Where the Water Meets Land

[sabray]

I have had a few entertaining moments while fully dissolved in boat life and then encountering landsmen.
Recently while anchored in Baltimore harbor. My son and I rowed over to visit a couple. After a beer I thought I had better check to see if Sheila wanted to come join us. I sent my 8 year old off rowing to Sabray (wearing a Jacket). He gets over to the boat and is chatting with Mom while standing in the Dinghy holding onto the rails. A policeman on shore saw all this and was getting agitated hollering from the dock that Brayden should sit down. We waved acting like we thought he was saying hello. He wandered off unable to do much with the situation. I thought this was pretty funny as Brayden has been iaround boats since he was 2.
Another friend recently got pulled over in his double Kayak on the hudson with his daughter. Some one reported a childs voice maybe in distress coming from the water. In fact they had taken to singing while they paddled. The police were called and they were summoned to shore to explain the situation. Ive had a few other moments where things appeared normal on board but from shore they must have been alarming.
Thinking these things must happen quite a bit and may bring some good stories to light.

[RiverRat]

This may not be exactly what you had in mind, but my husband and I were sitting on our dock a few weeks ago watching the occasional boat go by when we saw a boat going by with a driver and another adult male on the stern with a dog. Much to our surprise, the man throws the dog overboard!! The dog 'dog paddles' is way behind the slow moving boat while my husband and I consider all our options. There weren't that many. Swim out to 'save' the dog, start up the boat and go after the dog, call someone? After about fifty yards and we're still stunned, the driver comes to a stop and the dog jumps back on board with a little help, shakes off the water and runs up to the front of the boat with it's tongue hanging out. The dog looked VERY happy.

I guess that's just something the dog liked to do... who knew?

[Minggat]

If the dog loved it, I would think they'd have to restrain him to keep him aboard. I'd say,.... who knows? And I wouldn't answer with "dog throwing people".

[IdoraKeeper]

This summer while in Roche Harbor Wa. I happend to see a large golden retriever swimming among the boats in the anchorage. He had a tennis ball in his mouth and was quite far from shore. Further observation revealed his owner on a nearby power yacht and a setup with two floating ramps leading to the swim step of the yacht. On the swim step there was an additional dog and two pieces of carpet. The owner (on the fly bridge) was using a device to hurl tennis balls hundreds of feet and voice commanding the dogs individually to fetch the balls. The access door to the aft deck of the yacht was closed and the dogs remained on the swim step alternately sunning themselves or leaping headlong into the sea to chase balls. They were quiet but clearly very very happy. After a period of this they were tired out and were seen sleeping (snoring even) while still drying on the swim step. This was a case of throwing,, but not of whole dogs.

Todd

[Minggat]

Originally Posted by IdoraKeeper

.... but not of whole dogs.

Todd

Good one.

My daughter and her husband came down to visit us in the marina... and.. without mentioning it.... brought their GREAT DANE, complete with "shoestrings" hanging from the corners of its' mouth.

Sweet dog really, but I quietly wanted to throw my a son-in-law after a bowling ball.

[Pelagic]

Like something you find on a menu; “Surf and Turf” is an acquired taste that often seems to compete with one another.

It is all about perspective and reminds me of a great line in a book celebrating Canada’s Bi-Centennial, where a transplanted prairie farmer retired in Vancouver, was asked what he thought of these magnificent mountains.

His reply:…. “they are nice, but they do spoil the view!”

[mintyspilot]

I have to say that it seems a great way to exercise the dog when you have nowhere for it to walk or run. Many dogs love swimming.

Is it really any different from people on bicycles or skates pulling the dog along on a lead?

As for Sabray's initial comment, this sort of "over safe" attitude has been around for years and is now beginning to backfire as mnay people will have nothing to do with kids anymore because of child protection and liability issues. Even 10 years ago when I took my kids to Disney, the littlest one was too small to see the parade so I lifted her up to see. Within seconds the park staff were round me demanding that I set her down. I explained that there was no way she could see the parade from down on the ground but they said that it was for her safety. So she bawled her eyes out and missed the parade she wanted to see so she could be "safe".

The world's gone mad.

[sabray]

I lived aboard with a chessie for 10 years. She would stand in the bow waiting for her shore leave. She never once performed with dignity while docking. Everytime unless I remembered to hold her tight she would jump ship 6 to 8 feet from the dock and swim ashore. Occasionally she would jump ship while at anchor or on a mooring. Enjoy remembering her and our days sailing together.