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The crew left early this morning for their trip to Castine, Maine. Dylan, Dee Dee, and Dora use a lot of space when underway. But everyone managed to find a spot in the back seat.

Dylan, Dee Dee, and Dora arrived back at Georgetown Yacht Basin last week in preparation for Red Head’s second haul out. Sort of deja vu all over again. Only this time it’s better.

After several days of low humidity, the crew is back to those infamous hot and humid days. Mom grew up in the Maryland side of the DC suburbs. Mom and Dad met in DC and lived in Maryland for 8 years before moving to Maine. They know what summers are like around here. It’s one of the reasons they escaped to Maine.

Each morning over her coffee, Mom checks her Weather Underground app to see what sort of day it will be. All she really needs to do is check the crew’s heat-o-meter. Dylan’s checks in first and is measured in “amount of paw dragging on the return.” He can pick up the most subtle changes.

Dee Dee is next. She has a macro view with only two settings – bouncing along so not too bad vs slow walking, it’s gonna be hot.

Dora is the final measure, warning only of catastrophic heat. She thinks the heat is just fine, so when she flops down on the grass in the shade on her way back from the dog park (as she did today), you know you’re in for a HOT day.

Fortunately, Red Head has great air conditioning.

Dora has been loving her time at the dog park with her dad. She is a very social dog who only wants to play, play, play with every dog that comes into the park. Recently she meet her yin to her yang, or yang to her yin, or whatever.The bottom line, the…

Any time the Red Head crew stays at a spot for more than a few days they develop a routine. Their Baltimore routine is a bit different than ones of the past.

The first day here, Dylan, Dee Dee, and Dora walked to the Canton dog park. It’s a bit less than a mile each way. Dylan sat in the shade and then dragged most of the way back to the boat. Dee Dee was not behaving so her dad took her out for a walk.

The new morning routine is as follows. Up (early) for breakfast, a bit of play time, and a snooze. Around 8 am, Mom takes Dylan for a walk on the waterfront promenade, before it gets hot. He loves sitting in the air conditioning when he returns.

At 9 am, Dad takes Dora for a walk to the dog park. He returns with one throughly exhausted pup.

About 9:15 am, Mom takes Dee Dee for a walk on the promenade, using the one-on-one time to work on leash and other dog manners. She has never liked small dogs and while she won’t approach one, if she is approached it can be ugly. This has now spread to pretty much any unfamiliar dog. Hence, her dog park restrictions. Mom wonders if Dee Dee is feeling her dominance challenged by Dora. It’s hard to know what is going on in those little brains. Fortunately, she is improving and seems to like the special attention.

For the next few weeks we have a routine that seems to work for everyone.

Dylan and Dee Dee discovered the small “window” outside the port galley door soon after moving onto Red Head. That pic was from October 2016 while at New Bern, NC.

Dora loves her little window. Every time she steps out the door, she stops to take a peek. You never know what you might see…

Our sweet Dylan turns 12 today.

He’s just as cute as the day we brought him home.

Dad is lobbying for birthday cupcakes. Mom just wants to cuddle her handsome boy.

Thank you, Dylan, for 12 wonderful years. There’s still many adventures to come.

What could keep the Red Head crew from putting up a blog entry for over a week? Start with some engine problems, add in ridiculously hot weather, throw in a haul out and 3 days living on the hard (in said hot weather), and top it off with poor WiFi.

On the bright side, they did find two dog parks.

Three days on the hard meant getting the crew off and on the boat. We used a series of ramps, much like Stewart a couple years ago. Tried airplane stairs but Dylan would have none of that. On the final day, we used a lift to take them off one at a time prior to Red Head going back in the water.

It’s been a rough week, culminating in a sad change of summer plans. Dylan, Dee Dee, and Dora are now off to Baltimore for a month. More on the Red Head saga later.

For now the crew needs a couple days to relax.

It’s been a hectic time for Mom and Dad. There was the anchorage with the million tiny bugs followed by hours of cleaning them up. The engine troubles as we headed up the Chesapeake Bay that ended in one engine going down. Dad’s first docking with a single engine. He did great. The gale warnings that occurred in the midst of said engine troubles. And even an infestation of frogs (OK, one frog) hiding onboard, most likely to eat the remains of the bugs. 

Dee Dee and Mom arrived home yesterday afternoon. Mom called when about 20 minutes out so Dad could setup the ramp. Then he told Dylan and Dora we were coming. Soon after was the happy reunion.