Uh-oh!

The crew had intended for today’s blog entry to be about throwing off the lines and heading down the Hudson River. While everyone enjoyed the time at Shady Harbor Marina, the crew was itching to move on to new adventures. 

They wanted to tell you how Dora had finished going through heat. Mom and Dad had gotten through a dozen items on their project list. Maybe show some more of those cute cuddle pictures. But things went a little differently. 

Ever since Dora made her way to Red Head’s roof during a past docking at Shady Harbor, she has been tethered in the pilothouse whenever the boat is docking. In retrospect, it probably wasn’t needed any more since Dad constructed gates to keep her contained on the pilothouse level when underway.

Plus, she has pretty much chewed through the leash that was being used. But tethered she was...

As is typical, she cried when her dad left the pilothouse with remote in hand to undock. At some point, Dora became quiet and an unfamiliar alarm sounded but then stopped. Hmmmm, strange.

Mom finished clearing the deck of lines and fenders, then took over at the helm so Dad could make his log entries and put away the remote. Pretty much like any other docking. Then Dad said, “Uh-oh.”

He had discovered what caused the alarm and Dora’s silence. She had consoled herself by chewing on the remote’s cable.

This is not a remote where one can just run into Radio Shack and buy a replacement - wait, are they even in business??? In fact, it is one of the most expensive pieces of electronics on the boat. Of course, we only have one - Mom and Dad had been talking about getting a backup but, well, refer to the previous sentence.

Fortunately, Dad had a summer job in college at a board manufacturer and learned to be a soldering expert.

It took most of the morning but he was able to splice the cable, all 21 wires. She may not be pretty but she works.

Fortunately, Dad has a soft spot for the littlest crew member. She managed to survive the ordeal. But Dora honey, don’t push your luck.