Dinghy Rides

One thing that has been the absolute favorite of all our canine crew members past and present is dinghy rides. Dyna was the queen of dinghy rides and has obviously passed along the "I love dinghy rides" gene to her offspring. They quickly learn the words, they know the sounds of the davit motor, they even know when we pick up the dinghy key. It always leads to joyous jumping and running to the cockpit.

Tucker loved all of it, the ride, the destinations, the interesting things floating in the water.

Dyna was our speed demon. She loved to go fast and would stick her nose out into the wind. She never had a bigger smile than when taking a dinghy ride.

Dylan likes the destinations best and wants to be the first off the boat and running to shore.

We plan on doing some anchoring out around the Bay Springs area in Mississippi once we leave the oasis that is Green Turtle Bay Resort. We realized that we hadn't taken the dinghy down since some time before we lost our precious Dyna. That meant Dee Dee had never even seen the dinghy.

So we decided it would be a good idea to bring the dinghy down, clean her up, make sure all was in working order, and start to teach the next generation about the joys of taking a dinghy ride.

Dylan knew right away what was up and ran up to the flybridge to help bring the dinghy down. That has been his job for years. Dyna's job was to run to the side door where the dinghy would land. Dee Dee knew something was up but still wasn't brave enough to brooch the flybridge steps, so she had to be content sitting at the bottom watching.

She was curious and watched as I put on Dylan's harness and made him sit to wait for his dad to get the dinghy ready. She watched him leap into the dinghy and then ran away with a small whimper. Cooing and coaxing had no effect, so I finally had to scoop her up - she is still scooping size but just barely - and put her into the dinghy. She immediately laid down on the floor.

We slowly tootled around the protected harbor. Dee Dee kept looking to me and Dylan trying to figure out this new and unfamiliar experience. It took awhile but she finally stood up to take a sniff and try to see what Dylan found so fascinating.

We had about a 30 minute ride and then back to the mother ship which Dee Dee was very happy to see. The next day we went out again. She watched Dylan closely and went over to the side door to look when he jumped in but as soon as I approached her, she ran away requiring another scooping to get her into the dinghy.

This time she remained standing but snuggled in between my legs for security. Eventually, she took a peek over.

Then before I knew it she was up on the pontoon stretching for a good sniff and I was glad we had her tethered with her harness.

We worked for a bit to teach her the safer way to peer over the side. She caught on quickly and loved watching the water pass by.

Today she ran to the side door and jumped in all by herself and thoroughly enjoyed leaning over the side to watch the water. She seems to have a bit of the speed demon too, as she didn't bat an eye when we opend up the throttle and sped off on Barkley Lake.

Dee Dee is fast ticking off the requirements towards her 2nd Mate status. Now she has learned the joys of a dinghy ride. Dyna would be proud.