Rendezvous

Red Head moved from Deltaville, VA to Solomons, MD last week to attend the Krogen and the DeFever rendezvous. Hurricane Matthew had everyone on edge as organizers and boaters had to make "go, no go" decisions.  It's one of those things that you never know if you've made the right decision until it is over.

The DeFever rendezvous was canceled while the Krogen one slipped through as Hurricane Matthew turned out to be mainly a non-event here at Solomons.

Rendezvous are generally not fun times for Dylan and Dee Dee. Sure, there are plenty of people coming up to the boat to say "Hello".  But mainly they spend a lot of time alone on the boat while Mom and Dad spend day and night giving talks and attending events. They are such mistreated crew members...

But this year had a little excitement. Mom and Dad agreed to open up Red Head for tours to Krogen rendezvous attendees. Saturday afternoon there were approximately 100 people who came to see Red Head - I mean, to see Dylan and Dee Dee.

The crew pitched right in and helped tidy up for their visitors - which they mainly did by staying out of the way.

Daddy gave tours while Mommy was in charge of "dog handling." Notice the spray bottle at the ready.

Dylan was allowed to be the official greeter and he did a fine job.

Dee Dee remained tethered until she learns to pay attention to "No jump!" Possibly sometime around 2022...

The kids had a great time and didn't want it to end.

When it was over, they were so tired.

The crew didn't even care when Mom and Dad went off for the closing party Saturday night.

And it was a good thing they rested up. The next day, they were visited by a group of DeFever owners. Oh, and they also took a little tour around Red Head but Dylan and Dee Dee knew who they were really there to see.

Dylan and Dee Dee have safely dodged Hurricane Matthew, they've entertained hordes of guests aboard their new home, and now they are ready for their next big adventure.

Bob, Caleb, and Chad...

It's been 3 months since Dylan and Dee Dee pulled into Zimmerman Marine on their new boat Red Head. That's a long time for this crew to stay in one place, especially when you can't walk to a beach for a swim!

It hasn't been the most exciting time for Dylan and Dee Dee with Mom and Dad busy every day doing boat projects. The good part has been a near constant stream of people coming and going during the week.

They've learned to watch out the back window when they hear someone coming down the ramp.

When it's cool enough to keep the doors open, they wait at the side door for a buddy to come onboard.

Sometimes, they have to wait for an arrival.

But eventually their patience is rewarded.

There have been so many who have visited Dylan and Dee Dee. After all, why else would people be coming to the boat except to greet the kids? While they show great enthusiasm for all visitors, there are three that are their favorites.  They have come to the boat every day (well, every weekday, at least) to see Dylan and Dee Dee.

While Bob spends most of the day down in the engine room, he still has to pass through the security team to get there. Pay the toll!

Chad is fun because sometimes he works up in the pilothouse and lets Dylan and Dee Dee give a hand. We're sure he couldn't have gotten things done without them.

Dee Dee managed to flirt her way into Caleb's heart, pushing Dylan aside to receive her much deserved special attention. She's the heart-breaker with one in every port...

The kids will certainly miss the daily excitement of being here at Zimmerman's. Fortunately, there's lots of projects left to do on Red Head - we'll be back. So listen up Bob, Caleb, and Chad, "We'll be watching for you!"

A Last Shakedown

Last weekend was the crew's last shakedown cruise on Red Head. The next time we throw the lines off it will be for real. Things went well as we all are getting more comfortable with her. She's a pretty girl.

Of course, the kids favorite part was the dinghy ride. We took a nice long one up the Corrotoman River. Had to break in the new dinghy, after all.

 

They especially liked the fast parts.

It just doesn't get any better than that.

Hoover Dog

Labs have the reputation of loving their food. Having owned five, we can say it is a well deserved reputation. But among our babies, past and present, Dylan has always stood out in this regard. We nicknamed him Hoover Dog because, well, he eats like a Hoover vacuum cleaner. A meal never takes more than 30 seconds.

Earlier this summer I noticed that Dee Dee was finishing her meal ahead of Dylan. I put it off to maturing and not feeling the need to rush. He is quite the distinguished gentleman now at age nine.

Then he regurgitated some breakfast one morning. A few days later he did it again. I began to keep an eye on him and noticed he sometimes would cough food up and chew it (I can't say "re-chew it" because Hoover Dog always just swallows it).

Mom began to worry. We discovered thyroid cancer in Dyna, Dylan's grandmother, when she was nine and knew it can invade the esophagus. Off we went to Dr. Skinner. I explained about our Hoover Dog and what was happening, he took Dylan off for an x-ray. All came back fine. Dr. Skinner suggested feeding Dylan some food and taking another x-ray to see what was happening as he swallowed, "What food would he like?" I told him Dylan would eat rocks if you put them in a bowl. He smiled and said, "I think we can find something better than that."

Shortly, he came back into the room with eyes as big as saucers, "Wow, he really does like his food." I told you so! Why do we always feel so good whenever we have been vindicated? Dr. Skinner thought it was simply Dylan's aging throat muscles not keeping up with his robust eating.

He suggested one of those slow-feeding bowls. I chose a highly rated one on Amazon Prime which arrived on Thursday.

I filled the bowl, shaking the bits around the grooves and set it down for Dylan. He took one look, stepped back and gave me a "Are you kidding me?" look. Over the past few days he has been getting used to it but he makes sure to let me know he doesn't like it.

It now takes him a few minutes to finish eating with no issues. Well, other than the occasional look of disgust.

The packaging calls it a "Fun Feeder." Dylan says, "I don't think so..."

Now We're Talkin'

What's the point of having a new dinghy if you don't use it to go swimming?

 

This past weekend the crew helped throw off the lines on Red Head so we could spend a few days on the hook. Mom and Dad were looking forward to some much needed downtime. All Dylan and Dee Dee cared about was taking a dinghy ride to the beach for a swim.

In fact, we made several trips. Dylan and Dee Dee loved the ride and the swimming.

 Mom and Dad loved the peace and quiet afterwards...

Can't Get Enough...

Yesterday we secured Dylan and Dee Dee's dinghy onto the well deck. However, they decided they weren't done yet and hopped in to wait for another ride.

The plan is to throw the lines off this afternoon and anchor out for the weekend. Then we'll use the dinghy for it's intended purpose - to take the kids to a beach for a swim!

The Kids Have a New Ride!

A couple of weeks ago we acquired a new dinghy for Red Head. She's been on the hard for a variety of reasons but today we had her launched and took Dylan and Dee Dee out for a spin.

The dinghy is quite a bit smaller than what the crew was used to on aCappella but we wanted her to safely fit on the well deck. It means the kids will have to learn about sharing space - which basically means, they take all the space they want and Mom has to find a spot to squeeze in...

 
They had a great time. We've always said that their favorite boat is the dinghy! Dylan and Dee Dee are looking forward to many, many, many more dinghy rides.

That's a great lookin' crew no matter what boat they're on!

TS Hermine

Dee Dee has just about put her first real storm under her belt as Tropical Storm Hermine moves north. For Dylan it was no big whoop. He's been through numerous, including Hurricane Sandy.

The winds started in earnest about the time we went to bed Friday night. We were up several times during the night as the wind howled and the rain came and went. It was mainly winds with only intermittent down pours. The crew kept their watch in the master stateroom, lying down on the bed, asleep... But we're pretty sure they were ready to spring into action if we needed them.

Saturday was more of the same with the greatest injustice being that Dylan and Dee Dee had to miss their morning romp.

We watched as the fixed docks across the way went under water.

And the marina next door did the same. A few sails came loose at one point but were tended to by others.

We were snug on our floating dock as we watched the gangway rise above the level on land. It actually got much worse after dark but survived fine. Red Head proved her worth as we stayed safe and dry, listening to the wind and rain with only an occasional rock from an especially strong gust.

So how did the crew fare?

Pretty well, I'd say. They ain't afraid of no Hermine!

She Has a Name...

When we purchased Red Head as the kids new home, we decided to keep her name. It's such a fitting name, after all.

Before we picked her up she spent some time in an industrial yard being blasted with something they called "black Betty" or "black beauty" or some such thing. All we knew was that it left this horrible fine black dust that we are still finding months later. But we digress...

To do this process the name had to be removed from the transom. Since then she has been "nameless."

Fortunately, we have our good friend Jeryl who does, among other things, boat lettering. A few emails back and forth and a FedEx box arrives. But how to get them on? A few more emails with Jeryl telling Jeff, "It's easy," and we decided to give it a try. Hey, worst case, Jeryl could always FedEx a new set.

So this weekend, in celebration of Jeff's birthday, we decided to give it a go. It wasn't too bad. This is definitely a task where Jeff's ana... I mean, exacting personality comes in handy. Sunday, we laid down the red background for the name.

Monday morning, the hailing port.

Key Largo, FL is harking back to her roots. When she was built she was christened Key Largo.

Finally, Monday evening, the white overlay on the name and it was complete.

We think she came out pretty nice.

Where were Dylan and Dee Dee for all of this, you ask? We deemed it unwise to allow them on the cockpit, so they had to supervise from the salon. But as you can see it turned out just right

Kangaroo Update

It's been about 3 weeks since we started Dee Dee on her new kangaroo based diet - you can buy it at Chewy.com. We used the Zignature Kangaroo Limited Ingredient Formula Dry Dog Food:

https://www.chewy.com/zignature-kangaroo-limited/dp/118059

It's not cheap but then our kids have been getting spoiled for quite some time now. Not only are they worth it, it's better than all those vet bills...

She gets kangaroo twice a day, breakfast and supper, and for treats we have been giving her small carrots. I had also purchased some fruit (no meat or grain) based treats but decided I wanted to keep things very clean in the beginning.

Even her daddy has been following the new diet rules despite Dee Dee's best efforts at wooing him. Could you resist that face?

Unfortunately, it means no plate scraps for Dylan either but Jeff has been putting some carrots on his plate so he can remain the world's most popular Dad - at least, in Dylan and Dee Dee's world.

So what has happen? We saw some results almost immediately. The paw licking reduced to where the sores have healed, her ears remain good, and her bottom scooting, well, that's almost stopped. We are continuing the diet and will switch Dylan over as soon as he empties that last bag of dog food. It just makes things easier. In another week or so, I will introduce one of the new treats and see what happens.

Overall, we are calling it a success. Thank you, Dr Skinner.