I'd like to introduce you to one of my two Westies, Chloe. This is her first ride ever on a boat, and my first since I inherited my grandpa's pontoon after his passing in February. Due to his health issues, the 'toon hadn't run for a few years, but a little love and a couple YouTube videos remedied that. Now, the family and I can enjoy some warm sun and cold brews in his memory.
46 comments:
Ohmygosh, life jackets for dogs! I had no idea you could get them.
Opie, you had me very confused by saying you went out in a pontoon. Down here a pontoon is a floating jetty. I could just see you drifting off into the horizon... After consulting google I realise we call them by their specific name, like houseboat or catamaran.
Your photo reminds me of a story I had to read in grade 4 (so eleventy-hundred years ago). It was a true story of a woman and her husband who were out in a yacht with her 2 little westies. A freak wave capsized the boat and her husband disappeared. She clung to the two dogs in the water until, exhausted, she had to let them go. Search and rescue found her the next morning, but no puppies. I was extremely traumatised by that story (as you can probably tell) and have never forgotten - or forgiven those teachers for making me read the book.
This is better than the A-Z challenge! We can try to guess whose pet it is from the write up...
In this case, my guess: Pontoon boats always make me think of the prairies. The only Reider I know for certain is from the prairies is BJ, so on that thin line of reasoning, BJ?
Huh? Pontoons make you think of the prairies, Stephen? From my expert knowledge (thanks to Laura Ingalls Wilder) I was under the impression the prairies were land bound.
I guess I'm going to dismally fail at this guessing game!
I'm not even going to try to guess who posts which picture--my brain seems to have settle into vacation mode even though it is, technically, supposed to start back to work today. I haven't been commenting much lately but I am enjoying the doggie pics!
What a precious picture :~)
I've got friends in the Canadian prairies (I thought Americans called them the Great Plains?) who have boats on lakes not far from their cities (Saskatoon and Winnipeg). From what I remember, the lakes are shallow and not very big. Not really good for sailboats or speed boats, but good for a houseboat.
I was going to make an Oklahoma S(ch)ooners joke, but figure I may be digging myself into a deep enough hole already.
Oh my goodness, she's so cute! And what a nice way to remember your grandfather, in his schooner. Isn't Youtube the best for so many things? I don't know how to put on eyeliner, I'll go to Youtube. What is my hot water heater doing? Youtube.
I think Chloe's wishing that rail was a little lower so she can go for a swim. :) Nice picture.
I know next-to-nothing about boats, so if you tell me it's a pontoon, whatever it is, I nod and smile.
As to guessing Chloe's owner... I don't think I could. I'd have to look at The Map, assuming they are on the map, and guess... and it's way too early for that kind of energetic mental activity!
Don't forget to make use of the List of Blog Readers and Their Blogs to go blog-hopping this month. If you need me to add you to the list, or change your listing, just drop me an email. I'll gladly include Twitter handles too.
I love this, love how she's standing on her back legs, and letting the wind ruffle her ears! Just like in a car ride.
My thought, I don't think this is BJ. It's about voice...this doesn't read (IMO) the way BJ comments. For some reason, I don't envision her saying cold brews. Ya know? I think this is a male OP. That's my guess for the day. NO idea who, but...male.
ACK, that is so adorable, but I can't think of puppies on pontoons. My late Aunt had one, and we took it out one beautiful weekend, along with my beloved late Sweet Siddy La, who quite enjoyed it. Until Hurricane Frances came upon us, and my aunt started gunning it hard, literally driving the boat prow* downward into the waves. Siddy was good, bless her (as were the tiny cousin we had with us and at least several of the grownups!), but ... ack.
(*Is it still a prow on a pontoon?) (Colin, pontoons are the ones with the floats on either side, the deck suspended between them.)
I also am confused about the prairie connection here ...
On first (admittedly sleepy glance) I thought Chloe was a goat. It's the shape of her head, ears and neck. Then I thought, how awesome would that be? Taking a goat in a life jacket out.
Donna I think you may be right. I seem to remember BJ mentioning something about not drinking beer at all back when Sleeman's Honey Brown and Newcastle Brown Ale were a point of discussion.
Diane: Thanks! Seriously, I'm not at all a water person, though I've been on a ferry from Liverpool to Belfast (six hour trip on occasionally choppy waters... not pleasant). So any novel based in a boat has extra work to do to get my attention (kudos to C.S. Lewis and THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER!). The best use of water, IMO, is to brew a nice cup of tea. Speaking of which... ;)
Stephen Those were critical discussions. I still stand by Bud Light - however - my son, who is quite the notorious sampler of alcoholic beverages offered me something this past weekend that was beyond different - and GOOD.
It was called a Radler
Very cold. Very good. He may have converted me.
I also love Chloe's flyaway ears and the hindleg stance. And what blue water. A northern lake? Or springtime before algae bloom?
I live in Minnesota. We have prairies but we also have rivers and lakes. Pontoons are lovely family outing boats. Even though I've lived along the Mississippi River most of my life, I think I've only been on a pontoon once or twice in my life. My family and friends canoe on the tributaries or kayak along the edges of the Mississippi.
And, amazingly enough, I grew up swimming on the sandy beaches of the Mississippi, swimming lessons included. I loved to bounce on the waves from barges, houseboats, speedboats. Now, most river towns have community pools because the river's not nice to swim in.
I love this picture. My parents have Westies. Cute, very enthusiastic little buggers. I wish I was on a boat with a dog and a beer.
Love Westies and pontoon boats. There is a ferry to Hontoon Island our dogs love to ride. I think it's a pontoon as well.
I don't do beer. Only champagne. And sometimes a hurricane (in a glass, preferably).
Love these pictures! And the stories that go with them.
Hi everyone! I'm glad y'all think Chloe in her life jacket is as adorable as I do. Neither her nor her brother hopped in the water during that trip, too cold. We mostly spent the day hoping the motor didn't give out (it did) and drinking PBR.
To answer Lisa's question: We were on Jordan Lake, which is just north of Raleigh, NC.
I've got to comment on the whole pontoon experience.
A friend of mine, gone five years now, had quite a bit of money. Enough that he could sort of fritter it away by doing things like have a cowboy statue carved out of wood to set at the end of his dock on Smith Mountain Lake. The cowboy represented the "bar" he had in the lower level of his home called "Cowboys."
Enough money he had two outboard motors attached to his pontoon boat powerful enough to rocket the thing across the lake at about 55 mph and generating a rooster tail off the back end you could see from a great distance. Riding on that pontoon was not a puttering sort of ride. The front end was notorious for lifting up out of the water when he "gunned" it. It was hilarious - and scary at the same time.
Of course he also had a cigarette boat and that made riding the pontoon seem like it was puttering, but at least I could keep my sunglasses on whereas on the cigarette boat I lost many a pair b/c I'd forget I couldn't turn my head to speak to someone. It was all about speed with Tony. We miss him and the days on SML.
I'm done waxing and waning. See? QOTKU was right. We can entertain ourselves with a picture. Ha!
Well, shoot. I should have "recognized" Jordan lake! (hee) I've water skied there many, many times.
I love this "action" shot David and I'm glad to see the life jacket! I've heard some sad stories of pup overboard.Pontoons are popular in Kentucky's many lakes. You'll see plenty of dogs enjoying their days on the lakes ,too.
You can tell I write flash fiction because that picture made me immediately write a story for it. Isn't it a great prompt?
Can you guys imagine Whiskey on a boat?
I have to add a funny story. The blog hop led me to another woodland creature who lives only a few miles from me in Kentucky. (I'll leave it to that person if they want to reveal who it is.) This is an international group of regular commenters, so what are the chances that out of such a small group two of us would live practically next door?
Chloe looks like she's enjoying the ride. Great photo! Love the life jacket.
Chloe is darling...! And this photo brings back great memories. I grew up on a fresh water lake in Michigan. There were pontoons everywhere. But my father was a bit of a nonconformist. He found an old boat in a junk yard called a Hydrodyne... (hull of a speed boat, with the deck of a pontoon). He spent a few months fixing it up and we enjoyed many summers on the water.
Sherry, isn't it lovely? We have a community both far reaching and close to home - count the metaphorical ways, on both of those descriptors. A commenter I haven't seen in a long time belongs to James River Writers and I see him at our annual conference. I also have a freind who lives in the same neighborhood (granted, a huge one by many of our standards!) as Janet herself.
In puppy news, Penelope went to the vet yesterday and I just sat and watched her as we waited in the exam room. Pen is a seriously cute thing, but she is also a special kind of beautiful. When I watch her run, the majesty of her body, the sheer power of her, take my breath away. Yesterday, waiting to be seen, she was of course a bit distressed, but she lay down from time to time in that despondency we all know, unique to Waiting On Things. Witnessing the cock of her head, the tiny jut of her underbite (black lips, white teeth), the altitude of her ears - she is endlessly fascinating to me. I could see her THINKING. Responding to unseen sources of sound, human and not. Her emotions all bare, all spontaneous and un-hidden.
Pen is a lot of energy, and people find her cute, but her exuberance in combination with her size tend often to turn people off. But I am a lot in love with my dog.
She was super good for a few shots and one spray up her nose, as well as a blood test.
Someday, I hope to be good enough for my dog. Any dog. Or Gossamer. It's worth striving for. (EMG, I'm looking at you!)
... and when I misspell friend, it's time for me to pack in commenting. *Slinks away ignominiously*
Sorry but I live in Florida and we have a name for dogs on boats. In freshwater they are gatorbait and in salt they are sharkbait.
It is always a good idea to put a harness on a boat dog with just enough rope to keep them from the gunwale.
As a kayaker I see way to many people with a teacup sized dog riding the bow of a canoe or kayak with nothing to preserve them. Be careful with your dogs when on the water because I don't have much faith in the PFDs made for dogs. The few sizes of them do not allow for them to be fitted properly to most dogs.
Steven: there are a whole mess of pontoon boats and their cousin, the deck boat, here. They are fine if nothing goes wrong and then they are worthless. By the way, pontoon boats make horrid houseboats. They have nothing underneath them to counteract the weight above the water line.
Geez, this group has a lot of extremely cute dogs.
I'm glad Sherry told that story - we are indeed practically neighbors!
I can't thank everyone enough for the well wishes and congrats on my news yesterday. I'm trying to respond to all the comments and emails and tweets and mostly failing. Y'alls words of support mean so much and THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.
Geez, this group has a lot of extremely cute dogs.
I'm glad Sherry told that story - we are indeed practically neighbors!
I can't thank everyone enough for the well wishes and congrats on my news yesterday. I'm trying to respond to all the comments and emails and tweets and mostly failing. Y'alls words of support mean so much and THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.
Chloe looks like she's thinking about going waterskiing. She's all set for it, with her life jacket. My brother and SIL's first dog was a Maltese named Chloe.
Wow. I sleep in and miss a whole conversation about me! Yes, I live on the Canadian prairies - and wow, Stephen. You remembered I couldn't drink beer? Good detective skills, Donna, by the way - you were right: it wasn't me, and it was a guy!
We know now that that's not my dog - sweet-looking girl she is. She looks like she's having a great time. I've never had my dogs on boats - haven't gone boating for years - but if I did, I'd want them in life jackets.
When I was a child, we had a small dog named Topsy. My parents would take us camping once a year, and we'd go fishing. Topsy would come with us - even if we were in a flat-bottomed canoe and not a powered boat. She just sat on the bottom of the canoe and didn't move. I don't know what we would have done if she'd tried to jump out. I can't imagine Little Girl Dog sitting for that long.
Chloe is adorable and looks ready for anything in her vest, snout facing the spray!
A big thank you to Colin Smith for re-posting the 'Reiders' blog list link. Just visited Christine Seine's site and loved her May 9th 'rant' about selfies. I'm not a selfie fan, but had never looked at them that way before. And now, I don't think I'll be able to stop.
This makes me want to go boating! Chloe is lovely, David. All my dogs have always been afraid of water (big dogs, too), even growing up. Have no idea why.
Donna - good call on the whole 'voice' thing :)
Diane - "that despondency we all know, unique to Waiting On Things" - haha! Yes!
What a cutie Chloe is. She looks like she's having a blast enjoying the sights and smells of the water.
Canada has prairies? Thanks for the hedjamacation (as my son used to say) =)
I think Stephen Parks is confusing schooners and pontoon boats.
There were prairie schooners, but I've never heard of a prairie pontoon.
But maybe his family invented them and I'm just sheltered. It's happened.
AJ: Yup. Nearly 2 million square kilometres worth of prairies, according to Wikipedia, and I live in the middle, in Regina, Saskatchewan.
Long ago I drove from Calgary, Alberta, to Regina on a business trip with a Canadian. He said we were getting close to Regina. I said, it must over the next hill. I thought it was funny.
For those who’ve not been there, Saskatchewan (where Regina is) on the highway from Calgary is flat and treeless for the most part. There is no next hill.
David! We're neighbours! I'm in Raleigh and thought Donna and Colin were the only other NC residents over here. Oddly, I've never been to Jordan Lake. Not sure why. Our lake trips here in NC were always to Falls Lake and Lake Gaston. I've been on many boats, on many occasions and many bodies of water, and I can't imagine taking a dog along, let alone two at once. But we had labs and you just can't keep them out of the water, cold or not. I'm glad yours are well-behaved enough to manage it. I'm sorry for your loss, and very pleased you've found a way to honor your grandpa's memory.
Yeah. They put the #1 highway through the flattest part of the province to save money - hills cost money when building a highway. Still, it's beautiful country. There are several ecosystems right there along the highway - I spent one summer working in a nature interpretive centre in Swift Current, just east of the Alberta border. I learned a lot about the beauty of the prairies - besides the sky, which I believe I've talked about before. :)
BJ, I grew up at the other end of the Great Plains, at the base of the Texas panhandle. I agree about the skies. Sunsets and thunderstorms are spectacular, too.
Beth: Now I have this urge to go looking up some images of Saskatchewan thunderstorms and sunsets... but I'll restrain myself. If you don't have the sky, then you're missing half the landscape. :)
(Or 3/4 of the landscape. Or 90%, even...)
BJ, I just googled Regina. Looks like a lovely city.
Clicking the non-existent 'Like' button. Looks like the weather is fine. Any happy dog is a friend of mine.
AJ: Thank you. I think it is. :)
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