Old Friends

This morning we left Miami Beach. Last evening Dyna and Dylan had their final romp in the Miami Beach dog park. It's a wonderful group of dogs and people, and it's amazing how quickly one becomes attached. On our first dinghy ride back to the park Dyna and Dylan began crying as soon as we passed under the bridge and the park came into view.

So Dyna and Dylan said goodbye to Dewey, Annie, Sterling, Oliver, and many others. We lingered longer than usual, not wanting to say goodbye to the dogs or people. Some hugs, promises for next year, and we pulled the dinghy away from the dock.

When we left Marathon we started our trek back through the places we'd been. For Dyna and Dylan that means getting to play again with some of the dog friends they've made along the way. In Marathon they met up again with Riggs from Spray and Godiva and Cassie from September Song and swam on Sombrero Beach.

They'll look for Duke and Holly in Vero Beach who they played with at the beach and then in a pool (watch the video). And Carly and Andy who took them to a beach on Sullivan Island (watch the video).

And of course there is Goose and Huck from the Charleston Maritime dog park.

Cruisers love to talk about the wonderful people we meet along the way. And it's true. It's also true for our canine crew.

Delivery Diesel

It's hard to believe that we've always passed by Miami Beach. Especially the anchorages off the Venetian Causeway. This is an exceptional area. You can get anything you want here within just a few blocks - multiple Publix grocery stores, every type of restaurant imaginable, hardware, Post Office, 18-theatre complex, an Apple store, Office Depot, etc. The dog food we use is a speciality brand that we have to order on the Internet for delivery. But here there's a store 6 blocks from the dinghy dock that stocks it. Together with the dog park at 5 pm, we didn't think it could get any better.  Then we met Leon.

Peterson Fuel has always updated their diesel prices in ActiveCaptain. We like that. It's good for them and it's good for our captains. Peterson has 2 barges - one in Miami and one in Ft. Lauderdale. In our 8 transits through both areas we'd seen the barges before. Boats would pull up and get fuel - seems like a nice business. Here's what I didn't know - if you need 250 gallons or more, they'll come to you. Delivery Diesel!

The delivery area includes, you guessed it, the area we like to anchor in for Miami Beach. So I called Peterson and arranged for a fuel fill up right on the hook. Honestly, how cool is that?

They called me this morning and told me which half hour they'd arrive. Right around the scheduled time we saw the yellow barge coming down the Venetian Causeway access on Biscayne Bay.

We met Captain Leon who eased the barge against aCappella, tied up to us, and set the spuds to lock us both in position. Leon is a true pro - a licensed captain with a tanker endorsement. He's on the barge 6 days a week doing this type of diesel delivery.

Leon handed over the nozzle and hose (extremely clean) and worked with us to adjust the flow. The pumps onboard the barge are high speed - 140 gallons per minute - that he can adjust to any rate needed. We prefer between 20 and 40 gallons per minute.

We completely filled our rear 2 tanks and topped off the front 2 ones - about 490 gallons total. It was simple and I really enjoyed monitoring the fuel sites in a nice, cool engine room.

After filling up and putting all the hoses and equipment back on the barge, Leon invited us onboard to tour the barge. Because it's a licensed fuel barge, we had to provide picture ID's and sign into the ship's log. Leon showed us around the well-kept machinery. The barge holds 10,300 gallons of diesel and they often pump it dry on a busy day.

In the blink of an eye, the lines were untied, spuds lifted, and we were waving goodbye to Leon as he set off for the ICW and more boaters looking for fuel.

This is the first time we've gotten fuel away from a marina. It's a nice option. Peterson has an excellent fuel price. We considered getting fuel in Marathon but ended up saving about $250 on almost 500 gallons. There is a $0.10/gallon discount for cash/checks too.

Leon told us that although there's a 250 gallon minimum for delivery, he'll often go into an area where a few boats all need fuel and their combined total will be over 250 gallons.

Peterson keeps their fuel price very up-to-date in ActiveCaptain. I'm glad we noticed it and checked it out.

So there are services that will deliver food to your boat, pump out boats that will remove your waste, and now fuel barges that deliver fuel right to your anchored boat. Find me a delivery dog walking service and we'll never have to leave the boat!

Long hot showers...

We're almost ready to leave Boot Key Harbor.  We've been doing the last minute things to get ready - filled our dinghy gas tanks and cans, cleaned the water line, last minute grocery shopping, etc.

One thing we haven't taken advantage of here at the marina are the public showers. With two showers on the boat, it's much nicer to shower there. But on a mooring, we're always conserving water so the showers are brief.

Today we decided to take advantage of the really nice public showers at the marina. There's all the water you want and it's as hot as you like it. The showers are single person but we snuck in together, probably breaking the official rules.  Heck, we're operating under the same marriage license so it's allowed.

It was fantastic...

Next we're turning north and east and starting the slow trip back to the Chesapeake and Maine.  Miami Beach is the next major destination for us.

Dinghy Ride 101

Most people have morning routines - a cup of coffee, completing a crossword puzzle, watching a morning TV show. For us in Boot Key Harbor, we have a morning ritual too - Dinghy Ride 101.

Dinghy Ride 101 arrives daily at Sombrero Beach or the Marathon Park depending on weather conditions. All passengers arrive well-rested, happy, and with wagging tails.

LRA - Larry's Remote Anchoring technique...

Our dinghy weighs about 800 pounds. She's a rigid inflatable with a 40 HP engine. It's our family car when we're cruising and we put a lot of demands on her.

So I was telling Larry how much of a hassle it is when bringing the dogs to the beach. Beaching the boat ends up pushing the whole boat sideways on the beach with oncoming waves and can become very difficult to re-float it when it's time to leave. Instead, we keep going back every 5 minutes to push the boat back into the water.

Larry had a solution. He always does. And this one is a doozy.

"You don't know how to use the trip line on the anchor to remotely anchor the dinghy?" Larry asks. Well, no, I don't. I've never seen anyone ever do it. With that Larry gives me the specs for what I need and explains exactly how to do LRA - Larry's Remote Anchoring.

First, the equipment and deployment.

I use a grappling hook type of dinghy anchor. LRA is real anchoring so I created a special rode of 5 feet of chain with 8 feet of 3/8" line. I attached a clip to the end of it so it could be attached to the bow eye of the dinghy close to the water.

The critical piece of equipment is 100 feet of 1/4 inch nylon line on a spool. That gets attached to the trip line eye at the bottom of the anchor.

With that all ready, this video shows the equipment and deployment at Sombrero Key.  We land in about 2 feet of water and push the boat out to anchor in 4 feet of water. Turn your sound up - it's hard to hear - lots of dogs hanging around the "studio".

The magic is in putting all of the equipment on the bow which is easily popped into the water by a slight tug of the trip line. The trip line is the retrieval device and an emergency line in case the anchor fails. It isn't good enough to hold the dinghy in a gale, but for going to the beach, it's plenty good enough.

Retrieving the anchor is just as easy.



It's all pretty easy to do. I strongly suggest using chain on the anchor if you're going to use this technique. Total cost for this was about $25 plus the anchor which we already had.

Now Larry, how about a trick for rinsing and drying off wet dogs before they get back onto the boat?

Sombrero Beach swimming...

The weather has turned perfect - 75 degrees, sunny, calm - just perfect.  We're starting to get boat projects done (sealing every deck intake, cap rail renew, water line cleaning, dinghy chock painting, lazarette cleaning, rudder packing adjustments, gel coat fixes/polishing/etc). There's also a tremendous amount of ActiveCaptain development, legal work, and writing as we start to roll out our upcoming Co-Op capability.  Much more will come out about that in the next few weeks. It's incredibly exciting!

None of this gets in the way of our 7:00 am dinghy ride to Sombrero Beach for some serious dog swimming. We go almost every morning. It's much nicer with the warmer weather although the water has always been a nice 70 - 73 degrees.

First up - Dylan retrieving by himself:


Next - Dyna by herself - take 1. She can be a bit stubborn:


Dyna, take 2:


And finally, the team together:

The Worst Job On The Boat

Today was not the day we were expecting when we woke up.

Last night we got a call from Bill and Sheila our friends on Spray to come over for breakfast. Remembering the wonderful frittata Bill made for us in Charleston, we eagerly accepted. Just as we were about to leave this morning the forward head wouldn't stop running. Figuring it was just a seal needing to be wiped off, we shut it off and planned to deal with it when we returned.

We had a wonderful breakfast featuring Sheila's Fried Polenta and stayed much of the morning enjoying good company and talking about boats. The day turned out to be beautiful and sunny so we thought we'd take the dogs to shore for a walk and check out some of the day's events -- a new thrift store was opening across the street with a ribbon cutting ceremony by the mayor and a festival of gospel music was happening in the park next door.

Things didn't turn out the way we expected. What we did instead was tear apart a hanging locker to reach the vacuflush pump for the holding tank so we could dissemble it to replace four worn duckbill valves. Now if that is all Greek to you, then all you need to know is that the pump creates suction to pull "material" from the toilet to the holding tank. If there's no suction, there's no material movement. My sweet husband ended up being the one in the hold while I played gofer - neither job was pleasant but I think I got the better deal.

You will be happy to know that all is well and that we refrained from taking any pictures.

Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer and less windy. We plan on taking the dogs swimming early and going to shore for some hamburgers at Annette's. At least that's the plan...

Dyna and Dylan Famous?

We had mentioned in an earlier blog that I had been asked by Nor'easter Magazine to write a column about our cruising. Well the first column has appeared in this month's issue. You can read it online on the Nor'easter website, the article starts on page 10. But the best part is that Dyna and Dylan are mentioned 3 times! Not only are they mentioned in my bio and in my article but the editor also mentions them on page 5. Now if this doesn't increase their readership by at least 300% then nothing will. I guess we'll be dealing with the paparazzi and autograph seekers now. I'll have to buy them big hats and sunglasses...

Red Sky at Night...

As the sun sets into the western horizon, the sky turned ablaze in deep reds. The sounds of amateur conch shell players applauded the color and the 300+ boats started turning on their anchor lights creating a new, low-in-the-sky constellation.

The first words spoken to me when we arrived on our mooring were, "welcome to paradise".  Who's to argue with that?

Postcard from Miami Beach...

Two-thirds of these dogs are ours. Can you tell which ones?

Thanks Ivan (Dewy's dad) for sending the pictures from the Miami Beach dog park!

Dog Collar Relay

Having two water dogs on a boat is great. They love swimming, dinghy rides, and just watching the water. But sometimes they love the water too much. Both kids have taken unplanned entries into the water from the dinghy. As anyone who has tried can tell you, lifting a wet dog out of the water can be a challenge.

For years we've kept our canine crew in a harness whenever the boat is underway – be it the Whaler, the dinghy, or aCappella. That way we have a handle to grab should one go over. The problem is a harness is about the worst thing to use when walking a dog, especially big dogs. The strap across their powerful chests gives them too much pulling force.

So whenever we take the dogs to shore we have a routine – on the boat the harnesses go on, on shore the harnesses come off and the collars go on, before getting back in the dinghy the collars come off and the harnesses go back on. We've done it hundreds of times.

Apparently when we made our last trip to the dog park in Vero Beach something went awry. Maybe someone was chatting with us, maybe the dogs were misbehaving, maybe Jeff was singing me a love song – it could happen. We left one of the dog collars on shore. Now this wasn't just any dog collar. These are beautiful, matching nautical collars we purchased at a small marina in Maine during my birthday cruise two years ago.

We discovered our mistake on our first dinghy ride into Stuart. Our hope was that it might still be there when we came back through on our way north.

The day before we left Stuart for Miami Beach we received a call from David Allen. He was on his boat in Vero and had found our dog collar, could we meet? Unfortunately, they were heading west through the Okeechobee, not south. No problem, he had a buddy, Don Perkin, heading to the Keys and he'd give him the collar. About a week later while we were anchored in Miami Beach Don called. He was heading in the Miami inlet, could we meet him on our dinghy? Jeff had the dinghy at the boat show. I told him we'd catch up with him in Marathon.

This week we talked to Don again, he was in Marathon but heading out the next day to Key West. A quick call to our friend Bill Corbett aboard Spray, also in Marathon, and another hand off of the collar was made. Finally, we joined Bill in Marathon today and the collar is back on Dylan's neck.

The return of a dog collar is no big deal – we have spares. It's just a small example of the wonderful boating community we belong to. The stories are endless. Medical situations, needed spare parts, help with emergency repairs, assistance in a family crisis, advice of any kind, a potluck or a party and this community of boaters is always there for you. There are no strangers, only friends, just some you haven't met yet.

Coco-Nuts...

Who knew? I mean, we could have guessed that Dylan would like ripping into a coconut just for the joy of shredding it. But Dyna too?

The drama onboard aCappella has increased significantly since Dylan realized that puncturing the top of a coconut inner shell releases a great-tasting liquid and coconut meat to eat. How many toys actually turn into treats?

Dyna hasn't missed out. She'll let Dylan have his fun. But as soon as there's something to eat, she usually takes it away from him. It's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog...

Swamped (digitally)...

No, we're not sinking - in the water at least. We've sure been swamped with aftermath from the Miami Boat Show. OceanLines ran a nice story about our new MaxSea/Furuno integration. That's two of the 12 writers on BoaterMouth who have blogged about us. For those of you who aren't aware, BoaterMouth is a nice aggregate place to get the latest boating news from 12 accomplished bloggers. If you want one place to watch manually or through RSS for the latest in boating news and info, that would be the one to choose.

Karen and I have been going through the hundreds of emails we received. We saw more people join ActiveCaptain in the last 2 days than in the last 2 months. Marinas have started updating their own information in bulk. We've prepared 3+ years for this. Bring it on!

As marinas have started looking critically at their own reviews, one interesting thing stood out. The state of North Carolina wrote to me because someone put in a review that there was a rattlesnake on their dock. It's important to note that this facility has a 5-star rating with an exceptional following. They admitted that they do have rattlesnakes but would prefer if I'd change the word "rattlesnake" to just "snake" in the review. Well, we've never changed a single word in any review ever. But I wrote to the captain and asked if he really meant, "rattlesnake". Turns out, he's an expert with snakes - it was a rattler.

So here's the thing. The facility is still excellent. And the review will stand as is. Now cruisers like us with dogs will still go there, but we'll be warned and be a little more careful. To their credit, the state responded back accepting this and will work to warn people better too so they're not surprised.

To me, that is the true benefit of ActiveCaptain. There is just no other place where you can get this type of real, user-written information, critically important to having adventures of the non-emergency type.

The Miami Boat Show

After three busy days, the Miami Boat Show is over. It was an exceptional showing for ActiveCaptain and moved us into the second phase of our business - the place where other companies start using our data. MaxSea/Furuno's use of ActiveCaptain for their point-of-interest data is a big step for us. And it came out great.

We posted a newsletter to all of our captains this morning describing the news. Tomorrow an email goes out to every marina describing the new reach of our data and what is means to them.

At the show we met with a variety of other companies. There is a lot of interest for other companies and other products to integrate with our data. This will all help to fulfill the vision of an interactive cruising guidebook capable of assisting boaters with planning for their own adventures.

Today the top marine electronics blog gave a recap of the Miami Boat Show.  The first thing Ben mentioned was the use of ActiveCaptain data by MaxSea/Furuno. It's a big deal and these are really fun times as we watch our baby grow into adolescence.

Just another day at the dog park...

Why I like overnights...

A few weeks ago, Karen made a posting about her experience with overnight passages. A couple of days later she said, "why don't you make a posting about overnights too." You and I both know that there's something else she was after with this, and I think it's the F-word: feelings.

There was a time when we didn't ever do an overnight crossing. Much of that was due to lack of experience but it was also about wanting to see everything. We wanted to slowly pass by ever port and see all of the sites. The ICW was new to us and there was something different around every bend. By the second time back and forth along the ICW, the bends were becoming familiar. From then on, I didn't feel like I really needed to walk the streets of Beaufort, NC or meander through the shops of Beaufort, SC. Our cruising turned into going somewhere and enjoying a single area for a longer period of time. Cruising between the ports is somewhat mechanical. Overnights allowed us to put miles on quickly and get to our destinations.

But there's more to it than that. In the fifteen or so overnights that we've completed (including 2 double-overnights), I've grown to love an element about them that can be described in just one word: trust.

When you head off through an inlet and into an ocean, there are a variety of types of trust you need to have as you watch the sun setting along the horizon. First, you have to trust your equipment. You have to know it and have experience with it and believe how it's going to work for you. You have to have trust in your backup equipment and safety gear. Given the coastal cruising we do, our dinghy is most probably our safety vessel if the mother ship ever sinks but we also carry a full survival liferaft with provisions along with a fully stocked ditch bag with safety, medical, and other emergency provisions. We have an EPIRB that will send a transponding signal to the Coast Guard if we're ever in serious trouble and we now have a SPOT Messenger that will also alert an organization if we press the 9-1-1 button.

Trust in the equipment and experience with it are easy to obtain.  There's another type of trust that isn't easy to obtain - trust in your crew. Some of that comes with experience too but some is just the crew itself. I know that Karen is extremely capable and safe. I know that we work together well as a team and I know I can rely on her in any situation under any circumstance. That's trust.

When we were doing our last overnight between Fernandina Beach and Cape Canaveral, Karen took over the watch at 3 am and I went to sleep. Sleeping after a watch is some of the most enjoyable sleeping you'll ever do because you're tired and you know that you've done your part and can just sleep. At 4:30 am, Karen woke me up because there was something on the radar that she didn't like. The first rule about getting woken up is "wake up happy." I knew that Karen wouldn't get me up unless there was something going on that she needed help with. I wasn't upset about being woken up. I was glad that she did it. That's trust.

And of course you need to have trust with the rest of your crew. I know that Dyna and Dylan are healthy, stable dogs, able to handle a variety of different situations. During an overnight, they are quieter and stay together, often sleeping together. I'm sure it's more comforting for them because it can't be easy for them either. When we pull out of a harbor, they don't know if we're staying out for an hour or multiple days. And yet I know that they'll be OK. After all, they trust us too.

Windy Saturday, Super Sunday...

Saturday was incredibly windy - 25 knot sustained winds with gusts to 40. We stayed on the boat all day and watched the antics in the harbor. With the Superbowl being played here in Miami, there are more megayachts cruising these waters than normal. They'd anchor for a minute to allow their parties to go off jetskiing around the area. It had to be uncomfortable with the wind. But it appears to be the "in" thing to do.

Another sailboat came in and anchored, immediately lowered the dinghy, and left. "Karen, this is a recipe for disaster," I told her. An hour later, their boat was taking a walkabout through the harbor, thankfully away from our boat, and ended up snagging another boat's anchor line in its rudder and banging against it for the next hour. What a mess.

By today, Sunday, the kids were itching to get off the boat. Karen and I took a nice walk to the convention center where the boat show will be held and then had an excellent breakfast before buying 60 pounds of our special Innova dog food for our hold. Looks like we'll be keeping the dogs for a little while longer.

At 5:00, we all headed out to the dog park. Dyna was incredibly playful and Dylan played and chased the other dogs. Then we came across something new: Coconuts.

We knew coconuts would be a "Dylan" thing but we didn't expect that Dyna would be into them also.


Needless to say, a lot of coconut shredding took place by both dogs.

Football game or not, today was a real super Sunday for our team.

Miami Beach - just another dog park...

With our antenna woes behind us and the antenna all fixed and looking great, we took off early en route to Miami Beach along the ICW. This route would take us along another ActiveCaptain hazard - an area of severe shoaling off Bakers Haulover inlet. I have to admit that I'm loving these hazards.  Not that I want them in my way.  But I love being able to find the few that are in my travel and prepare for them.  I knew about this low water area a few days ago.  Having some time to prepare allowed me to plan our arrival to the area near high tide.  The extra 2 feet of water we had were plenty to get through.  There would have been another "blog entry of woe" otherwise.

But instead, today was a wonderful day.  We arrived behind Belle Isle right off Miami Beach around noon.  It's a nice anchorage with about 20 other boats (mostly sailboats).  Right next to us is Compass Rose, a boat with a dog we met at Vero Beach.  We lowered the dinghy to explore and learn about the area.  Our team of dogs was very excited to be going for a dinghy ride.

We tied up the dinghy at the Miami Beach police station - kind of makes you feel good about leaving the dinghy!  We visited the park next door and found out that 5:00 pm is the time when everyone brings their dogs.  After walking around a little, we got back in the dinghy and explored Collins Canal to the Publix grocery store.  This is Miami Beach and the place is teaming with stores, shops, restaurants, and things to do.

At 5:00 pm we were all back at the park where we met a variety of dogs.  Dylan's new friend Dewie is a good match for our high-spirited pup.  Dyna spent the entire hour looking for a place to jump into Biscayne Bay to go swimming.  The 4 foot drop off the sea wall was enough to stop her, at least for today.

Among the other dogs was Victor.  The unique thing about Victor is that when he's thirsty, he stands against the water fountain and waits for his mom to press the faucet.  Dewie has enough experience here to know that he can get a drink too from Victor's droppings.

Needless to say, all dogs are fast asleep.  At least until tomorrow at 5:00 pm.

Mom Said There'd Be Days Like This

Last night we anchored in Palm Beach, a common jumping off place for the Bahamas. Unfortunately, we aren't Bahamas bound but are making our way to the Miami Boat Show. In the past we've gone offshore here to avoid the many ICW bridges but the weather was too rough so we decided to go inside. There were 18 bridges we needed to go under, most required an opening and most had restricted schedules -- opening on the hour and half hour, or quarter hours.  It's a tedious process trying to time each opening.

Fortunately, with our antennas down there are several bridges we can slip under without an opening. So this morning we put them down, pulled anchor, and headed to the first bridge. Coming out of the anchorage and onto the ICW we encountered Kathleen Windridge, a large 142 foot yacht with a professional captain who was heading home to Ft. Lauderdale. He suggested we slide in behind him as he had each bridge timed from his many trips through. We did just that and spent a much less tedious day speeding up and slowing down along with Kathleen Windridge and hitting each opening perfectly.

We had picked out an new anchorage from ActiveCaptain, Sunrise Bay, which looked interesting but small so we also made a reservation for Las Olas Docks in case the anchorage didn't work out.

Kathleen Windridge turned into her homeport just before we approached our last bridge before the anchorage. We thanked the captain and headed on our way. The anchorage was empty but a bit more shallow than we thought so we decided to just go ahead to Las Olas and enjoy a night at the dock. There was one last bridge which we could pass under with the antennas down and we were there. We received our slip assignment and almost forgot to put the antennas back up which might have hit a piling or boat as they stick out somewhat when down.

As we made our approach Jeff felt the wind and current weren't right. "It just doesn't feel right," he said, "I'd rather go back to the anchorage."  Rule number one, if it doesn't feel right we don't do it. So we turned back to the anchorage. As we passed back under the Sunrise Boulevard Bridge I heard an awful noise. Jeff looked at me quizzically. What the --- was that?  Then it dawned on me. The antennas! We'd forgotten to put them back down!

We pulled into the anchorage and went up to assess the damage. The shorter one was fine while the longer one broke clean at the highest joint. Some fiberglass cleaner to get the bridge paint off the top antenna piece and Jeff's fiberglass skills on the joint and you'd never know. Now what to use to fix our damaged pride.....

Wayne's Hat

Although we're in Stuart, FL right now, there are some blog entries that we need to catch up with.

As captains use ActiveCaptain and contribute to it, they gain points. As they accumulate points, they win awards sent by different manufacturers. When they reach 250 points, we send them an ActiveCaptain hat.

Wayne, Carol, and Eddie are the crew and captains aboard Fluke, a beautiful Krogen Whaleback.  We've seen them before in Vero Beach and they've been up to Castine on one of our moorings.  We've kept in touch over the years. But this year, Wayne qualified for a hat. Since we were both cruising on the Chesapeake last October, we decided that we'd hand deliver the hat. But when we finally got together on the Wicomico River, it was freezing cold and neither of us were interested in taking our dinghies down. We vowed to meet them in Vero Beach to deliver the hat soon.

Months later, we were finally in Vero Beach. They invited us over to their boat for an excellent dinner. Needless to say, we finally delivered the well-deserved hat.

The Crossroads

We left Vero Beach on Tuesday, a nice, bright, sunny day. Our objective was to get to Stuart. We've never been to Stuart and there seems to be a lot of cruising activity there.

Part of the planning process for any leg of our travel involves, surprisingly enough, checking ActiveCaptain. We just implemented a new "Hazard" marker that details problem spots that develop in an area. Sure enough, our path would take us across a hazard called "The Crossroads" - the marker in yellow/orange above. This is the place where the ICW crosses the St. Lucie River and the St. Lucie ocean inlet. It's a very busy place that has been shoaling with sand over the last few months.

While approaching The Crossroads, we heard multiple boats calling for towing companies because they had grounded right at this spot (why aren't they reading ActiveCaptain!). We decided that we would arrive just after low tide and it wouldn't be a good idea to risk going through the area. Instead we anchored at Jensen Beach (another ActiveCaptain anchorage - we didn't know about it otherwise). Since we had the whole afternoon, I bothered Karen to the point of surrender in taking down the dinghy and traveling the 6 miles to see the The Crossroads first-hand before our appointment at high tide the next morning.

The kids loved the idea of getting in the dinghy as we zoomed off down the ICW at 25 knots. The 6 miles flew by and we were at The Crossroads. Lot's of boats everywhere and me with my leadline to measure the actual depths.

So it turns out there is only 4.5' of water in the channel at low tide. We would have gotten there a little after low tide and the depth would have been 5'. aCappella draws 6' and we would most certainly have gotten stuck. Chalk up another one for ActiveCaptain.

While messing around the area, the sheriff came by in his patrol boat. We had a nice conversation about the channel and all of the boats that ground there. A few boats a week bend props and break shafts by hitting the bottom there and a good five boats every day end up grounded.

This morning we got underway before sunrise to be right at The Crossroads at high tide. We never saw less than 7' although I have to admit we were all holding our breaths. Then up the river to Sunset Bay Marina where we got pumped out, filled our water tanks, and filled our gas tanks for the dinghy. We're now on mooring #51 ready for the next adventure...or hazard.

Dyna's big day...

One of our goals on this cruise was to get Dyna to swim in the ocean on a white, sandy beach - Florida or the Bahamas. Duke's dad, Jim, invited us to go swimming at his house with beach access and we jumped at the chance. Dyna, Dylan, Duke, and Holly (not Molly) had a wonderful time swimming in the ocean and then back at Jim's pool.

It's obvious - Dyna lives to swim...










After the swimming, Jim and Lynn made an excellent grilled salmon dinner. The dogs enjoyed sleeping and a Dogster frosty treat. Thanks Jim and Lynn for a truly wonderful end to our Vero Beach stay.

The Drama

Why is it that women can bear children, endure regular pain and masochistic medical exams, live through menopause, and if a man has so much as a head cold the world must stop? I don't know if it's heartening or not to know that this actually extends to other species.

Dyna has had 5 litters, the first by caesarian, and 3 major operations without so much as a whine. Earlier this week she cut two pads on oyster shells while swimming and never skipped a beat.  Dylan now cut his pad and I have never seen a more pitiful sight.  It's a good thing we think those guys are so cute or I don't know why we'd put up with them!

Mornings at the dog park...

Well, it's not Goose, but mornings at the Vero Beach dog park have become special. The dogs are now expecting to get in the dinghy as soon as we get up. They are quite interested in a large assortment of dogs that show up each day.

Duke, a large black lab, loves to tug on toys of Dylan's. It makes for quite a scene.

Our latest patient...

We must be terrible parents. We only had good intentions and we did everything right. Or maybe we just have bad dogs. I'm not sure which. But today we created an unexpected patient - Dyna. She's completely fine - just a little scraped up. Here's what happened...

We lowered the dinghy into the water and set off to check into the Vero Beach City Marina. They are super-friendly here and everyone at the office was asking about our dog team. We got the latest schedule for the free GoLine shuttle bus that takes us anywhere around the area. What an incredible feature for this place. It gives cruisers so many options for shopping, projects, or just playing.

After checking in, we checked out the new dog park right next to the marina. This is a Vero Beach off-leash park set up right along the water - about 50 yards from where our boat is located. There were about 20 different dogs of all sizes and shapes and Dylan and Dyna had a great time running around and playing.

Then Dyna found the path to the water...

In and out, over and over, both dogs swam and had a grand time. It had been a long time since either had gone swimming and they loved it. All of a sudden we noticed that Dyna had disappeared. We knew she was probably in the water so we started searching for her. We found her in the middle of the mangroves, unsure how to get back to the deeper water. This was this Maine girl's first time ever seeing mangroves and she just didn't understand them.  She finally undid herself and continued to play and have fun.

Back to the marina for a quick washing off and back into the dinghy for a ride back to the boat. Then we saw it - blood on the side of the dinghy. Back on the boat, Dyna got a full EMT primary and secondary assessment. She had a shallow cut on her left rear leg, an abrasion on her front left paw, and a variety of scrapes on her left thigh - all from the mangroves.

We used anti-bacterial cremes on our patient and created some custom bandages that she couldn't easily remove. She's resting comfortably.

Personally, I don't think she even knows that she was injured.