind and the waves were too much for us to go off shore (That means to go out into the big ocean.), so we went to this marina in Galveston to spend the night. They said they would see how things looked the next morning, and then decide if we were going or not.
That afternoon, John got a call from one of their friends, and when the friend found out that we were in Galveston, he said that he and his wife would drive down and we could all go to dinner together. I was happy for John and Cappy, but I knew that just meant that I would get left alone on the boat again while they went out. But you just won't believe what happened. These friends of theirs, turns out their names are Mike and Carolyn Payne, went by our house and picked up the jib that we needed, and then they drove all the way down to Galveston with it, and they brought their new dog Lilly! I was so excited. Lilly and I hung out on the boat with our people for awhile, and then we ALL got in the car and went to a restaurant. I couldn't believe it! Lilly and I both got to go with them and we just hung around the table while our people ate and all these other people kept stopping and petting us. Now I see why people like to go to restaurants so much. I was sad when Lilly had to go home later that night, but we had a really good time together. It's nice to have a new friend.
The next morning, we left and went "off shore" and it was pretty scary. At first, it wasn't too bad, but in the afternoon, the wind got really strong. We kept going, but the boat was really heeling ( That means leaning to one side.) really badly. It was hard for me to walk, so I just laid down on the bench in the cockpit and took a nap. It was funny how the color of the water kept changing. At first, it was kind of murky brown; then it changed to a really pretty green color; and then it changed to this really awesome dark blue. That was when the giant fish things started jumping out of the water and swimming all around the boat. Cappy said that they were dolphins, and not really fish at all. They sure looked like fish to me. They were smiling and having a great time playing in the water. I think I'd like to be able to play with them sometime, but we didn't have time then.
Anyway, we were all excited when we left the marina back home because some of our boat neighbors, Jo and Jim and Ann and Dick, came down way before daylight on Saturday morning to tell us good-bye, and one lady even brought us coffee, tea, and muffins. I didn't get any, but it sure smelled good. It was super windy when we left, but we were finally on our way to Florida. You might want to look that place up on a map and see exactly where it is; but it must be a pretty cool place, because everyone was all happy about it.
That first day, things didn't go very well. We had some problems with one of our sails, the jib. John said it was too big for the kind of wind we had, so we, well, he and Cappy, changed it out and put up a smaller one. But then he said that one was too small. And apparently, the one that they wanted to put up, hadn't made the traveling team. It was back home in the garage. Oops. Then there were some other problems and things that needed to be changed, so we turned in between two islands (Galveston and Pellican, John said), and they did a bunch of stuff to the boat. But when we started out again, they said the wind and the waves were too much for us to go off shore (That means to go out into the big ocean.), so we went to this marina in Galveston to spend the night. They said they would see how things looked the next morning, and then decide if we were going or not.
That afternoon, John got a call from one of their friends, and when the friend found out that we were in Galveston, he said that he and his wife would drive down and we could all go to dinner together. I was happy for John and Cappy, but I knew that just meant that I would get left alone on the boat again while they went out. But you just won't believe what happened. These friends of theirs, turns out their names are Mike and Carolyn Payne, went by our house and picked up the jib that we needed, and then they drove all the way down to Galveston with it, and they brought their new dog Lilly! I was so excited. Lilly and I hung out on the boat with our people for awhile, and then we ALL got in the car and went to a restaurant. I couldn't believe it! Lilly and I both got to go with them and we just hung around the table while our people ate and all these other people kept stopping and petting us. Now I see why people like to go to restaurants so much. I was sad when Lilly had to go home later that night, but we had a really good time together. It's nice to have a new friend.
The next morning, we left and went "off shore" and it was pretty scary. At first, it wasn't too bad, but in the afternoon, the wind got really strong. We kept going, but the boat was really heeling ( That means leaning to one side.) really badly. It was hard for me to walk, so I just laid down on the bench in the cockpit and took a nap. It was funny how the color of the water kept changing. At first, it was kind of murky brown; then it changed to a really pretty green color; and then it changed to this really awesome dark blue. That was when the giant fish things started jumping out of the water and swimming all around the boat. Cappy said that they were dolphins, and not really fish at all. They sure looked like fish to me. They were smiling and having a great time playing in the water. I think I'd like to be able to play with them sometime, but we didn't have time then.