Nov 11 - inaugural trip

It was another busy day.

Sandy had training with Jessica and I took Cassie for a short walk.  It's like 6-10 feet at a time outbound as she wants to inspect every leaf and then a fast trot home.

Even before that, however, I'd taken Cassie out in the boat just to spin a bit.  I had a devil of a time getting the impeller to prime when I was flushing the motor so I switched muffs and then it worked fine.  The Yamaha has a very small water intake and the first set of muffs were designed for larger.

Cassie had a vet appointment at 10:30, so Sandy took here there.  Of course they all fuss over the puppy at the vet.  This trip was for another distemper booster, fecal sample to ensure no worms and general checkup and weighing.  She's 13 pounds 2 oz, putting her at the bottom, but not under the scale.  Average is apparently 17 pounds at 11 weeks.  Heavens, that'd be too hard on my back !

Next up, the inaugural trip.  Off in the boat to the island, we weren't the only ones there.   She wasn't keen when a group of dogs rushed her but was ok one-on-one. 

The big news, however, is that she went swimming.  She simply followed close behind me as I walked gradually into deeper water and then she was swimming.  It came without thinking (if dogs think).  We'll work on that combining the fetching and swimming instincts so that she'll be ready for Chili and Noodles in the Spring at the cottage.

While using this boat doesn't save a lot of time, given that there is a little more putting to do to get back to the house it is less of a production.  We can simply get in the boat and go.  Well, it's not quite that easy as we do have to pay attention to the tides.  It was fairly shallow when we came back but this boat can deal with less than a foot of water.  Had we come back to less water, I'd have had to leave it at the SYC for a couple of hours as it was almost low tide.  Right now tides are high so low is ok; at times tides are low and low is almost no water.  Perhaps a little dredging might correct that, perhaps.

Here's Cassie on the beach but no video of swimming, unfortunately -- 

www.wdthompson.com/videos/cassie.on.the.beach.mov

Sandy opted to try out yoga with Debbie so she left at 5:15 or so and was back at 7pm.  She's already had lamb marinading, so dinner was quick (and good !) afterwards.  Will she do yoga again ?  Perhaps, perhaps not. 

Late in the day we received news that Dad's cousin Harry passed away.  He is/was Allan & Eric's older brother.  He'd been to visit us a few times in Radnor along with Mom and Dad and of course I saw him in 2013 when I was over to the UK for LEL and then we visited with him in 2014.  He had moved into an assisted living place about three months ago.  Sad news, yes, but Harry had been very frustrated with his own blindness and frailty when we saw him in 2014. 

After boating and before yoga, I went over to the Marina to turn over the title for the little Whaler.  They'll call me when the motor is ready for pickup ... no rush, as I told them !  I realized as I was heading over there that the DMV would be closed for veterans day but thought that I might as well cruise by -- it's on the way -- just in case they're open.  Well, they were, surprise surprise, so I did the transfer out as well as the purchase of the skiff and trailer.

She asked me if I was going to use the boat in the next little while and I said that I used it today.  She covered her ears and laughed.  She wanted to know, basically, if I wanted to license them for the balance of this year (less than a month to my birthday) and next.  Ugh.  Well, as I said, I don't want to be stopped on the water and not have the correct paperwork, so yes. 

It was an expensive visit, mostly because of the sales tax on the boat and trailer but also because of two years registration on both.  The trailer will be sold but in the meantime needs to be licensed.  In retrospect, I could have ignored the trailer for the next few weeks because it won't be used ... much ... but oh well.

I now have five ... yes 5 ... trailers to my name at the Florida DMC.  Trailers for the Bayliner, Whaler, Skiff, the 5x8 and the 4x6 box trailers.  If this was Ontario, you pay a license fee once for your lifetime.  In Florida you pay annually.  It's simply a money grab but heck, I don't pay any income tax here so I shouldn't complain !

Also before yoga, I was cutting off some of the dead banana leaves and making big piles.  Cassie was going crazy jumping and rolling in the piles, having a great time.  By the end of the day, between the vet (stress), boating and the island (lots of exercise) and these leaf piles, she was exhausted.

Hey -- a tired puppy is a good puppy !!