“Bark, bark!” This is Your Captain Speaking

I like mom’s Mac better than dad’s PC

So today mom and dad, aka Mary Grace and Frank, took off in the dinghy and mom left her computer open. I was a little bored so I thought I would write about what things are like for me on this boat.

It’s been five months since I have lived with a yard! That might sound great if you are a fish or a bird, but as a dog ~ well I sure miss my grass sometimes. This life on a boat is pretty interesting, but really nothing feels quite as good as a nice roll and scratch in the grass! So far I have refused to give up my daily excursions to the grassy patches, but I think that is really good for my people.  They complain sometimes about taking me to land at least twice a day  but it gets them off the boat and talking to other people and stuff. Plus I get to sniff some really great new places. I don’t know many of the dogs that live here, but they have done a great job of getting rid of the squirrels. I have not seen a single squirrel since we left Texas! Boy I would like to know their secret because I never could get them to stay out of my yard back home.

Anyway, things here aren’t too bad. I spend a lot more time with MG and Frank and they let me prewash the dinner plates! They say it’s to save on water, but I think they just realize I do a really good job of licking them clean before the final wash.

With just sails, it’s really nice!

So living on a boat is quite an adjustment. I don’t like the engines very much so I like it when we can sail without using them. But sometimes my people must sail the wrong way because we are like bashing into waves. Those days I stay really close to them. Sometimes I have to actually sit on MG’s lap, not because I’m afraid or anything, just to make sure she doesn’t fall off of the boat or something. But she is getting better and I don’t have to stay as close to her as I used to.

Anyway, now that we are on the boat, my people are with me all the time and I really like it. Living in the house I used to spend most of the day sleeping but here on the boat we are too busy for that. I found some great pictures of myself (mom is always taking my picture!) so I’ll show you some of the things I do.

I’m making sure the stuff stays in the dinghy and keeping an eye out for other dinghies.

Usually when we ride in the dinghy, I hang onto the front and bark to make sure everyone knows we are coming.  I love going anywhere in the dinghy and if friends ride with us and think they should be on the bow, I just scoot right in front of them until they realize that is my spot and I need to bark.

My special dinghy spot.

I want mom and dad to stay healthy, so we take a lot of walks. Here is a view from our walk this week at Chatham Bay on Union Island.

This was some really nice grass!

 We usually see goats and I love to chase them. At first this really worried mom and dad because I would take off and disappear. But I come back to the exact same spot on the trail every time, so now they don’t worry so much.  On this walk, we saw cows! That was a big surprise.

This little cow wasn’t as interesting as the big ones.

Mom would not let me chase the cows so I just stared really hard at one. The one in this picture is just a little one. I was watching a BIG one.

They didn’t name me “Captain” for nothin’

When we are sailing, I really think I should be at the helm. I prefer to drive, but if we have guests on board, I sit back and socialize and let someone else have a chance.

Some days we swim to shore. I am a really good swimmer and my people have to wear fins to keep up with me. But I’m usually pretty excited to get there so I go really fast. On the way back I’m not as energetic, so mom or dad give me a ride back to LIB.

Here’s a pic of me on a boogie board. Looks fun, right?

Paddle boarding is great exercise for my humans. They added this blue stuff to the ends and I can really hold on now. I stand as far forward as I can and as soon as they tell me I can go swim, I jump off the board and swim to land. It’s really fun!

Hey, who’s up for a paddle?

I usually ride on dad’s board because he’s faster. (Don’t tell mom!)

Dad and I checking to see if mom is coming along.

I really like to help with everything, so when dad is looking for stuff, I do too. Dad is pretty hooked on finding coconuts lately. That’s fine with me though because it’s just one more reason to go to shore.

No squirrels, may as well help find coconuts.

One day we took the dinghy out to a tiny, deserted island called Mopion. It’s near Petit Saint Vincent if you want to find it. Anyway, it was kinda late in the day and everyone else had left so we had this great place all to ourselves. I could run around the whole island in like 10 seconds, but I’m pretty fast so don’t expect your dog to do it that quickly.

Mom and me sharing a laugh on Mopion.

Dad doesn’t do anymore of his old job, but mom still has some of those bill things to do, so she spends time on the computer doing that and posting blogs and stuff. I like to snuggle up with her when she sits still to do her stuff.

Mom doesn’t realize I know her blog password!

I’ll sit in the float!

Finally an action shot! Ha, this is dad holding the float and me jumping in. I didn’t know why he had on his mask and fins but when he offered the floating chair, I was like, heck yeah! But it got even better ~ mom jumped in the water too and they pulled me along while they snorkeled.

They snorkeled and I floated.

Wow, that lounge chair is great isn’t it? I actually fell asleep while they were busy looking at the fish. But who can blame me? My fur was a little wet, the sun was nice and warm and the water was gently rocking the chair. Come on, you know your would have slept too.

Mom and dad don’t always take me with them when they swim and snorkel. Sometimes we all go to the beach, then they go snorkel. When they do, I dig a little hole under the dinghy, just deep enough to reach the cooler sand. Then I take a nap and wait for them to come back to shore.

Napping under the dinghy is really comfy.

As you can see, my days are so busy I don’t get to nap like I used to in the house.  And night time is busy too because I sleep outside and keep watch over mom and dad. I used to like to sleep inside near them, but now I like to be outside and up as high as I can so I can see really well. If anyone comes our way, I bark really loud so mom and dad know about it. I think they are glad I am keeping watch over them.

I could tell you some more stuff, but mom and dad will probably be back soon so I’m gonna finish.  If you like hearing about things I do, tell mom about it in the comments and maybe she’ll let me write again some time.

Keep barkin’ y’all.  This is Captain, out.  (I’ve picked up some radio speak too.)