The Dog's Sailing Vacation '05

This year Sloop, Pirate and Chip got to go. On Monday, July 25 we packed up and set sail for Kelly's Island.

Pirate wasn't too sure of things, so he went to Sloop for comfort
Early in the afternoon weather warnings for severe thunderstorms were being broadcast and temperatures were in the mid 90's so we decided to change course for Huron, Ohio, a much closer port. We thought we would continue to Kelly's on Tuesday. Storms went north and south of us, but missed us entirely.

Tuesday morning the weather radio was calling for more severe thunderstorms so we decided to stay put. Best idea, storms went through with extraodinary lighting flashes & wind gusts. The dogs loved staying as Huron has a great beach for them

Both Chip & Pirate swam for the toy. After swimming to shore with it for a bit together they had a water fight & Chip got the toy so Pirate went on a turtle hunt with Paul. Pirate has found 6 turtles in our pond this year so is always on the prowl.
As temps were in the mid to upper 90s the dogs often stayed in the cabin in front of the fan when not at the beach to get out of the sun.
Pirate peeking in the cabin
Bedtime for Sloop

As we were supposed to be in Huron for a Tartan rendezvous on Friday we decided just to keep the dock in Huron and do some day sailing out of Huron. It also gave us time to play on our new dinghy with the dogs.

The boys went with Daddy down river to scope things out. When they came back, Sloop got to go with her Daddy. (Can't leave anyone out).
On Friday other Tartan sailboats began arriving. There were 23 in all. The dogs watched them come in from our boat.
And we had appetizers!
Crab dip in boats made of snow pea pods, carrots or celery with tortilla chips or pita chips for sails.
On Sunday we left Huron and sailed to Put In Bay. There we did not stay at a dock, but on a mooring ball. To reach shore we either took a water taxi or the dinghy. Paul had built a ramp from from the boat to the dinghy and now was the time to see if it worked.
To coax the dogs down we told them to walk it, just like they do the dogwalk in agility
During the day they rode the dinghy to shore
or just to say "woof" to friends.
In the evening they went on dinghy rides
Then it was time to head home so we left Put in Bay and headed for Vermilion for a night & back to Cleveland. The dogs were tired after 10 days on the boat.

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