A Nice Sail

The night after we did all that hard work on the boat, I got back to Morgan's house and found her bed empty. So, I was able to get in some really good back scratching before she caught me.

Then, the next morning, we drove over to the boat and John worked on some stuff for a little while, and then we went for a sail. It was an awesome sunny day, and I got to get a very nice nap in the sunshine. I love Florida!

We sailed aroudn the bay for awhile, and I could see that the water was a really pretty blue color. The wind was perfect, according to John, and it was nice and warm.

After we sailed around for a bit, we came up to this really big bridge thing that went from one side of the water to the other. John said it connects Destin to Fort Walton Beach, but he said it's not tall enough for our boat to go under it. Our main mast (That's that tall stick thing in the middle of the boat.) is almost 50 feet tall, and he said that there isn't enough room for us to go under it.

After a couple more days of working on the boat, John said it was time to go home. So, we loaded up the truck again, and drove back to Texas. I can't wait to go back to Florida again, but I'll be glad to get home, at least for a little while. I'm tired.

Back in Florida

Wow, it's been a long time since I wrote to my friends. But I've been really busy. I'll try to catch you up on what's been going on around here.

First of all, John and I had to make another trip back to the boat in Florida, for him to do some more work on it. We drove over in John's truck on the morning of February 20th. That's a really long time ago, isn't' it? Anyway, we drove all day and finally got there late that afternoon. I was happy to see my family there,

especially the baby, and most especially my cousin Morgan, the big dog.

John and I got up early the next morning and drove over to the Air Force base where the boat is "vacationing" right now. Cappy keeps saying it's vacationing, but I think she's just joking. It's just living there for a while. John said water had been coming in around the windows (They call those things ports on a boat.) and stuff inside was getting wet. So he was going to take the windows all out and put them back in again with some new stuff he called rubber gaskets. I'm not sure what that is, but I think it helps keep the water out. Anyway, he had some problems with that (He said the rubber was the wrong size for some of the ports, whatever that means.), so he had to spend a lot more time working on that than he had planned to spend. Good think Cappy wasn't there. John made a really big mess while he was doing that.

He finally got all of the windows, or ports, put back in, and then started working on a bunch of other stuff. My friend Tim (actually he's Cappy's son-in-law, so I'm not really sure what that makes me to him, but I know that I like him a lot. And I think he likes me too. He always scratches my belly and gives me treats.) does really awesome things with wood, and he made some wooden rings to fit around the thingies that let air into the boat from the top of the cabin (living room). I think they're called vents. Before, they didn't look very nice and I think air was coming in around them, so Tim's wooden rings solved that problem. And they look awesome!

By that time, it was getting late and I was really tired. So we loaded up the truck and headed back to John's daughter's house for the night. John and I shared a really nice bed there.

The next morning, we got up and went back to boat to do some more work. John fiddled with all kinds of stuff down below, while I stood guard up in the cockpit. Thank goodness I was there for him!

He worked on a bunch of stuff that day, and then he told me that the next day, the two of us would go out for a sail. Yea!

Florida

Hey! Look at me! I'm in Florida! We finally made it. This last part of the trip was way better than the others. We didn't have to sail at night, and we didn't get all wet! I even managed to get in a couple of naps.

When we left the little place where we had spent Thanksgiving night, we had to stop at a gas station so we had enough gas to make it the rest of the way. It was really windy, but after we finished getting the gas (John says it's not gas; it's diesel. I'm not really sure what the difference is. Maybe you should look that up.) Cappy got me off the boat and took me for a walk. It was really nice to be able to walk around and find a real puppy bathroom in the grass. Whew!

That day, we had to go under a couple of really low bridges and John and Cappy were kind of nervous about that. But we made it under all of them and finally got to a place called Pensacola Bay. It was really big and there were these giant houses and towns all around. I think a lot of people must live there.

Then the coolest thing of all happened. John's son-in-law came out in his big power boat (That means it's a boat that doesn't have the big white flappy things on it like we have.) to meet us and to show us the way to the new marina where we were going to leave the boat for awhile. He had some other people with him, and it was really cool to be sailing along and to have another boat right there so close that we could talk to them!

We made it to the new marina in a place called Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and everybody helped us tie up the boat and get everything all set.

Then we left the boat there and went to John's daughter's house where I finally got to meet my cousin Morgan and the new baby I had been hearing about. The baby is awesome and I think she likes me. Morgan (She's a golden retreiver.) is a lot of fun, but she's really big! Doesn't she have pretty hair?

We're on our way!

Wow! We're on our way to Florida! Well, John and Cappy and I are on our way. I can't wait to get there and meet my cousin Morgan and the new baby that I've been hearing about.

We had a cold and bumpy trip so far, but everyone is okay. I could tell the wind was not coming from the direction that we wanted it to, and that it was a lot stronger than we wanted it to be. It really gets cold at night, but I have my new Christmas sweater on to keep me warm. Cappy makes me go downstairs at night, so I won't get into any trouble, and I'm kind of glad because I can hear the two of them up on the deck talking about how cold it is up there. And they get pretty wet too, with the wind blowing the big waves over the boat.
We sailed all night the first night, so we could get across Mobile Bay before the wind shifted, at least that's what John said. Late that night, we had to cross under a big bridge and there was a giant barge coming toward us. John was driving and he pulled way over to the side of the channel (the green side, he said) to let the barge go past. But the captain of the barge wanted more room and ran us aground outside the channel. That wasn't fun at all. Cappy was mad because she said the barge captain could see that we were aground and he didn't even call us on the radio to make sure we were okay. Some people!
Anyway, after a while, we managed to get the boat back into the channel by rocking it back and forth and playing with the engine (at least that's what it sounded like John was doing), and we got on our way, again. But it was still really windy and cold. We finally made it all the way across Mobile Bay, and John told Cappy, "I'm putting Mobile Bay on my list of places I never want to see again." But I'm pretty sure he didn't really mean that.
Sometime before daylight, John started looking for a place for us to drop our anchor and take a break for a while, now that we were across the bay. But every time he thought he had found a safe place that was out of the way of other boats, the water was too shallow. So, we kept going, and going, and going.
Finally, just before lunch time, he found a nice little spot on the north shore of a place called Pensacola Bay. There were two other sailboats already there, but there was plenty of room for us. We all got cleaned up and took a nap (finally!). Before we left home on this trip, Cappy had cooked a nice Thanksgiving dinner for us, and then she froze it so we could take it with us and eat on Thanksgiving Day. That afternoon, we had our special meal. She made these funny little chicken-looking things called Cornish hens, and some dressing, and I managed to get some of the meat for myself. I love holidays!
After we got everything cleaned up, Cappy and John read their books for awhile, and I just hung out with them. Then we all went to bed really early and got a good night's sleep. Whew! I was pretty tired by then.

Great news!

I have some very exciting news, I think. I heard John and Cappy talking the other night about finally finishing our boat trip to Florida, and it looks like we might be going sooner that we thought. There's something about Cappy's work schedule that's gotten all messed up and we have to change our plans. Both John and Cappy have been very busy getting stuff ready to take to the boat so we can get her back out onto the ocean again. I sure hope it's not as rough out there as it was the last time!

From what I'm hearing, I think the new plan is for the three of us to drive in John's big truck to the place where the boat is now. I remember, from when John and I went there a couple of weeks ago to work on the boat, that's it's in a town called Slidell.

Then, after we get we get there and get all our stuff loaded onto the boat, we're going to sail it the rest of the way to this other place called Destin, Florida, where John's daughter and her family live. I will finally get to meet the little baby that came to help John sail the boat after Cappy and I had to leave him and the boat behind before in another place called Houma. And I'm really excited about getting to meet my cousin Morgan. She's a big golden retriever and I've heard that she's lots of fun.

After we spend a few days there in Destin, the three of us are going to rent a car and drive back to where the truck will be waiting, and then drive home in the truck from there. Whew! I'm getting to see all sorts of places and things that I've never seen before, and I like that.

To make sure that I'm okay to make this next trip, Cappy took me to see my doctor last Friday. After my little accident at the puppy barber shop, John took me to see her, and she got me all patched up. It took quite a while for the cut to heal, and it hurt sometimes, but now she says I'm just fine and I'm ready to go sailing again. The only thing she could find wrong with me was some gunky stuff in my ears. But the doctor gave Cappy some medicine for me and now she keeps squirting this stuff into my ears and it makes them tickle. She really squealed the other day when I shook my head and got the stuff all over her. I thought it was pretty funny, so did John.

I had another nice surprise this weekend when my friend Lilly and her family came over to our house. We played some, but mostly just hung out. Lilly is a sailing pup too, so we have lots of stories to share with each other. That's a nice thing.

So, things are very busy at our house right now. John and Cappy keep looking at these map things called charts and planning how we're going to get to Florida. I just hope things don't get so busy that I have to miss my naps!

A weekend trip to the boat

Well, I may have mentioned that Cappy has four children. One boy, Matt; and three daughters, Marty, Megan, and Molly. I just found out about this a couple of weeks ago, but apparently, every year Cappy and her daughters meet in New Orleans for a "girls only" weekend (sounds kind of silly to me). And they were going to go last weekend. So, John thought that would be a good time for the three of us to drive over to New Orleans (that's in Louisiana) and drop Cappy off at her hotel, and then the two of us drive over to Slidell to spend the weekend working on the boat. Sounded good to me.

Unfortunately, the week before, I had a little mishap at the groomer (Cappy calls it the spa, but it's really just a big ole' puppy barber shop.), and I had a big booboo on my face. It hurt a lot, and Cappy and John kept putting all kinds of medicine on it, but I was ready to do whatever I had to do to help them, no matter how badly it hurt.

So, bright and early that Friday morning, we all piled in the truck, with the back full of boat stuff, and off we went. It was a pretty long trip, so I was able to get in a couple of pretty good naps on the way. Finally, about 2:00 that afternoon, we got to Cappy's hotel and she got out with all her stuff. I was hoping to get out there too, but I guess John needed me to help him on the boat. Cappy was really excited about spending the weekend with her girls, but she was kind of sad that the youngest one, Molly couldn't make it.

There was a lot of traffic in this place called New Orleans, but after we dropped off Cappy, John and I finally got to the boat in Slidell. It was a pretty cool place. I was happy to see the boat again, and as soon as I got on board, I found my favorite spot and took another nap. Whew! Traveling is exhausting!

John and I spent the whole weekend fixing stuff and working on the engine and all sorts of other stuff. He went out for dinner at night at a place called the Tammany Yacht Club, which was right next to where our boat was. I didn't like being alone all that time, but he always brought me treats when he came back. So that makes it okay.

On Sunday morning, we left the boat and drove the truck back to New Orleans to pick up Cappy. Marty had flown back home to Austin earlier, but Megan was still with her, so we dropped her off at the airport on our way out of town. I know they really missed having Molly there with them, but they seemed to have had a really good time. They were both talking about a mile a minute.

John and Cappy and I got home late that afternoon, and I was really tired. I'm not sure when we're going back there, but they are planning to move the boat the rest of the way to Florida real soon. That ought to be a lot of fun!

On to the east (the right direction)

Turns out that Lafitte, Louisiana is the place where they used to make this kind of boat called a skiff, and they called them Lafitte Skiffs. Pretty cool, huh? John and his new crew had anchored in a spot right next to where they used to make these things.


I didn't know it at the time when she talked to John on the phone on Saturday, and neither did Cappy, but the reason John wasn't able to move the boat to Slidell by himself, was because in those lock things, they make you have at least two people on the boat -one to drive (steer) the boat, and another person to use the dock lines to hold the boat in place on these things called bollards (you might want to look that up) and then adjust the lines as the boat moves up and down with the water level. Pretty complicated stuff, but apparently, they got it done.
The day after they got to Lafitte, they went all the way to a place called the Rigolets. This is a section of the ICW (that's the Intercoastal Waterway) where deep trenches let salt water from the Gulf of Mexico in to Lake Pontchartrain. Whew! I can't believe I remembered all that. I'm not really sure why that's important, but it is.
They all spent the night on the boat in the Rigolets, and then finished their trip to Slidell the next day. John said there is a really nice marina there, called Oak Harbor Marina, and that is where he left the boat. His daughter and her family left Slidell the next day, and John finished securing the boat, and drove home the day after that in a rental car. And the boat is still there.