The Dog Liked Beer!

The Dog Liked Beer!

When I was living down in the Fl. Keys I had a Wolf Hybrid that liked beer. It is nice to have a drinking partner that likes the same things you do, that likes the same beer you do but gets drunk faster than you do. That way you know it is time to go home.

Little Sherlock and I would go sailing together and when we got back to the marina, we would go to the little food and drink place at the marina. It had all outside deck seating so the dog was allowed. Sherlock quickly learned the routine and when we got back from the sail he would go to the bar while I put the boat away. The bar maid got to know Sherlock and would give him a mug when he got there and put it on my tab. He became one of the regulars at the bar. He was a one and a ½ mug drunk. When he stopped drinking I knew it was time to head home. 

People would buy him a round of beer all the time. The bar maid charged him ½ mug rates because he seldom got through two beers, and he was good for business. It became a joke that they would have what he was drinking and give him another one. Sherlock would share his mugs with me so we all were happy.

The dog I have now is not a beer drinker. He likes to sail, but he is not a drinking buddy like Sherlock. But that was one of the things that made Sherlock special.

 With a face like this how could you not be happy having a beer with him?

New Cat=New Peck Order

New Cat=New Peck Order

With the new kitten my wife brought home there has been discourse and a disturbance in the cat peck order of our household. I would not think a new kitten would disrupt the order of things but it has. All the other 8 cats have been confronting each other. I think part of it is to let the new kitten know what the order is.

One cat that has grown bigger since the last reordering is moving up in ranks. Grayson and Monty have been getting in to it. Grayson now outweighs Monty, but Monty is older and is a scrapper. Monty grew up with the dog and the dog comes to his rescue when the two cats get into it. Grayson is not afraid of the dog, but two to one is still two to one.

The Kitten (George) has fallen in with sleeping with the Took. Took is the low cat in the order and is a big afraid-y-cat. None of the other cats give the Took much attention so it is good that the kitten and he get along.

The top end of the order is also in dispute. I think Dr. Watson is still Top cat but he is being challenged by two of the younger cats. Dr. Watson still puts the others in place by just stopping and giving a look, but I think there may be a cat fight down the road.

The 3 Arkansas cats are also trying to adjust the order between the three of them. The 3 of them get into it every day now. It is mostly noise and posturing. The dog runs to break it up before it goes too far. I think the dog is going to get it from the cat’s one of these days when he tries to break it up. 

The two females in the pack have been having Sing Fests. The two of them just sit and meow. No confrontation, they just sit and meow. When you go to see if something is wrong they just look at you. There singing brings me and George running to see what it is all about. I think they are training me.

George has no idea how much unrest he has generated. He just wants to play with everyone.

Kitten and the Aquarium

Kitten and the Aquarium

Our new kitten George discovered the fish in the fish tank the other night. He now sits by the tank and swats at the fish when the go past. It is cat TV for him.

George runs back and forth following the fish in the tank and swats at them when they get near him. Watching him watching the fish is as enjoyable as just watching the fish, maybe even better.

He also likes to chase the fish shadows on the floor by the tank. When the sun shines through the tank the fish shadows swim across the floor. He now has one of the other cats trying to catch shadows also. The rainbow the sun casts when going through the tank also fascinates one of the cats. When the fish swim, their ripples make the rainbow move. Newman our Main Coon sits and bats at the rainbow. That is his big exercise of the day.    

Boat Wet Dry Vac

Boat wet/dry vac is great for getting the water from your dinghy that you can not get with a bucket.

I use my wet dry vac on our boats more than any other place. I bought a cheap one because I figured I would most likely drop it in the water and because I am cheap. 8-) It is a 110 unit and that means an electric cord needs to be used to power it. The power cord is a pain in the rear but that is just part of using it.

I have seen a few battery run 12 volt units but most of these are junk. They have little water lifting power and not much use time. I have a 12 volt one that I can plug in to the boat battery setup, but it is not much good. It will pick up dry dirt, but for liquids it is limited…it only holds about a quart of liquid.

I read a write up on the Aqua Charge Extreme battery powered rechargeable water pump. It can pump both fresh or salt water, is 3.6 lbs., and the unit is completely submersible (up to 6’). It comes with a 12 volt DC charger, an AC wall charger and a charging cradle. A garden hose is used as a discharge hose.

It is supposed to be able to pump 10 gallons of water a minute and lift water up to 17’, and can pump 600 gallons of water on a charge. The MSRP price is $160.00.

It looks like a great unit but the price is high. There is also a smaller unit available. For what I use my vac for most of the time this unit would be great and much smaller. Before we go cruising next time I may just have to get one of these. I think I could rationalize the price. 8-)

Cheap Anchors

Cheap Anchors

When it comes to anchors many of the cheap anchors are not worth the money. The tensile strength of what they are made of lets them bend and deform under heavy load. The anchor looks good, is light, can hold, buts bends when you pull it up. I have a couple of anchors with bent shanks.

The shanks bent when the angle of the pull from the boat changed. The anchor still held but when it came up it was deformed. These anchors are now my 2^nd, back up anchors. If I lost one of these I would not care all that much.

When you pick an anchor, look for one with a hefty anchor shank. The better anchors will give you a tensile or yield strength of what they are made of, but most do not give this info. You want one with a MPa 240 or above if possible.     

Diabetic's on Boats

If you are diabetic and go out on a boat let the others in your group know. If you become weird because you get hypo or hyperglycemia while out on the water they can help and not panic.