The Vero Beach Dog Park!!!!

The crew on aCappella has been to dozens of dog parks. It's one of the amenities we consider when choosing where to stop. The biggest problem is finding one close by. Often they require transportation, like the one we visited in Cocoa Beach, or a very long walk.

There are a few places were the park is right near the marina or anchorage. Vero Beach has been a favorite of the crew going all the way back to Tucker.  Dyna and Dylan spent many hours there in the past. We're been so often we've developed ongoing friendships including Jim Welles who had Dyna and Dylan to his house on more than one occasion for a swim.

We met Jim and his lab Duke over 5 years ago at what was then an informal dog park. It was a large field near the Vero Beach City Marina where dogs and their people met each day. Even though it was far back from the road, no fence meant everyone had to be vigilant. Residents would bring water for the dogs to drink. It was open to the river so our water loving canines often found their way in, not always with good results.

About a year ago Jim told us about plans to make it into a real dog park. Jim, along with others, formed Friends of the Vero Beach Dog Park and began raising money and getting support from the community. We were excited and couldn't wait to return and see what they had done.

We just spent three days at the Vero Beach City Marina and this is the best dog park the crew has seen, bar none. The first thing we noticed was the size. It is huge! 3-4 times the size of any dog park we have been to. The picture above was taken standing in the center - the fence is just before the yellow building. Now imagine that all the way around. Not only does it facilitate lots of running and exercise, it prevents those doggie squabbles that can erupt when confined to a smaller space.

Everything about it is just right with lots of doggie bag stations and trash cans scattered about, beautiful canvas awnings with chairs to shade dogs and people, doggie water fountains, tons of balls and Frisbees and tug toys donated by owners, there's even memorial pavers at the entrances to help raise funds. The park runs solely from donations.

And of course lots of dogs. Friendly dogs and friendly owners are everywhere. 40-50 dogs on the two beautiful days and even 20 or so when it was windy and rainy.

 

Dylan and Dee Dee loved it. Dylan made a special friend, Winchester.

While Dee Dee was the social butterfly making the rounds.

Every once in a while they would stop to catch their breath but then a ball got thrown or a dog trotted by and they were off.

Our mooring was nearest the shore, right next to the dog park. So Dylan and Dee Dee got to enjoy the park even when they weren't there. From the bow the kids could hear the barks, see friends through the trees, and I'm sure smell the doggy aroma. Dee Dee would look across and think, "Heck, I could swim that." We couldn't even look at the dinghy without pandemonium breaking out on the cockpit. It's clear we'll have to make this a stop when heading back north.

Mom and Dad certainly enjoyed watching the kids play and meeting other dog parents. But the real reward - two tired out crew members means a quiet, peaceful night. I bet they're dreaming about the dog park...

Time to Move

Over the years we've developed a cruising style that works well for us and our crew.  It balances our desire to seek out new places, keep up with the business of running ActiveCaptain, and ensure our crew remains properly spoiled. We always try to visit new places or places we haven't been to in a while and typically select a few spots to hang for a spell.

We're just finishing up 2 months at Cocoa Village Marina and have mixed feeling about heading out. We've found that staying somewhere for a month or so allows us to really gain a feel for place, finding our favorite places to eat and discovering what there is to do. It lets Dylan and Dee Dee fall into a routine and if you've ever shared your life with dogs you know they love a routine.

They know the best times to sit on the bow and watch, what time we setup the ramp for their afternoon walk, and when we sit on the cockpit for lunch. In the past couple of weeks, they've even learned what times the two Labs down the way come past on their walk. Dee Dee thinks they look a bit suspicious and leads the assault that has kept them from attacking us. What a good team!

But it is time to move on. We have a few more places to go before we begin waiting for the weather window to cross over to the Bahamas in mid-February.

Cocoa has been great but this crew has other places to explore. Besides, they hear the new dog park in Vero Beach is not to be missed and the only thing better than a good dog park is treats. Everybody knows that!

The Education Begins

Dee Dee's adventure with the dolphins led to much discussion, in particular from cruisers with dogs wishing to learn from our mistakes. We continue to receive inquires about our next phase of lessons learned, so thought it was a good time to catch up on where we are.

We are looking at two enhancements to our canine crew equipment, better harnesses and some sort of tracking/alarm device. The alarm device has proven to be rather difficult. Jeff has spent many hours researching and contacting various companies with nothing really accomplishing what we are looking for.  He has a lead on a new device coming out soon. I think it best that he address that in a future posting.

I took on the harness issue and have to admit there is not a perfect solution... sigh. It is still useful to pass on what I have learned and what we plan on using next. It feels a bit like the three bears but without the one that is "just right."

Several of you sent information about a harness made by Ruffwear that looked more substantial than the Kong harness we had been using. So I tracked down Susan Strible, Director of Marketing  at Ruffwear who read about Dee Dee's adventure before spending time with me on the phone. I was familiar with the company having selected their canine life vests after a long search when we first began cruising 12 years ago. I still think they're the best option out there. You can read a bit more about that in the most viewed blog posting on TakingPaws, All That Dog Gear.

I must say that it was instantly clear that Ruffwear is passionate about what they do. It comes out whether you are watching their videos, reading their product information, or talking to their Marketing Director. Susan has her own Lab and understands the importance of keeping our canine family close and safe. The first thing she did was to educate me. Who would have thought there was so much to a "simple" dog harness?

She explained that normal webbing stretches when it becomes wet. That is certainly what we experienced with Dee Dee's Kong harness. She further told me that there is a specific type of webbing that is made to get wet and therefore will not stretch. This is what Ruffwear uses on their life vests. Their harnesses are designed for hiking, climbing, etc. where the webbing may become wet due to rain or crossing a stream but not submerged for long periods. Those harnesses are not made from the waterproof webbing. Susan stated that if we wanted maximum safety, the dogs should be in their life vests.  I know she's right but our crew lives onboard so comfort must be taken into consideration as well.

Like all things boating, these products are trade-offs and each of you must make your own decisions. Labs are very strong swimmers and are at risk of overheating due to their heavy undercoats. While we certainly appreciate the added safety, we also know that a device that is not used is the most unsafe of all. Plus while the Kong failure was certainly disappointing, it did function well enough to get her back onboard.

So we decided to try the Ruffwear Web Master Harness with the idea that it would provide better protection than the Kong. What I like about it is that there are 3 points that secure the dog - around the neck, behind the front legs, and at the belly.

I like that each of the points have added padding where it secures the dog including the 3 point pad on the chest. While the webbing is still likely to stretch, the entire back is made out of a canvas material meaning less of the product would be prone to stretching. Overall, it is obviously a better quality harness.

As for the negatives, Susan pointed out some areas of concern. She said this webbing will stretch when soaked - the question is how much in a real situation. She also indicated that the harness was designed for assisting a dog over rocks, up hills, etc. while hiking and not to lift them out of the water.

 
The main design feature being the placement of the handle. Notice that on the life vest the handle is directly behind the head. When you pull the dog up you are lifting the head up and out of the water while also positioning him so that the front paws can be used to scramble onboard.

The Web Master harness has the handle further back so that you can better lift your dog's rear end to assist your dog up and over an obstacle. These are some clever designers. The question is, how well will it work in our application?

We acquired two harnesses and have done some preliminary tests. We will not be in the Bahamas until next month where we plan on doing extensive tests with the harness and the life vest in a full swim. We won't allow our precious crew to swim in a marina.

Examining the harness closely confirmed that it was a quality product. We were able to fit the same size to Dee Dee and Dylan by adjusting the straps.

I found the third belly strap tricky as setting it snug when they were standing made it too tight when they sat down. I fiddled with the fit until I found a good compromise and will see how it works when we take off and they wear them all day. We tried lifting each one and found that their heads do not tilt up but rather stay flat. We need to test this live from the boat to see how much of an issue it will be.

Then we soaked both the Kong and the Ruffwear harnesses for several hours in a bucket of water to test stretching. Both stretched somewhat when we then pulled on them but not nearly as much as we experienced during Dee Dee's swim. We speculate that the combination of being wet and 30 minutes of vigorous swimming caused the extreme stretching. Another test is needed in the Bahamas.

Our conclusions so far are that any harness is better than no harness and that the Ruffwear harness is clearly a more substantial one and very likely will outperform the Kong in live tests. We leave in a little over a week moving south again so we'll be able to test the comfort of the Ruffwear on the crew. Then a few weeks later the ultimate test when we take them swimming and even "rescue" them from the dinghy when we are in the Bahamas.

For now, there will be strict rules enforced against any crew member venturing on deck unattended. And sorry guys, you can't attend to each other.

Stay tuned for future installments.

The Crew's Ride

Dylan and Dee Dee wish to apologize for their recent neglect of the blog but it's been a busy time for them these past few weeks. Not only did they have the excitement of the holidays including a week long visit with Grandma, but they also had a car!

If you're someone who follows this blog because you simply like reading about dogs or are dreaming of cruising but haven't actually thrown off the lines, then you may not fully appreciate the significance of this. When you are a liveaboard, having access to a car is huge. ...and not just for the human crew.

We needed to rent a car to drive to my mom's house for her birthday and New Year's. To fit in all of the family events we needed it for 8 days, so we decided to just rent it for two weeks. The kids were pumped!

Trust me that's pumped... 

Having access to a car can means all sorts of adventures but mostly it can mean a trip to a dog park. This hard working crew got numerous trips.

The first one was Sunday before their 12 hour drive to Grandma's house.

It worked like a charm. Dee Dee has continued in our line of great car travelers.

While they enjoyed helping Grandma celebrate her 86th birthday, Grandma's house was filled with a whole new set of "Dee Dee No" places and we discovered that Tennessee is sorely wanting when it comes to public dog parks. They only have private ones that you must apply for, pay an annual fee, etc., etc. This is most unfriendly.

So there was much catching up to do when we returned to the boat. There were more dogs to meet at the Cocoa Beach dog park.

There was a bone shaped wading pool to explore. How cool is that? Dylan and Dee Dee think one would fit just fine on the bow.

The park was littered with palm branches which Dylan says make the perfect chew toy.

And who can resist an all out game of tug?

They thought the good times would never end!

But alas, by Saturday the car had to go back. The crew is forced to fall back on daily walks and romps on the bow. It's strange but suddenly I'm receiving lots of offers for discounts on car rentals in my inbox. Could it be our smart little girl has figured out how to access the internet?

Nah, she can't do that, can she?

Merry Christmas!

Dylan and Dee Dee are celebrating a quiet Christmas day onboard aCappella. But that doesn't mean that we haven't had a Christmas miracle. Dee Dee received gifts from Santa. And we know she wasn't on the nice list.

Now there are other possible explanations. Let's face it, Santa is no spring chicken and he may be getting a bit senile. Maybe he mixed up the lists but then Dylan got a present as well and we know he's been good. Or maybe all of the gifts were suppose to have been for Dylan. He has been that good after all.

Of course, Dee Dee thinks every present is for her, even the small jewelry box marked with Mommy's name.

Dylan helped with the opening causing everything to become a blur - literally!

They opened their toys, a monkey and a dragon plus a special treat of duck jerky. It took about 10 minute for Dee Dee to remove one of the monkey's ears...

What we'd really like to believe is that Santa is giving us a sign of things to come. A new year dawning. A good Dee Dee always obedient, ever looking to make her Mom and Dad happy, and never being mean to Dylan. What do you think?

Yeah, right... Well, there's always the good, sweet Dylan. Now that's an angel.

The crew of aCappella wishes you a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas in Cocoa

We'll be spending Christmas on the boat this year as family disperses around the country. After that, we're going to visit Dylan and Dee Dee's grandma for her birthday and for New Year's.

Cocoa, Florida is a great place to spend the holiday season.

The kids have been helping to decorate the boat, putting up lights inside and outside and hanging some decorations about. They've both enjoyed the new Christmas pillow covers mommy made this summer.

Of course, the key is manipulating them just right for comfort. So far they've survived the tossing and scratching, often ending up on the floor in the process. But then they're swished up just right, perfect for a snooze.

We've been taking long walks admiring the decorations. And Dylan and Dee Dee even got to go to the Cocoa Christmas parade just two blocks from the marina.

We're now in the homestretch with both kids hoping Santa will think they have been good enough to leave something in their stockings.

For Dylan it's in the bag. That's my favorite picture of Dyna and Dylan, by the way.

But for little Dee Dee it's really not looking very good. She has less than a week and quite a lot of bad to make up for. If you have any doubts, well then, you obviously haven't been following the blog. If you see Santa, Dee Dee would really appreciate you putting in a good word for her. She can use all the help she can get.

Swims With Dolphins - Lessons Learned

It has been nearly a week since the rascal Dee Dee had her dolphin adventure. There has been much discussion on the ActiveCaptain Facebook page and elsewhere as those of us who choose to live on a boat with our four-footed family members try to process and learn from our experience. The fact is that our dog-overboard experience directly relates to all crew-overboard lessons since it's not often that a real situation happens.

For us it had a happy ending and has even led to some lighthearted joking - quite a few people have wondered about what role Dylan may have played in attempting to dispose of the sometimes challenging Miss Dee Dee. I know I've woken in the night thinking of the ways it could have had a different ending as I pull her a little closer to me.

But ultimately we now feel the need to learn from the experience and maybe help others learn as well. We have spent hours discussing what happened before and during the event. We've looked honestly at the things we did right, the things we did wrong, and what we could have done better. Of course, it all revolves around our particular boat, the equipment we have onboard, our own skills, and more. Many of these lessons will be different for others. But if our experience and analysis can simply get other pet owners thinking about their own situation, then some good has happened out of Dee Dee's unexpected swim.

First some background for those who may not be familiar with aCappella and its crew.

We cruise on a DeFever raised pilothouse trawler with a fully enclosed walk around deck and gunwale that is above waist-high. If you've followed this blog, it won't surprise you that safety for our canine crew was one of our highest priorities when we were selecting our boat. The high gunwale was a key safety feature that we felt helped to keep the canine crew safer (as well as us). We've cruised for 12 years though some 35,000 nautical miles on her. During that time we've had 4 canine crew members including our current crew of Dylan and Dee Dee. Also of relevance is that Jeff and I are experienced EMT's having served on the volunteer ambulance of our homeport for 20 years. We're more experienced than most people when it comes to emergency situations and have been involved, if not in charge, of far too many difficult and dangerous events where life was on the line. The majority of emergency situations we've been involved in have resulted in successful outcomes. But we've also been there when the patient never went home again.

If you somehow missed the online commotion that our little Dee Dee caused, check out the previous TakingPaws blog posting.

So, what do we think we did right?

1.  We didn't panic. This is something we always talk about when we do our medical emergencies onboard talk. It's possibly the most important thing anyone can do in an emergency and also the most difficult. Our EMT experience helped here. You have to keep a clear head and focus on the task at hand. There's plenty of time to panic later. Planning, practice, and preparation before any emergency will always help.

2.  The dogs were in their harnesses. Long before we owned aCappella, our first canine crew member, Tucker, never came onboard without his harness on whenever the boat was moving on the water. We have used a harness to pull dogs from the water into the dinghy 4 times. At one other time we had to lift Dyna back onto a dock when she mis-stepped off the edge. Each time we've needed it, the harnesses have worked flawlessly. Having Dee Dee in her Kong harness made it easy to grab and hold her beside the boat using a boat hook. Trying to grab and hold her, let alone lift a wet, panicking animal, would have been close to impossible had she not been wearing her harness. We think the harness was 80% successful. More on that later.

3.  We had exceptional communications. On this one I will get on my soapbox. For optimal safety in any boating situation, I think the most important factor is communications. From early on we've had various headsets that allow us to communicate without yelling or needing to have each other in visual range. I have had boaters argue that hand signals are sufficient. They aren't. If it had even been possible for me to see Jeff as he leaned over the swim platform, he had no hands left to sign with. Yet with our headsets we could talk without raising our voices (and thus raising the stress level), we could exchange fine details and instructions, ask for clarifications, and numerous other subtleties not possible otherwise. It was a complex situation as I piloted blind to Dee Dee's position and therefore unaware of her location in reference to the props or how to position the boat in swift current to catch her on the first attempt. The headsets allowed Jeff to remotely control the boat and guide me at the controls ("port out of gear, bowthruster right 2 seconds, both engines reverse, out of gear"). Of course, this is something we have hundreds of hours of practice doing as we use the headsets in the same way every time we anchor or grab a mooring.

4. We kept all options open. This one was all Jeff. He realized that we had minutes while I stopped and then turned the boat around safely. He took that time to run to the flybridge and start to prepare the dinghy to be deployed if needed. We were in a section of the ICW that was a deep channel which quickly became very shallow as you left the channel - a good example of why the ICW is known as "the ditch." If Dee Dee had swum out of the channel, we would have been unable to bring aCappella to her and would have had to launch the dinghy. Doing a few of the preparatory steps would have saved valuable time.

Now for the real lessons. What could we have done better and what did we learn?

1. We lost sight of the dogs. We let ourselves become complacent. Tucker was our first dolphin fanatic and we had a hard and fast rule that he never was dolphin watching without one of us beside him, ever. But 12 years go by without an incident. Over time, we occasionally let them out while keeping them always visually in view - well, nearly always, as we've obviously learned. It's easy to forget how quickly an event like this can happen.

2.  We assumed there'd be a splash. There were times when we discussed what we'd do if a dog went overboard. We always assumed that a large dog diving or falling in would make a loud splash. We also always thought that one or both dogs would bark, yip, or make some sort of noise. But in the real event, we heard absolutely nothing, at least nothing we recognized as any different from the normal slap and splash of our wake. We now realize that this would be the same incorrect assumption should a human crew member fall overboard. This told us that we need a better way to alert us to an overboard situation and we're investigating wearable devices which may be holiday gifts for the whole crew.

3.  We should have had better communications with MV Intermission and other boats. 12 years onboard has given us lots of practice for how to best communicate with each other. But I could have done better with the other boats in the area. Thinking back, there was important information I failed to give to Intermission. They indicated that while they were attracting Dee Dee to their boat, she only came so close and then swam away. Would she have come closer and stayed if they were calling her by name? I never told them her name. We selected the Kong harness in part because of the large traffic loop on the back which we thought (correctly) would make it easy to grab with a boat hook. I should have told them about her harness and suggested using a boat hook. If others are involved, it's important to remember that they don't know what you know about the situation, especially personal items about the victim, clothing, conditions, and more. You've got to tell them.

That led us to discussing what we would have done if Intermission hadn't been there. Does the situation warrant a Pan-Pan or Mayday? I say yes, and if the Coast Guard disagrees, I'll gladly pay their fine. A Pan-Pan, Mayday, or DSC alarm to alert other boats could have put more eyes on the scene. It might also slow down nearby boats and alert them to use caution in the area. She was a small, easily missed target in a busy waterway. Getting hit by another boat was a very real threat.

4.  We hadn't practiced the right things enough. I already said that the Kong harness did 80% of its job by allowing Jeff to quickly and easily bring Dee Dee right up to the boat. Unfortunately, it then failed when he tried to pull her onboard through the side door. The harness had become so loose that Jeff feared that lifting her would have pulled the harness off, sending her adrift again without a means of grabbing her with the boat hook. We have analyzed what went wrong - after all we had successfully accomplished multiple lifts before although under easier circumstances. We're not sure yet what failed. It could be that the harness did not fit right. Or perhaps there was a failure due to prolonged time in the water (stretching fabric, clips slipping) possibly made worse by Dee Dee's frantic swimming. It could be the harness age - they are about 5-6 years old with Dee Dee wearing Dyna's harness. Or it simply might not be designed for this type of use. We plan on doing more testing. We know the concept is good, we just need to work on the specifics and understand what went wrong.

Ultimately what we learned is that we had failed to practice this critical procedure - and nothing beats practice. We felt confident we had a good solution because we had hauled dogs out of the water before. But we had never tried it from the mothership and we found that there were significant differences.  From the dinghy it was me who hauled three of the dogs in and I was able to do it by reaching over the side, grabbing the harness, and flinging my weight backwards. I literally leveraged the dogs sideways over the side of the dinghy pontoons. This wasn't possible when bringing in the dog from a higher position on the boat through a narrow door. And because the harness was slipping, Jeff couldn't lift her straight up which was how we got Dyna back on the dock. This meant some tricky maneuvering to get her around to the swim platform. Not knowing these things added stress and wasted time. So while it's good to think through the scenarios, nothing beats a trial run. We are already planning where each crew member will go overboard in a controlled drill.

If you have four-footed crew members, take time now to look over your boat. Think about what you would do if one were to jump in the water while underway. Make a plan and then practice doing it in a safe way with others helping. Learn from your practice and do it again. Repeat as necessary. Make sure to also practice how you will communicate as most likely one of you will be maneuvering the boat while the other does the rescue. Consider whether it makes sense to trade places. Consider every possibility.

Think about prevention. After all, the best scenario is never having to do a rescue. Spend time analyzing how your pet might end up overboard and correct or limit that possibility wherever you can. We have only one crew member who really knows what happened and she ain't talking. We are fairly certain how she did it and have already taken steps to stop it in the future. But ultimately, we're guessing.

Once you've done all that, grab your furry loved ones and give them a hug. Oh, and Dylan and Dee Dee say a treat would really be appreciated as well.

Swims With Dolphins

"Motor vessel near buoy XX, I think you've just had a dog jump off the back of your boat." I was piloting and I'd just said to Jeff, "I see Dylan but not Dee Dee. You need to go look."

We were in our third day of dolphin heaven with the crew on high alert. Jeff had taken a video of the crew minutes before watching the dolphins with Dee Dee emitting a high pitched cry much like our first canine crew member Tucker used to do.

Jeff ran to the back and saw a small yellow head about 1/4 to 1/2 mile back. I quickly pulled the boat out of gear. The next 20 minutes are a bit of a blur.

The motor vessel behind us, MV Intermission, was trying to get her onto their boat but she wouldn't come to them. They stayed with her giving us directions while we spun the boat around, prepared the dinghy to launch if needed, got out a boat hook, put on our headsets to communicate, secured Dylan, and possibly a few other things - I can't say what order.

MV Intermission stayed on site radioing instructions where she was. As soon as Jeff called her name she turned and started swimming towards the boat. Jeff was able to grab the loop on her harness with the boat hook but found the side door was too high off the water and too narrow to bring her in. One of several lessons learned. So he brought her around to the swim platform and was eventually able to get her back onboard.

At that point I wasn't sure whether to hug her or kill her. A few cries and she settled down. Then she heard the dolphins and was ready to go back out again!

For now there is a moratorium on dolphin watching while we calm down, process what happened, and decide how to prevent it from happening in the future. Dylan thinks it's very unfair that he has to suffer because of Dee Dee's transgression but I'm the mom and I make the rules.

As for the crew of MV Intermission, they have lifetime access to Dark n Stormies on aCappella.

I've said from the start that Dee Dee was destined to be our first dog who goes over.  Damn if I wasn't right!