True Blue Dog Training

Daisy...Do

I'm half crazy over my love for you

Here is the little Princess!!

Daisy is our new Pomeranian. She just turned two years old. Our last dog, Kitty loved boating but she was not the perfect boat dog. So with our new dog came new possibilities!.



Kitty was an eternal landlubber. Sometimes our cruises took a little longer than we planned and she would be miserable waiting for us to arrive and take her to shore. We felt bad but she would never relieve herself. She wouldn't even go on a big rock, it had to be real land. We rowed her ashore three times a day. Once early in the morning, another time mid-day, and the last before bedtime;which was never convenient. Even in the summer it is dark at 9:30 or 10, which would be a good time to take her so she could make it until 8am the next morning. We could never lounge around in our pajamas before taking her because we had to be dressed in order to row her to shore.


I would like to share with you what we did in order to make our new dog cruiser friendly.


When we would first take her to the boat I would get newspapers and place them on the cockpit floor. She had been trained on newspapers as a puppy but I don't know if that actually had a lot to do with it. Because as soon as we got a doggie door at home, she went outside. So when we finally did visit the boat she didn't want to go on the papers.

Silly little dog loves her newspapers;thankfully these were clean when she decided to take a nap on them in the cockpit

I had to take clean newspapers with me on our walk when we first arrived at the marina. I would make sure that I would dip them at least a little bit in her pee and take them with me back to the boat. The other important factor was to keep putting her on the newspapers and coax her with a treat. It did take patience at first because she wanted to run around on the top-side of the boat. I had to keep getting her and putting her back and crinkling the bag with the treats. And say, “TREAT!”. I cut just a little bit of a snausage (dog treat) off at a time and she gets that whenever she goes on the paper.

Daisy looking in the companionway from the cockpit:she doesn't really want in, she's just checking on us. =)

If she didn't go I would put her back below. Then she would run back over to the stairs and want out. It didn't take long for her to get the idea that going on the paper meant treat. In the morning she will still occasionally want to go up on the bow if I don't stand there and watch her. But I don't mind because I can be standing below in a heated cabin, still in my pajamas with just my head out of the boat.


I always get worried when we are away from the boat for long that she won't remember. We are away from the boat for 5 months but it is just like old hat to her.


This last time we went to the boat in October, one of the first things I did was put the papers down. I don't have to pre-treat them any more that was just in the very beginning of her training. This time just cracked me up because no sooner did I put the paper down then did she run over and pee on them. Of course, she got a treat right away. What a great little sailing dog!!


Daisy is a lot more insecure than Kitty ever was. At first she didn't like the noise of anything on the boat, and would squeal in a high pitched frenzy. I couldn't put her down below because she would get even more frightened. Also when I held her she would try to jump out of my arms which is not a good thing when you are on a boat in the middle of the ocean. I really thought at one point that I would have to get a doggie front pack and wear it.

Daisy, safe and content on her leash system:hooked to the helm cup holder

What we ended up doing was putting a harness on her and a leash that is connected to the helm. She can run around on all of the cockpit cushions and get down on the cockpit floor but she can't get on to the top side of the boat. She use to just sit in my lap the whole time but now she will lay down where ever she wants although usually close by, depending on the weather and calmness of the sea. She rarely gets afraid now of sounds. Before she even freaked out over the sound of the engine, let alone the boom banging and so forth. I think the leash makes her feel secure.


The last time we docked I let her off of her leash but she didn't realize it. I was off of the boat walking around the marina taking pictures and I could see her just sitting in the cockpit all content. Pretty cool.

Everything on the boat (and off) has its place!

Awww.....good little Daisy! =)

Roche Harbor, San Juan Island

Roche is French for Rock

Roche Harbor Marina

San Juan Island and Stuart Island, click on map to enlarge...

Hotel de Haro and McMillins Dinning Room

Chapel overlooking the marina

All of the islands offer different venues. Roche Harbor is one of our favorite islands. Roche Harbor Resort is one of the tourist hot spots. There are only two ways to reach Roche Harbor; boat, or plane. It is located on the north side of San Juan Island; Friday Harbor is another popular place, located on the east side of San Juan Island.

There is a U.S. Customs building facing the harbor on the outside finger of the marina. There is plenty of space there to tie up, and are usually plenty of agents. This is one of the main customs offices for entry into the U.S.

We were able to find anchorage outside of the marina in about 30 ft of water close enough to the marina to receive Internet reception. We subscribe to BBX Internet which is a marina based Internet provider and were able to log in while swinging on a hook. It was not a great connection but good to know if in a pinch for money, or if you just want to anchor for lunch and check your e-mail.

It takes us about seven hours to get to Roche Harbor. Sailboats are not about speed. We usually make it a two day trip on the way over, and a straight shot back. If it is our true destination we might spend the night at Spencer Spit which is on Lopez Island. It is a popular anchorage with plenty of space, lots of mooring balls and easy depths to anchor in. It is probably about three hours from Spencer to Roche. Otherwise, we will just go in a general westerly direction and stop off at one of our other favorite anchorages for a day or two.

We rent a slip for at least a couple days each year in the marina and always have a great time. They have one dock that is for guest moorage and so we are all grouped together Everyone is relaxed and ready for a good time. That particular dock holds about 80 boats. Boats of all shapes and sizes. There are covered floating patios located between the slips for large gatherings. They have motorized barges to take you over to the pool area. They even have a mobile pump out boat and will come to your boat free of charge.

Guest docks at Roche Harbor

This summer when we went they had a Tolly Craft Convention. The guest dock was full, although we did have reservations. Our friends, John and Bettie Perry met us at the resort and were standing at our assigned slip when we pulled up. The Roche Harbor Master ended up assigning us a slip on the opposite side of the marina in the permanent slip section. It was a nice slip but it would have been a lot more fun in the midst of the Tolly Craft's Margaritaville Convention.... =)

One of the Tolly Crafter events; Margaritaville Dingy Parade

Oh, well...we were glad the weather had just changed for the better; it had been in the high 60's, and cloudy. Summer took a long time to come this year. We were at Roche Harbor probably the hottest days of the year, June 28, and 29th, and it was in the 80's.

John, Bettie and Daisy sailing on True Blue

We planned to give The Perry's a sailing lesson. They'd like to learn how to sail, and go with us on a leg to Mexico. We took them out into Speiden Channel and hauled the sail up. Bettie took the helm, she was eager to learn all about sailing. Mitch loves to teach. He explained all the procedures and mechanics of the different instruments. He's a natural teacher, whether it be sailing, water skiing or what have you. He enjoys the technical aspects of things. The only cog in the works...nice hot weather is not condusive to sailing wind. We decided to venture out to Haro Strait hoping to find a breeze.




We eventually agreed to sail over to Stuart Island and have lunch. John was at the wheel and pulled along side a linear moorage and we tied off. The sun was blazing down on us and the “pretty" umbrella I brought was no use to us (it was too big and hit the boom and the back stays in the cockpit) Mitch had tried to tell me... but I didn't listen.We later took turns standing in the water on the ladder to cool off and after about the third rung down one was able to feel the cold begin to penetrate your feet. The water temp was about 48 degrees. Not too inviting for swimming. It was still fun to show the Perry's Stuart Island and eat lunch in the cockpit with our xm radio playing. We returned to our slip and they treated us to dinner. We'll have to invite the Perry's out again in better sailing weather. They were wonderful to us and we enjoyed our time together. Thank you!!!

Picture of Stuart Island Click to enlarge

Example of a linear moorage on Stuart Island

Roche Harbor is a great place with all kinds of ammenities: pool, small grocery store, two restaurants, art vendors, sculpture park, historic hotel, a chapel, old brick pathways, flower garden, showers, fuel dock, condos, cottages, bike rentals, hiking, tennis and ping-pong, not to mention kayak rentals and whale watching tours.


It is wise during the summer months to make a reservation although I haven't heard them turn people away. The dock crew are very accommodating. They stand at your slip while you pull in and tie your boat off for you. They'll also bring you a hose, or an electrical cord if you've forgotten one. It's a top notch marina.

The captain is on the stern of the boat manuevering the boat

along side the fuel dock by remote.

Click to Enlarge

There are a lot of mega buck yachts moored in the marina there. It is fun to walk by on the docks and look at their dingy boats that are really regular speed boats worth up to maybe $80,000. I've seen some with a helicopter aboard and many with wave runners.


The Sculpture Park is a must see. It is located on top of the hill near the airport in a meadow. A small donation is suggested at the gate, where they hand you a brochure with the names and locations of all of the sculptures. Many of them are for sale with their prices listed ( in the thousands of dollars range). It's still fun to look and get a little exercise at the same time.

View of the Sculpture Park: Mitch, Lori, John & Bettie

A few of the many Sculptures at the park

At sunset the marina holds a colors ceremony which has been their tradition since 1957. It is fun for the whole family (well...maybe not the dog = ) There is music, the lowering of state and country flags, and cannon firing.



The ferry doesn't run to Roche Harbor but friends can take the ferry to Friday Harbor and bring their car, or take a shuttle to Roche. The return trip on the ferry is free. Actually we boated over to Friday Harbor with friends in their big motor boat and hopped on the ferry back to Anacortes for free.

If you ever go to the San Juans make sure you don't miss Roche Harbor.

Anacortes

Downtown Anacortes copper-pillared Arch

There are three Main Marinas in Anacortes: Cap Sante, Anacortes and Skyline.

Cap Sante Marina is a municipal marina which means it is owned by the city. Recently upgraded with new docks, aluminum ramps, and fuel dock. There is a free 24/7 pump out dock, and transient moorage for visitors. The Harbor Master is located here and is a point of entry from Canada. The facilities are nice with two sets of bathrooms and showers for boaters. It's a fun place to just walk around since all of the docks are open to the public and it is easy walking to grocery stores and downtown.

These two photos show Cap Sante on the left, and Ancortes Marina on the far right.

Anacortes Marina is private. The rates are similar to Cap Sante. We pay $290.00 to moor our 34 ft sailboat. The docks are gated and the showers and grounds are well maintained.

When entering Anacortes and Cap Sante by water you need to pay close attention to the channels. The channels were drudged out in order to make it deep enough to enter. The channel itself is usually about 24 ft deep, and quickly drops to 14 feet and below the farther outside you go. Our depth finder has an alarm below 15 ft. We have a draft of 6ft.

I think people choose between Anacortes and Cap Sante by what slips are available. I like both of the settings, although Anacortes Marina is farther from downtown. Anacortes has a fuel and pump-out dock ran by Marine Service from 8-5. They charge $4 to let you pump it out.

There are a few live-a boards in our marina. The ones we have met work close by. One of the couples were living on a 27' sailboat even through the winter and with a small dog...talk about cabin fever, no thanks.

Skyline Marina, condos on left, Burrows Island in distance

Skyline Marina is on the opposite side of Fidalgo Island, far from downtown. They do have a restaurant and a small gas station store but the marina is mainly surrounded by condos and nice homes. The entrance to the marina by water is shallow and you need to time it just right. The entire marina seems small and tight to me. Mitch sailed our boat over there to have it hauled-out in order to work on it in the work yard there. It saved us a lot of money re-painting the hull ourselves. Algae and crustacean grow continuously and diving companies hire out to clean boat hulls every 3 to 6 months but after a year or two all of the special bottom paint is worn off and needs to be redone. The work yard has day time hours only, no bathrooms and did not allow you to stay on your boat. It is one of the few yards that still allow you to work on your boat yourself. It cost us $550.00 to have the boat hauled out and for 3 days in the yard. One gallon of bottom paint was $230.00, and to replace two through hull fittings was $200.00. Can you imagine what labor would have cost?

True Blue hauled and repainted May 2008, Skyline yard

Anacortes is a nice little tourist town with kayak rentals, whale watching tours, boat charters, ferry service to the San Juans, and a quaint down town.

There is also a wonderful paved walk/bike path that runs from Cap Sante Marina up past Anacortes Marina and about all the way along Padilla Bay almost to the highway coming into town. There are two main grocery stores: Food Pavillion and Safeway. There is a big West Marine store, a few hardware stores, gift stores, Walgreen's, Bi-Rite, and some nice restaurants such as the Rock Fish Grill with it's home-brewed beers, and a few Mexican, and Seafood places.

The first time we ever really heard of Anacortes was in the fall of 2003 when we were looking for a sailboat to buy. We had driven over to the Seattle area and had looked at one in Elliot Bay Marina, it was a 1979 34 foot C&C for 36,000. It was pretty run down, and didn't even have a compass. We had then driven over to see our daughter's place in Lynnwood when I mentioned there was another boat we could see in Anacortes. We pulled out a map to see just where it was and I was able to persuade Mitch to make the hour long drive.

Our boat was listed through Straw Hat Yacht Sales. I saw this picture on the web site for the boat and thought that Anacortes must be a tiny, out of the way place where no one else would drive to in order to look for a boat. How funny!!! =) We liked the boat right away. It was extremely well kept. The décor was inviting and the price was right, only $40,000. The broker's name was Ernie we really liked him he and his family had sailed the seven seas. We made arrangements to buy it pending a marine survey, and a sea trial.

We returned in a week with a check in hand, well...it was in my purse but where was my purse?!!! We had been taking the dog for a walk along the marina path and had sat down on a bench while waiting for the office to open. We went in to the office and guess what! No purse... I couldn't believe it. I just started praying right away, and ran out of the office, so embarrassed, to back track my steps. I couldn't find it in the rest room or at the bench where we had been sitting. Then I remembered, Mitch had moved to different bench while I was preoccupied with the dog. Thank God, there it was still sitting on the original bench. Phew!! I would have never heard the end of losing a $41,000.00 check!!

We love Anacortes. The town is clean and inviting. There are 100 life size murals of early settlers on the down town business buildings. I remember parking at the post office and my dog barking at the mural of the postman on the wall. =)

The name Anacortes is actually derived from the name, Anna Curtis. Anna Curtis was Amos Bowman's wife and he named the town in her honor. Awww!=)

Pictures From Send Off

Pictures from Michelle's Bravo Company Send Off

Michelle and best friend Lisa

End of Seasons August 2008

July 4th

There are two seasons ending soon: the time we have with our daughter, Michelle before leaving for her second deployment to Iraq, and warm weather sailing.



Michelle is 23 years old and in her 6th year of service in the Army National Guard. She was recently promoted to Sargeant, E5. Her MOS is actually a Light Wheel Mechanic but she transfered to Bravo Company, unit 181 which is a part of the 81st Brigade, and she is now Bravo Leader on a gun truck. Apparently they didn't need any more mechanics and decided to train her Company to conduct convoy and base security at eight unspecified locations across Iraq.

Michelle use to string safety pins together for a necklace:times have changed

We are headed to her Send Off on Tuesday, August 19th in Yakima where our son, Daniel and Michelle's close friend, Lisa will meet us. She will be leaving for training in Wisconsin at Fort Mc Coy soon afterward.



We had a blast last weekend together. There was an underlying sadness since we knew we'd have to part soon but we tried to ignore it. We had a myriad of appointments to keep: hair, nail, eye, dr., make-up...=) and lots of shopping to occupy us.



I was so glad that Michelle had me make an eye exam appointment. We went to America's Best Contact and eye glasses. For only $69.95 you get an eye exam and two pairs of glasses. I was picking out two pairs of the glasses included in the deal but Michelle and her keen eye for style, picked out one of the pairs and treated me to the difference. (I'm just too cheap! =) Reminds me of when we had the kids to the boat last month and Daniel said, "Mom, just get the brand you like and don't worry about the price..I'll buy it." And to my amazement at the check out stand, he pulled out his debit card and paid for the whole cart of groceries! Wow! Both of our children are very kind and generous...What a blessing!



Saturday night we ate at her favorite little restaurant in Spokane, Mizuna. We chose to be seated outside on their "old world style" bricked patio under charming little lights strung overhead. Atmosphere is everything!! We ordered one of their delectable salads which include a warm loaf of french bread and a plate of herbed olive oil for dipping.



In the morning we walked to our other favorite place...Starbucks!! Have you tried their new Mango Banana Orange and Chocolate Banana protein drinks? They're amazing!!

Okay...back to sailing. We will leave for the boat after seeing Michelle and spend a week in the San Juans. Mitch will be starting a new excavation job with American Bay Construction when we return.

I'll have time to write some more of our adventures and get them posted soon!!

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Sail to Canada

We have our boat in Anacortes, WA. the gateway to the San Juan Islands.

I'm working part time and I actually get week blocks off at a time. It takes seven hours to drive over.

Friday night our good friends, Gene & Carol Nelson threw me a 50th Birthday party. Then the next morning we drove to the boat for a two week vacation.

The first couple days we just took it easy and got the boat ready. Our first destination was Echo Bay on Sucia Island. It's north of Orcas Island and takes from 4 to 6 hours to get there by sailboat. We planned to moor there for the night on our way to Canada. (We had never been in Canadian waters but we both just obtained our Washington Enhanced Driver Licenses which allow entry into Canada and Mexico, in lieu of a passport. )

Leaving Sucia Island...funny to receive a phone call

The next morning we decided to head straight for Pender Island instead of stopping off at Stuart Island. We were able to take a whole new route which is always fun. There was one spot where the currents and tides wanted to just randomly turn the boat in a circle. That's when I call out "Mitch!"... =) He takes everything with ease. I love the confidence he exudes, I depend on that a lot. I like to sail but I like to keep him near for that sudden blast of wind in the sail that tries to over power you.

We arrived at Poets Cove on South Pender Island. What a beautiful resort. We moored to the Customs Dock and Mitch went up. A little disappointing to find out that there are no real agents there, not then anyway, and we had to use the phone to report in. It was an easy place for entry.

Poets Cove Resort, Pender Island

Canada Border Patrol Office on dock, far right side

There was a nice marina and on the other side of the marina a mooring bay with mooring balls for $10.00 a night versus fifty something for a dock tie. Not that $50.00 is not reasonable but we already had reservations at Roche Harbor for the weekend and didn't feel the need. The hotel rooms started at $250.00 for a lodge room or 300-550 for a villa. Whether you rent a slip or a room you can use enjoy all of the emenities such as pools, spa, tennis courts and showers.

Poets Cove Marina

Amenities of Resort:two pools, spa... view overlooking Bay

True Blue on a mooring Ball : middle of photo near top

The resort was for those that just wanted to get away from the rat race because there wasn't really anything to do there. No real stores, or venues to go to. We did take a walk up the highway like hill and find a scenic overlook. The beach was pretty with stone like shells and such for sand but the water wasn't real clean looking. May have something to do with there being no pump-out facilities for boaters. That is really unusual for a marina. Apparently Canada has a problem with this sort of issue. The U.S. is great. They have pump-outs in a lot of places especially all marinas.

On way from Canada

Strange ramp on Cargo boat in Harrow Straits

We left there after a couple days and re-entered the U.S. at Roche Harbor. There they had ample custom agents, more than they knew what to do with. They came in and out on their aluminum boat with three 275 outboards on the back. They had like 6 to 8 agents on one little craft. They didn't search our boat but while anchored in the bay we saw them board quite a few yachts.

U.S. Border Patrol Boat (picture taken later at Deer Harbor)