Petsitting: A Staycation For Crew

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Hi, my name is “Crew”.  Some of my nicknames are Crewie, Cutie, and Crewby dooby doo.    

I’m an Aussie Doodle who lives on a boat with my adorable humans Amy and Doug.  They love me so much! 

For many months during the year, we sail from island to island.  But then there are also many months where we spend a long time tied up to a dock in Grenada.  

This story takes place at a dock in Grenada.      

I first suspected I might be getting another staycation when I saw those big suitcases come onboard.  They sat on our tramp for a few days before the action started.  It reminded me of a similar situation when I had a staycation in Antigua.  I’ll be patient and see if that’s what’s brewing…

I was right!  I guess it’s true what they say; “I’m a smart dog!”

What started as an ordinary day for me on SV Black River ended up with my friends Tony and Julie moving onboard.  I overheard that they came by airplane. I think it means one of those big metal birds that make a lot of noise when it flies to an island. 

It doesn’t matter how they got here.  I remember these people and I like them!  I wagged my tail and did my happy dance to tell them I was glad they came to visit again!

My next few days were full of an extra dose of love and attention, which I didn’t mind.  And I received some new toys!  One was super easy to rip and pull the stuffing out of it.  Then it would disappear for a while and re-appear with no rips or holes.  How does that happen?!    

Another change I noticed was during my morning walk up the hill.  Amy is a fast walker going up the hill.  Even in this heat and humidity, she keeps a brisk pace to the top.  Tony and Julie were new to this steep hill and hot temperatures and went a little slower.  It was O.K. with me because once we’re at the top, I have more frisbee throwers, this is great! 

A few days later, those suitcases on the tramp moved to the cockpit.  I sense another change is coming. 

Sure enough, that afternoon the suitcases were gone and I didn’t see Amy and Doug for a while either.  

They call this pet sitting, but I call it a staycation.  Of course, I miss my owners, but I might as well make the best of it and enjoy the time with these friends onboard.   

Let me tell you about my staycation with Tony and Julie.

Walks

Oh my, do Tony and Julie love to walk!  The morning walk up the hill was just the beginning.  Throughout the day, we walked the dock, we walked to the grassy area, and we walked the docks some more.  I wish I had worn my doggie fit bit to see how many steps I got in those days.  My legs got very strong!

Remember how I told you it was hard for them to walk up the steep incline in this heat?  Well, they eventually mastered it!  But we didn’t always take the steep route, there is also a less steep path that we took sometimes.  It didn’t matter to me because both ways led to my play area.  This is a perfect open grassy space to play frisbee!  One time I caught the frisbee in mid-air, I was so proud! 

After frisbee, we take a few moments to enjoy the view before heading back down.   The overlook of the anchorage and the landscape of St George never gets old. 

En route up or down the hill, we sometimes saw goats.   I smiled, barked, and wagged my tail, but was never allowed to play with them. 

There are many beautiful plants and flowers on my hiking path.  Here are a few.

Later in the day our walks were shorter, but frequent.  We walked and walked different sections of the marina and noticed many interesting boats. 

During our dock walks, if I hear a familiar voice saying “Hi Crew!”, I stop so Julie and Tony can meet all my friends here.  I’m a pretty well-known dog!  I even get greeted by people swimming in the water.    

I’m not the only boat dog on the docks.  I’m friends with some of them, but not all of them.  I make it pretty easy for Tony & Julie to see the difference. 

On occasion, we might see a lizard.  I’m not interested in lizards.  I let them pass by. 

Speaking of other animals, I’m confused about cats.  Some cats live on boats and we usually get along fine.  Some cats live on the docks or in the woods and I get the idea I’m not supposed to play with those.  That reminds me of a time I went to get my frisbee only to find it had landed on a cat.  The cat ran off down the hill so naturally I followed him.  I completely forgot about the frisbee until my training collar reminded me to turn around and come back to get the frisbee. Oops.       

My Job

One of my jobs on Black River is to keep everyone onboard safe.  If I sense that someone should not be on or near our boat, I bark! That gets their attention.  

I was relieved when our side neighbors left the dock.  It’s not that I don’t like them, they’re very friendly neighbors.  But because they lived so close to us, I was on alert often whenever people came and went to nearby boats. I prefer a little elbow room next to Black River to make my job easier.

Then there’s the subject of contractors.  I really don’t like it when contractors come onboard for boat projects.  I don’t mind when Tony goes to help others with their boat projects (which he’s happy to do, I don’t understand that).  I just don’t like others coming here for projects.  When others come onboard, when am I supposed to be a stellar watchdog and when should I relax and play with them?  It can be confusing! 

Like when Charlie and Bailey, who I remember are sweet friends, came onboard.  I kept hearing “It’s O.K., I’m just braiding their hair”, but I had not seen this hair braiding activity before in our cabin so I kept a close eye on everyone just in case.  (I think my hair is too short to go in those braids right now)

It can be tiring to be an on-alert watchdog.  Thankfully, I can take breaks to bask in the sun or catch a power nap.  Tony likes power naps too.

Dinghy Rides

The dinghy is parked above the water on the back of our boat.  To go for a dinghy ride, it is lowered to the water, we all hop in, and then we need to duck low and slowly make our way under the boat to the front before we can start the motor and go! 

When I hear that dinghy getting lowered into the water it is music to my ears!  Will this be a joy ride or an errand run?  Doesn’t matter to me! 

We might all three take the dinghy for a spin around the Carenage. 

Or, we might go to a nearby dock and drop Tony or Julie off for an errand.  They usually return with bags of gear or food to load into the dinghy and bring back to our boat.  One time at this drop-off dock, some local fishermen were yelling “jacks, jacks, jacks for sale”.  We didn’t buy any. 

Marina Life

My staycation had a lot of routines built into our days, but also some surprises. 

On Thursday mornings, the ladies met at the coffee shop for a visit.  I peeked in a couple of times to check on Julie.  She was having a grand time!  I thought the ladies met for coffee, but I saw a lot of coconut cake too.  Eating cake for breakfast reminds me of Amy, oh how I miss her, but I know she’ll be back soon!  

I like to keep Tony and Julie together with me.  It works best if Julie walks on my left and Tony on my right.  Sometimes we did “the dock dance” to get back in our positions while walking the docks.  Julie likes to dance!    

Tony and Julie never missed walking up the hill with me together.  So when a day came and Tony stayed onboard, I knew something was wrong.  He was sleeping more and Julie kept making him glasses of colored water to drink.  They say a dog can bring happiness and health to humans, so I did my best to cheer him up and help him get better.  I think it worked because soon he was walking with me again. 

Sometimes our morning walking group was bigger than the three of us.  When we get to the spot on the dock where we turn right, I might hear “Go get Kitra!”.  That makes me happy!  I run straight ahead and jump onto Dagger’s Down to let Kitra know it’s time for a walk. 

Another one of my walking friends is Beth on SV Warrior.  She’s the dog whisperer! 

Tony and Julie sometimes went with their friends to do things without me.  I’ll let Julie tell you about those outings in a different blog post.  They had a blast exploring the island and I appreciated the time to nap and rest up for our next walk!

During one of our dock walks, there was a large crowd of people and some big cameras setup.  I stood tall and confident and was on my best behavior.  Maybe I’ll be in a movie.  

In addition to walking the hill and the docks, sometimes we walked to the beach for a swim.  I know the routine to stop at the guard house where Julie writes something in a book and chats with the nice man.  The man told us all about the old silk cotton tree on the property.  Further down the path, there are bamboo plants.  There are many interesting plants and shrubs on this island.  Tony & Julie learned about a bunch of them during a Cutty tour. 

I like taking nature walks, but I’m a water dog at heart.  Let’s go to the beach!   

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

The days passed quickly during my staycation and before I knew it my beloved Doug and Amy were back!  First Amy came home.  It was a rainy day so I was confined to the cabin while I jumped and wagged and wiggled and cried in delight.  I was so happy to see her!  A few days later Doug showed up on the dock.  More tail wagging, running, and happy dances. Now They are both here! 

They brought back those suitcases and they were emptied pretty quickly.   Then the suitcases went off our boat, down the dock, and onto a different boat called T L Sea.  That boat doesn’t have a dog onboard. If they did, I would have clued him in on about what was going to happen next. 

Back on Black River, there was a flurry of activity in preparation to leave the dock.  When Amy took me to the vet with some important papers, I figured we’d be leaving soon.  Soon I saw the docklines getting untied and we were underway.  I looked around and counted 1, 2, 3, 4.  I was happy to see Tony and Julie were still onboard.  They’re coming with us!  

Let’s go sailing!

Julie can tell you about our sailing trip in The Grenadines another time. 

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