Our Queen

Meadowmeres Birchwood Dynasty

 "Dyna"

May 19, 1998 - May 14, 2013

 

It became a nightly ritual performed at bedtime for the last six months. Dyna could no longer descend the steep steps to the stateroom below and there was no way she'd sleep apart from the rest of her pack. So I'd start a couple of steps down and she'd lean her chest onto my left arm while my right arm captured her rear legs. As we reached the bottom, her head would pop up impatiently looking around the corner to the stateroom where Dylan and the all-important nighttime treat were waiting. She often got nervous as she approached the floor to regain control. I'd always say, "paws out, soft landing girl," and she'd relax and come to stand.

Dyna came to us as a gift at a time when we had a very large hole in our heart. We were visiting a new litter of puppies that were Dyna's grandchildren. As we returned to the car and were putting on our seat belts, Karen told me that JoDee had offered to let us bring Dyna into our home. Karen wanted to know what I thought. I unbuckled my seat belt and said, "Let's get her."

We decided that we should think about it. So we drove down the road an hour to Bangor and stopped at a Pizza Hut to discuss it. My mind hadn't changed but now acting more mature we called JoDee to tell her that we did want her and that we'd get her in another week after getting the house ready for a new dog.

Dyna and I had a special relationship. At home in Maine, she'd spend hours in a recliner chair that she claimed as her own in my office. She was not a licker or a kisser which is odd for a Labrador Retriever. But through the years, she managed to sneak about 30 light licks on my face. They were special and rare. Affection, like everything else with Dyna, always came on her terms. She was the queen and she always acted like the grand matriarch she had become. But in a quiet moment, she'd push her head against my chest, spin around, and lay on my lap, motionless, for hours.

She was an incredibly strong and determined dog. I stayed with her through all her surgeries. They let me extubate her at a major surgery where I monitored her for 8 hours afterwards. No matter what was thrown at her, she took it and owned it. She never complained and I never heard a cry from her in the 6 years she lived with us.

She had the biggest smile I've ever seen on a dog. For whatever reason, her mouth was formed in a way that made it look like she was smiling. While I slept with her on the floor her last night, I looked over at one point. Her breathing was labored and she was terribly weak. But there was that distinctive smile on her face. Even in this dire situation.

There was no denying that she had been failing. But she was determined and we let her fight. Finally, she let us know that she couldn't fight any longer. So as we docked in downtown Washington, DC, I arranged for a veterinarian to come to our boat to end her pain. There is no truer act of love. I know because it hurt so much to do it.

Looking back, I've learned a great deal from her. Be tough, be honest with your affection, and always smile. I miss her terribly and will never forget her warmth.

Paws out, soft landing girl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SmartPlug - The Real Installation Story

At this year's Miami Boat Show, Karen stayed on the boat and I drove down for meetings. At the show I had a couple of hours to look for new things for our own boat. I came across SmartPlug, winner of the electrical innovation award at the show. I talked to the company engineers and was totally hooked.

So I got the full receptacle and cable replacement kit and intended on doing a blog entry about how everything on a boat takes longer to install than you think it should. I knew our canine crew would be a big part of the installation since it was taking place in the cockpit, their standard afternoon nap place.

Here's how it went.

Step 1 - Turn off the boat power and unplug the cable. Safety first.

Step 2 - Find the package that got delivered and get a few tools together.

 

Step 3 - Take the parts out and look over the instructions. And let me say, the instructions are fantastic and give absolutely everything you need with clarity.

Step 4 - Remove the 4 screws holding in the power receptacle.

Step 5 - Dylan needs to inspect. It's important to point out that now would have been the wrong time to realize that you should have unplugged the power cable from the pedestal on the dock.

Step 6 - Push Dylan out of the way since he decided he had to be right in front of all the action.

Step 7 - Unscrew the wire screws and the plug falls out. I also cleaned up the old gasket and removed some sealant original to the boat that should have never been installed with the gasket. And I sanded the copper ends a little to remove any corrosion - there was some.

Step 8 - Put the gasket over the plug, push the wires into the color coded receptacles, and tighten with the included Allen wrench. It's a really beefy connection that is much more rugged than the original.

Step 9 - Make sure to not bother Dyna's afternoon nap. She's deaf so she still didn't realize I had been there for 10 minutes already.

Step 10 - Push the wires back and use the original 4 screws in the exact same holes to finish the receptacle installation. It's so nice that everything lines up perfectly.

Step 11 - Feel how it works and make sure there's no wiggle. It all feels perfect and strong.

Step 12 - Saw off the end of the cable to replace the plug with one that matches the new SmartPlug. I made sure to leave a couple of inches on the end so I could splice it if I needed to use the plug again. Most likely, it's already been misplaced and is lost.

 

Step 13 - My trusty wife is called to help with the last stage of cutting so as not to drop the end and wake up Dyna.

Step 14 - No luck. Dyna sensed all the commotion and now decided that she needed to lay on top of the cable being worked on and the instructions.

Step 15 - The instructions tell you exactly how much inner insulation to remove. There's also this white cotton-like material that gets cut away between the wires.

Step 16 - Prepare the plug case and put the included cone over the wires to assist in pushing the wires into the cover.

 

 

Step 17 - The instructions say to use liquid soap because it's a tight waterproof fit. This took about 5 minutes to push on because it was stiff but easy enough.

Step 18 - With all the insulation cut to instruction specifications, it all just fits together perfectly. There's a very strong strain relief part of the assembly that actually holds the cable. The wires then slip in and are tightened with the Allen wrench.

Step 19 - Slide the cover back onto the plug and screw in 4 included screws to lock it all in place.

Step 20 - Convince Karen that she can insert the cable now on her own. The plug only goes on one way and gives a positive lock with the 2 side silver latches. The receptacle cover has two more locking points and folding it over grabs and locks the plug even more securely.

 

Step 21 - Admire the results.

Cost of the SmartPlug kit:  $215
Extra expenses for installation:  $0

A planned 2 hour boat project that took only 1 hour:  Priceless

Agony of a Good Boy

During one of Dyna's early visits to Lucerne Veterinary Hospital we were discussing some issue with Dr. Stephanie Monk, one of the two best vets in the world, trying to figure out what it was. Stephanie kept saying something like, "Well, it could be this or that but it's not textbook for the condition." When finally she quipped, "I guess Dyna didn't read the book." That has become a common mantra when discussing Dyna.

From the first day we brought Dyna home we realized that Dyna had written her own book. For starters it is common knowledge that Labs are highly "food motivated." In Dylan's case that is a gross understatement. But Dyna was always quite lackadaisical about her food, eating when she felt like it, despite coming from a home with 9 other dogs and often additional puppies. Dyna's the queen and the queen doesn't have to rush her meals

Dylan learned very early to not mess with Dyna's food dish. Dyna raised 15 puppies and knew very well how to control this one with just a lip curl.

As our girl has grown old eating has become more and more of an all day event. We know she is having some digestive issues and she's a bit senile. It's not unusual for her to nibble a bit and just walk away. We've trained Dylan not to eat what she leaves in the bowl while what falls on the floor is fair game. I usually place a piece of aluminum foil over her dish but often she will walk away before I notice.

 Before long I will hear a soulful moan and find Dylan staring at Dyna's food dish. There's kibble and liver and egg and cheese and other tasty treats all sitting right there. What agony! But he sits and looks but doesn't touch. So I place the foil over top, give him a treat, and say, "What a good boy!"

Following Seas

After spending five unexpected but very enjoyable days at Downtown Hampton Public Piers we saw a small weather window on Wednesday and decided to make our run to the Chesapeake. The predictions were for the weather to worsen as the day progressed and not be good on Thursday. The best bet seemed to be to make one long run all the way to Olverson's Marina where we'd left our car and where there was a vet we had taken Dyna to before.

So we got up at 5:30 and the whole crew pulled together to get us off the docks by 6:15. Conditions where fine with some light fog but still good visibility. Just enough fog to make the lighthouse at Thimble Shoal look a bit mysterious.

True to predictions conditions gradually turned snotty as the day wore on. Fortunately, the seas were following so other than a few tosses we had a bumpy but very tolerable ride.

Dylan took up his usual spot in the corner of the pilothouse settee close to his mom and dad. While Dyna choose the galley floor. A good choice as it is in the center of the boat and therefore has the least motion. Smart girl.

We were fortunate to get a terrific current push pretty much the whole day getting us in more than an hour ahead of time. The crew has had time to reacquaint themselves here at Olverson's. Dylan has been eying the new kitty on the property. They "met" at Liars Corner Wednesday night. Dyna has had her trip to the vet who confirmed she's pretty darn old and that we are doing all we can to keep her happy and comfortable. The power of modern pharmaceuticals. Tomorrow we'll get them back on their morning walk routine. And in a few days they will be off to visit their grandma in Tennessee.

Documenting our Great/Greatest Loop...

Within the next month we'll officially start our Great/Greatest Loop year cruise up the Hudson River, across the Erie Canal, to the Great Lakes to Chicago, and down the great inland rivers to Mobile, Alabama, and around Florida to come back to the Chesapeake Bay. I've been thinking of techniques to document the trip in a different and out-of-the-normal way and have been experimenting with cameras and software to create time lapse videos of daily travels. It takes 3-4 software products and special camera hardware. The last hardware should be waiting for us at Olverson's and will allow much longer videos to be made - we're currently limited to about 2.5 hours of real time.

So here was most of today's travel from Atlantic Yacht Basin in Chesapeake, VA to the channel leading to Hampton, VA. We're at Downtown Hampton Public Piers escaping a very bad storm that passed over tonight. This test includes some cheesy titles but really good music. I calculate the speed of travel as the equivalent of going about 1,000 knots through the water. I think it feels about right.

So what do you think? Is this worth the effort to document each day's travel like this?

Enjoy!

Note that the video isn't working on iPads (mine too). This is why I'm testing it all. The video needs to be encoded differently - the next test will do that. For now, you can only view this on a PC or Mac.

Never on a Weekend (Well, Hardly)

We have a rule that we never travel inside on a weekend, especially if the weather is good. Every owner of a small "go-fast" boat is out zooming around enjoying their free time. It's typically a zoo and few seem to know or care about things like the rules of the road, the effect of a wake, etc. So we try to stay put somewhere.

We timed our departure from the Lightkeepers Marina so that we would reach Shallotte Inlet at high tide. We had numerous hazards to deal with and the one near Shallotte Inlet was the worst. Oh, and it was Saturday and the weather was spectacular.

As we approached the inlet we saw several floating buoys marking the best water. The channel was very narrow but we had hit high tide so we felt pretty good. There were many boats zooming in and out and around the inlet. A beach on the ocean side was lined with small boats and dogs and children were playing. All and all it was a lovely scene.

I noticed a couple of kayakers meandering at the edge of the channel and put my hand on the throttle to pull back. We have kayaked for many years and know how unsettling a sudden wake can be.

Then they turned in front of us right into the channel. Well, alright, I would have waited to cross behind us but I just pulled back the throttle to give them time to cross. Nope. They turned and started paddling up the middle of the channel. I waited a moment to see if they would turn and continue across. Nope. Now I was concerned, we don't exactly stop on a dime.

So I blew a short blast on my horn. The second kayaker looked back and kept on paddling. We were still moving at about 3-4 knots although I was out of gear. I blew a long blast. Again he looked back but kept on paddling. I told Jeff he'd better go out on the bow and tell them they had to move.

"You need to move out of the channel."

The kayaker said, "No, you have to stay out of our way," and kept on paddling. Now I'm getting ready to go in reverse.

"You're in the middle of a restricted channel and we're a deep draft boat. We can't move out of the channel. You need to get out of the channel to let us pass."

"You're on the wrong side of that red."

"No, we need to be between the red and the green or we'll run aground."

"No, you're wrong. You need to move out of our way."

So finally Jeff said, "We can't changed course and our boat is a lot bigger than yours. Plus there are other boats coming behind us. You either need to move or you're going to get run over."

They finally moved off the channel trailing a string of curse words. We looked at each other and said, "Never travel inside on a weekend."

If you're interested in what a trip down the ICW looks like, Jeff has been playing with his latest toy - a weatherproof camera that can do time lapse. Here's 30 nautical miles along our path including the kayakers (if you're quick enough to see them)...

Farewell Dolphins

We love Charleston, the restaurants, our friends, just walking the streets. There's so much to do. We're always a bit sad when we leave. Our log shows we've stopped here 17 times.

Dylan loves Charleston, too. But what he liked this time was having a front row seat to watch the dolphins. We spent our time at Charleston Harbor Marina on the A dock which was along the breakwater and looked out, more or less, towards the Charleston Inlet. For whatever reason the dolphins would gather just off the breakwater to feed and play. In fact, the water taxi made it a regular stop for their dolphin tour.

That meant that from the bow of the boat Dylan could pretty much anytime of the day or night watch dolphins to his heart's content. And watch them he did. Dyna would occasionally join him but she was way more interested in a nap.

So we've finally left Charleston and started moving north again. There were a couple of dolphins on our offshore passage but each day will see fewer and fewer. Soon they will all be to the south of us. But I think it will be quite a while before Dylan stops watching.

Brown Sugar

We discovered there's a 2 year old male Chocolate Lab and few boats down on the same dock. Kelley Poe, the Marina Manager here at the Charleston Harbor Marina, was telling us how he was a service dog. It seems this smart little boy can detect dangerously low sugar levels in his mom and warn her in time to take action.

Looking at my two, I ask, "So what do you guys do to earn your keep?" Dylan thought being so darn cute was enough. While Dyna informed me she doesn't have to earn her keep. How did these dogs get so darn spoiled?

Well, Dylan finally got to meet this amazing dog and his person, Beverly. The two have been enjoying afternoon romps. As we walked out the first day I asked Beverly her dog's name. "Sugar," she said. What else?

So Dylan and Sugar have become fast friends mainly because Sugar likes to chase and Dylan likes to be chased. It's a match made in heaven.

They play until the tongues are hanging out which means a nice quiet evening of napping. That makes all the moms and dads happy.

To return the favor Dylan and Dyna, um, seasoned Sugar's pee mat so he can learn to go onboard. If you have canine crew onboard who don't know this technique you can check out our article on the website. He actually performed his duty on our bow a few days ago. Now to just transfer that to his own boat. He's a smart boy, he can do it!

Even though Dyna doesn't get to romp she still enjoys a good afternoon nap. She takes her morning walk and is fine staying onboard with her daddy while the youngn's play in the afternoon. Her appetite is staying good - of course, Dylan says who wouldn't love eggs and liver and tripe. A few of her other issues have returned but we are adjusting her medications and hoping that will help. You know, I think she's right. Being so sweet more than earns her keep.

And It Wasn't Even a Carnival Cruise...

I snapped this picture last fall when a Carnival Cruise ship passed us at dusk. Little did any of us know what was to come and how much we would have in common.

We had canceled our planned offshore overnight from Jacksonville to Charleston a week ago as the weather predictions fell apart. We decided to stay at the Marina at Ortega Landing and continued to enjoy ourselves until the next weather window came along. We started watching the end of the week as things started to line up very nicely and decided to head to Jacksonville Landing Thursday afternoon and take off early Friday. As most of these things go, it all started off perfectly.

We left the Landing after taking the kids for a nice walk and getting the whole crew breakfast. Our trip down the St Johns River was uneventful. We knew we'd have some bouncing coming out of the St Johns Inlet as there would be wind against the current as we passed through. It was bumpier than expected but we pushed on. We twice considered to bail out, once at Fernandina and then again at Brunswick, but conditions were improving so we decided to put our faith in NOAA and keep going. Little did we know that the weather was about to be the least of our problems.

When we were past the three mile line offshore we decided to dump our holding tank as is legal to do. Our indicator showed we still had plenty of capacity but we decided to take advantage of being offshore. If you are unfamiliar with what a holding tank is on a boat, well, we have no connection to a sewer line so must "hold things" until the tank can be pumped out or dumped overboard.

The first attempt failed to produce an outflow. Not a big deal - sometimes the odor filter on the air vent clogs stopping air from getting in and letting the tank drain. We made a note to replace it when we got in and opened the pump out access on the deck to allow air in. This is something we've done many times before. Jeff went below to start the process. A strong odor made me open the pilothouse door which reveled "stuff" flowing out the access like a beautiful fountain with the wrong colored water landing and flowing down the side of the boat. We used the onboard water to clean it up and because it was getting dark, decided to figure it all out in the morning.

Conditions did continue to improve and the night was uneventful. With daylight at morning and still well offshore, we decided to go to plan B and disconnect the filter from the vent hose completely to remove the clogged filter from the equation. Jeff emptied everything from the stateroom closet which has the access door then decided it would be easiest to remove the false wall to offer even better access. Just in case, he took up the carpet in the stateroom. That turned out to be a very good decision.

I flipped the switch for the pump from the pilothouse and within moments Jeff was yelling, "Shut it off! Shut it off!" You guessed it. Into the closet, the bilge, and the stateroom came our happy fountain again. Towels stopped the spread into the stateroom (thankfully without the carpet now). With the boat in idle we spent the next hour cleaning as best we could.

Upon our arrival in Charleston inlet, the wind whipped up, the current flowed, and it was an all around nasty time. Did I mention the rain? And who dropped the temperatures by 10 degrees into the 50's?

Jeff discovered that we had two equipment failures. First, the holding tank indicator had failed so we didn't realize our holding tank was actually overfull. Second, the macerator pump wasn't working properly. He replaced some parts on the macerator and verified it was working again. We then spent the better part of the afternoon into the evening scrubbing and disinfecting everything. A hot shower, a couple of loads of laundry, a warm dinner, and we could almost forget the past 24 hours.

Sunday we awoke to high wind, driving rain, and thunder and lightening. We didn't mind. We were inside, warm and dry. Then late morning there was a boom and flash of light. I thought, wow, that was close. Then Jeff yells, "Call the office! The power pedestal and dock is on fire!"

Jeff put the fire out and we are safe. We now have a bit more sympathy for the foibles of Carnival. The power will be back on again soon and the rain will eventually stop. We've been through hell and high (brown?) water on this passage. There's surely only blue skies to come.

What About Me????

Don't get me wrong. I love my grandmother. She's watched over me for almost 6 years now, protecting me from other dogs when I was just a pup, showing me how to do my business on the bow which makes Mom and Dad real happy, and even letting me cuddle with her when Mom and Dad leave the boat. (I still can't figure out why they would go without us - sometimes they come back smelling just like food, hmmmm.)

I kept all these things in mind when the inequities started in the fall of 2011.  Dyna had some kind of special "surgery" and everybody made such a fuss. She got lots of special attention and special puppy chow and even had Daddy sleep with her in a special place at night. What did Dylan get? Bupkis!! I didn't complain, well hardly. But then things got back to normal.

A few months ago they started fussing over her again. Seems she was turning her nose up at her food and having some other kinds of problems. So once again they pull out that special puppy chow. You know the kind. It comes in a round cylinder and not a bag. But it doesn't stop there. Next thing I know they're giving her something called Green Tripe which is about the best smelling thing I ever saw and little cans that say "sardines" which also smell really good and Mommy is cooking her eggs twice a day. It's all about, "Here Dyna, do you want this? No? How about this?" I'm sitting there happy to eat all of it but do I even get offered?

Then today, today it just went too far. Mommy has been talking on the phone almost everyday to this Dr. Cox about, you guessed it, Dyna. This morning he tells her to start adding liver to her food. Liver! Do you know how good that smells? So now she's cooking liver, cooking eggs, scooping Green Tripe and sardines and putting it all in Dyna's dish. I run to my dish - bupkis!

So maybe I'm not "old" and maybe I have a bit of a "weight issue" and maybe I'd eat myself into oblivion if given the chance. But would it kill anyone to cook just one egg for me? Oh, and a little liver and tripe and those sardine things. Just say'n.