Saturday 4 August 2018
We decided to take the boat out for the weekend. We wouldn't normally venture out there in August, but we wanted to try out the new electric outboard, and get the dog accustomed to the dinghy and the yacht while she was still young (and not too heavy!)
So we set off very early on Saturday morning, as the sun was rising. We arrived at the water, unloaded the boat, all the bags and the dog, launched, loaded all the bags and the dog, then found the engine wouldn't start until Dave had fiddled about for a while getting the connections right. This gave the dog a lot of time to get used to the idea, and being frightened of getting left behind, she was keen to leap aboard. We took off across the bay, with the dinghy loaded to the gunnels and the dog squeezed into the bow with me holding tight to the lead.
With Angel tied to the binnacle, we cast off and took the yacht round to the nearest deserted bay, where we anchored and Dave and I threw ourselves into the water. Angel fretted on the sugar scoop until she lost her footing and fell in. She came up swimming and doggy paddled between us.
After breakfast we made the lengthy (30 min) crossing to Meganissey, aware that the dog was exposed to the sun all the way, so we found a mooring up the coast from Port Athene and settled in for the day, with the shade tent up. Lots of swimming, and a few dinghy crossings along the land line for the dog to have a wee ashore. She was very good and didn't soil the boat at all, holding herself in all night.
The next day we moved all of ten minutes around the coast to a favourite bay and did the same thing all over again. Overall a successful trip - well done, Angel!
We decided to take the boat out for the weekend. We wouldn't normally venture out there in August, but we wanted to try out the new electric outboard, and get the dog accustomed to the dinghy and the yacht while she was still young (and not too heavy!)
So we set off very early on Saturday morning, as the sun was rising. We arrived at the water, unloaded the boat, all the bags and the dog, launched, loaded all the bags and the dog, then found the engine wouldn't start until Dave had fiddled about for a while getting the connections right. This gave the dog a lot of time to get used to the idea, and being frightened of getting left behind, she was keen to leap aboard. We took off across the bay, with the dinghy loaded to the gunnels and the dog squeezed into the bow with me holding tight to the lead.
With Angel tied to the binnacle, we cast off and took the yacht round to the nearest deserted bay, where we anchored and Dave and I threw ourselves into the water. Angel fretted on the sugar scoop until she lost her footing and fell in. She came up swimming and doggy paddled between us.
After breakfast we made the lengthy (30 min) crossing to Meganissey, aware that the dog was exposed to the sun all the way, so we found a mooring up the coast from Port Athene and settled in for the day, with the shade tent up. Lots of swimming, and a few dinghy crossings along the land line for the dog to have a wee ashore. She was very good and didn't soil the boat at all, holding herself in all night.
The next day we moved all of ten minutes around the coast to a favourite bay and did the same thing all over again. Overall a successful trip - well done, Angel!
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