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Position: 38°39’07″N 70°54’12″W
Hi Guys! Marlon here! Before you ask, yep enjoying urban life with my buddy Spencer. I’ve got him pretty well trained now. And I only get worried if he passes out and my peoples aren’t around to revive him. My inner Renni the Rescuer comes out every time he keels over in the middle of the night. I run and wake my peoples up with lots of whining and licking. They give him a special doggie treat and old Spencer is back on his paws in no time.
Enough of domestic life. I got a message on the Doggo-net about another sailing pup a couple of days ago. Minnie was out with her peoples on a sailing trip when she got into a big adventure. Now, I know a lot about big adventures, but I’ve never experienced anything like Minnie did.
You see her peoples left New Jersey just after Thanksgiving on a small sailboat with a goal of reaching warm waters down south in Florida. If you ask me, anyone nutty enough to leave that late in the season should head down the Intracoastal Waterway like my peoples did. It’s nice and quiet that time of year and you don’t have to deal with the bad weather on the open ocean. Ignoring Minnie’s advice, her peoples decided to go around the outside of Cape Hatteras. Mad as Hatters as I’d say. We dogs don’t call it the Boneyard of the Atlantic for nothing!
Seems like her peoples weren’t listening to Minnie at all. They ran aground at one point early in the trip and got rescued by the local fire department. When they took off to round the Cape, Minnie pointed out there was a big storm brewing out west and they should stay in port a bit longer. But her peoples were a couple of old guys that weren’t about to listen to a young bitch like Minnie. She even said that one of them couldn’t operate a cellphone reliably. If only she had opposable dewclaws, she’d have shown them.
Anyway, they left harbor and almost as soon as they did the storm rolled through as predicted. They lost their mast and the engine conked out. I have to say, Minnie must be really brave. I don’t like it when the sail covers flap in harbor. To be out at sea in big waves and lose the mast – sheesh! I can’t even imagine what that would be like. It would be poopifying!
The wind blew their boat offshore and into the Gulf Stream. That was a little warmer, but they headed north. In the wrong direction. By this time Minnie had given up talking with the captain and just went along for the ride. Without their sails all they did was bob along hoping to find another ship. She didn’t mention meeting whales. Whales are terrifying! I know. I met some once, and once was enough.
After a few days things got a little rough. They started running out of water and food. Minnie said she had plenty of dog food and was happy sharing it. But the old guys insisted on eating beans which made things a bit stinky below decks. Drifting north had one benefit: they got back into busier shipping lanes. Minnie said she heard the rumble of a big ship’s engines that couldn’t be far off and barked as loud as she could in excitement. One of her peoples went up and started waving his arms. The other peoples grabbed a flashlight hoping they’d be seen. Well, a sharp-eyed peoples lookout on the big tanker saw something and the captain changed course towards them. Oils well that ends well (arf!arf!).
Minnie said she much preferred life on the tanker than on her little boat. Lots more friendly peoples who gave her massages. When they got back to shore there was lots of excitement and cameras and people asking questions. Although, not many peoples had questions for Minnie. I told her it was probably because they were specists who couldn’t bother learning dog properly.
I guess the lesson is, if you have a sailing dog on board you’d best listen to their advices. Otherwise you’ll end up heading in the wrong direction without a sail. Take it from me – and Minnie! Chow!
Editor’s Note
Reviewing the local weather around the time Minnie and her crew went missing there was every indication that a major storm was about to hit. Either the crew didn’t look at a forecast, or they didn’t know how to interpret one. Their other major failure was not carrying an EPIRB. An Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon uses GPS and satellite communications technology to alert search teams of the position of your boat (well, your EPIRB technically). At least it helps reduce the search area and increase the likelihood of rescue. Aleta has an EPIRB that her crew tests regularly and registers biannually, as required by the U.S. Government’s NOAA SARSAT rules.
