Around the Block

After our last blog entry we received questions about "around the block."  What the heck is that. Around the block started with our first 1st Mate, Tucker. It's part of our hourly engine room check routine.

Every hour we do an engine room check.  We trade off with me doing a visual check one hour and Jeff doing a more thorough check the next inside the engine room. Part of Jeff's check is to go out on the cockpit to feel for vibration, check the fuel vents on the outer sides of the hull, and continue up to the bow where, unless it's rough or raining, there's some playtime with the canine crew.

Tucker quickly learned the sound of Jeff coming up from the engine room and would run to the top of the stairs where he would wait until Jeff closed the hatch and said, "Let's go around the block." He would then leap down all four stairs and out the salon door to the cockpit. Step stools kept on the port and starboard sides let him stand to look over the caprail. Of course, if we were offshore or down south it was also a time to watch for dolphins.

Dyna and Dylan did this together for many years with each jockeying for the best part on the step stool. In her last months Dyna would often forego the cockpit portion and simply join them as they came past the pilothouse door. She wasn't going to miss playtime.

Dee Dee is in her apprenticeship and has quickly learned to wait at the stairs with Dylan. She can't climb down the stairs and at nearly 40 pounds, it's too dangerous to carry her down especially while underway. We've been working on that...

So now she sits and watches to see which side of the boat they will come up and runs to that door in the pilothouse. We often have the doors cracked partially open for a breeze and she can squeeze through. That's becoming more challenging as she gets bigger but she's determined to join them on the bow for at least part of the "around the block" experience.

It's good to see her take her job seriously. She just may make it to 2nd Mate status after all.