First (Boat) Dog

Back in the early 70's, we worked in Beaufort NC during hurricane seasons while living aboard, commuting from the anchorage to jobs ashore. 

One of our joys during those periods was a pair of Golden Retrievers that lived in a house near the dinghy dock. A Golden’s face is the epitome of innocence and their demeanor is ultimate joy and enthusiasm, not to mention that they are absolute hand magnets.

At days end, after working ashore, we’d rustle board the dink and each take an oar to row about a quarter mile across the cut to our anchored boat. We learned to keep an eye out for the four-legged pair because if they saw us rowing they’d jump in the water, swim our way and try to board us in our $20 two man inflatable dinghy. More than once we’d been capsized by our enthusiastic visitors and on a couple occasions suffered dink punctures when they boarded.

The article was written seasons later when we'd been loaned a hard dink.Our sailboat is in the bottom pic at upper left.

 It was kind of funny when we saw the swimming dogs approaching, knowing that we too would likely be swimming the rest of the way to our anchored boat if they caught up to us. When we saw them coming, I’d suggest to Suzy that we needed to hustle. We’d step up the pace but invariably I’d pull a little harder than she could and we’d end up going in a circle, shouting and laughing hysterically, each blaming the other for the course changes. More often than not though, we’d make it unscathed because of having scoured the shore before we set out to asses our probability of getting close enough to the boat that they couldn’t catch up to us.

 We wanted a dog so bad, but Suzy is deathly allergic so it never happened…until 40 years later when my daughter relentlessly encouraged us to look into getting a dog. Knowing the consequences of my wife’s face swelling up resulting in trouble breathing we just couldn’t do it until on a cruise in British Columbia a dog appeared at a neighboring dock that caught my attention. As our eyes locked, he said, “Get a dog like me.”

Dude said, "Get a dog like me!".

 I’d never had a dog talk to me before, so I inquired what kind of magical dog this was. I was told he was a Golden Doodle – ½ Golden Retriever and ½ Poodle. They can be non-shedding, hypoallergenic and unusually very people oriented as well an no doggy breath or odor.

Back home after detailed research, we drove 400 miles to a potential breeder to see what these dogs were all about. In our correspondence with the breeder we were informed that there was a  litter 7 weeks old and they wouldn't be released until 8 weeks, but it was still OK to visit. We'd come - we were only visiting to get an education.

My daughter decided to come with us when we made the trip To Louisville from SC. She had worked at an animal shelter and wanted to give the breeder a once over to make sure this breeder wasn’t just a ‘Puppy Mill’.

WARNING! This link may lead to euphoria.
Merlin's Breeder 

On our arrival, we learned that the couple bred these dogs because of the joy they brought to owners. Anna, whose day job is an MD, attends to the internet, paperwork and of course health and testing of the pups. When we met her husband Charlie he was on his back in the puppy pen with 8 or so adorable puppies pouncing on him from all sides. We knew we’d be back in a week to get a puppy, but which one?

We narrowed it down to two red nosed males but ran out of time deciding. 

We took a room at a nearby motel so we could go back the next day, I guess knowing that we really just wanted to spend time again with all of them.

The next morning we were back trying to decide which puppy we'd like to adopt. For some reason my daughter suddenly pointed and said, “That one!”

Our enthusiasm was slightly dampened when Anna said that a couple had been up from Florida a week earlier and told her they wanted the same puppy. Anna suggested that we take the other one, so we said, “OK, no big deal”. 

We then got to talking with Anna and Charlie, learning that they loved the water and planned to fix up a boat that they had stashed in the corner of their field. We told them how we had lived aboard for 3 years and about the Doodle that had inspired our search. We were in the midst of 20 or so pups while we were talking and the little guy that we had originally chosen seemed to find me fascinating despite the rest of the little pups frolicking elsewhere. Anna and Charlie excused themselves for a couple minutes. When they came back they told us we could have the puppy that seemed to have chosen us. We were delighted and told them we’d be back in a week.

Then they dropped the bomb on us. “We’d be comfortable in letting him go home with you today.” Yikes, we didn’t know anything about puppies. We had none of the things you’re supposed to have for the trip home or when you get there. I was hesitant, but the girls wouldn’t take no for an answer, so Merlin went home with us at 7 weeks.

Merlin (and wife Suzy) on the way home.

We kept in touch with our newfound breeder/boating friends and had them send our whereabouts to the couple who bought the other puppy. The Florida couple wrote us back. We learned that “Niko” had gone to Florida to be companion to their other dog Riley, an Aussie-Doodle.

We corresponded back and forth with Niko’s parents, eventually making several trips to Florida to get the boys together again. Niko also came up to visit Merlin. Merlin and Niko’s last get-together was only about a month ago when we went down that way to do some boating.
Big Duck Tastes Salt for the First Time 

Enough rambling – just know that a new puppy in your life will open doors you never knew existed
. 

How NOT to Train Your Dog 

Just Like Me

And now that I've got myself going on how lucky I am to have a most joyously admitted, 'feather footed lop eard fleabag' best friend - here's some random pics.
 

Me an Mer-Mer on the ICW, cruising in our 18' cuddy

Soggy puppy.

Merlin playing in the salt with my daughters dog.

Couldn't you just squeeze this guy until he squeeked?

Merlin worked as a therapy dog logging over 200 visits to hospitals and old folks homes - I called it reconnaissance for this 71 year old handler.

Merlin and Niko on one of their many get-togethers.

Is this a boat dog or what?

 

Merlin and Niko in FL.

Merlin as a puppy - How could you possibly resist?

I guess he can drive - he DOES have a license!

Best friends - Merlin first - then the Pacifico.

Merlin and his sister Sara Jane

Well damn, doesn't that make you want to take to the water again?

Full speed ahead!

Merlin makes a great four legged pillow and I bury my nose in his armpit before napping for a comforting aroma. If they made an "Eau De-Doodle" candle I'd buy one for every room.

Potty ashore, Cap! The original plan.

Merlin taught himself to swim ashore to go potty, then swim back and come up the steps.

Swimming ashore, while convenient proved to be problematic because whenever he saw the steps down he thought it was an invitation to go ashore - which obviously wasn't always the case.

We then tried to teach him to go on his green mat on the aft deck. We'd all 'gone' on the mat, including traces of his and others 'deposits' but nothing inspired Merlin to take the plunge. Finally after 36 hours there was relief for the entire crew.

Looks like he's been eating Tootsie-Rolls

Nice Tinky-tink

This isn't me, this isn't my boat, but it is my dog.

I got carried away with all the pictures. OK, just one more.

I'm Not Getting Up Until I Smell the Coffee

While on the boat (in the water or Walmart parking lot) I let my wife get up first - I'm not inspired until I smell coffee. She can start the generator with the key fob and get everything ready except the water. Our water for consumption aboard is via easily stored 12oz plastic bottles...that she often can't seem to open. Do I get up or have her bring me the bottle(s) to open?

Well, neither. I made a little gizmo that works for her. Push the button, insert the cap to be removed, release the button and turn the bottle -- she can grip the bottle.

Here we have the unit at rest. The knurled wheel is 'cammed' so as the bottle is rotated clockwise, it grabs harder.



Here, the button unloads the spring holding the knurled wheel and pushing it moves the wheel out of the way.


Insert the cap, release the button and turn the bottle.


And I get to sleep in until I smell the coffee.

A Battery of Confessions form an Unconventional Electron Pusher (and Puller)

Big Duck has 4 batteries, no two the same. We have a flooded 24 and a flooded 27 for house and start, but I don’t really know which is which. 

24 and 27 under the green hose

I have a group 31 AGM for the inverter 

Group 31 on the Port side.

and a small lawn mower battery that displaced the tiny starting AGM for the EU3000i Honda Generator.

Lawn mower battery under a flybridge seat

 How do I keep them ‘up’?

I know there are sophisticated systems, but I’m a lazy, casual SOB so I just use what's there, then add on stuff until I’m happy with performance. This means I’ve got 3 different battery ‘feeders’ and two battery combiners. I’ve also got a timer and of course the usual 1, 2, both, off, battery switch (which I seldom touch). I’ve also installed digital voltmeters for each battery – these voltmeters do draw power but because my boat is on shore power in the back yard I just leave them on all the time.

The boat came with a 10-amp dual bank charger for the starting and deep cycle house batteries. 

On board charger with red light showing when charger is feeding the batteries - it's off when fully charged.

This is a very nice unit and as has been suggested for optimum performance, it charges the batteries and maintains them, shutting itself off when the batteries are fully charged. This unit keeps the fully charged batteries at about 13.3 volts according to my voltmeters.

So then I put in an inverter/charger – a Freedom 30, using a group 31 AGM to power the inverter so I could keep my 120vac fridge and freezer running while underway; 

this worked fine except for extended road trips when we didn’t need the boat generator for a/c or heat overnight. The fridge and freezer would deplete the 31 about the 3^rd day unless we ran the boat generator.

I tried running a lead from the van’s breakaway battery charging circuit to the AGM but it never proved itself – we’d just run the generator at night in the Walmart lot and have the inverter/charger pump amps back into the 31.

To simplify things while in the water, I decided to make the boat alternator charge the 31 by using a VSR (voltage sensing relay) to combine the house (or starting) battery with the 31 while the boat was running. While I was at it I installed another VSR between the house and starting batteries. Now whenever there was a charging voltage, all 3 batteries would be combined. This also allowed me to force a combine of all the batteries on the road so I didn’t have to worry about depleting the 31 and ‘starving’ the fridge and freezer of power on longer road trips if we didn't run the Honda while overnighting.

The ‘forced combine’ did prove to be a little inconvenient when it ran down all 3 batteries and I couldn’t start my boat at the ramp, but firing up the generator and having the inverter/charger feed 140 amps let me start the mill immediately.

In summary, all 3 batteries would now be charged whether on shore, generator or ships power... and I’m happy -- even knowing that batteries of different sizes, ages or types need their own separate sophisticated chargers. My goal is not to join the fight to keep a battery going as long as possible but rather to replace a cheap battery at the first sign of trouble. Also, I never have to mess with the 1, 2, on, off switch – ever.

So how do I know if/when battery trouble is lurking?

Maybe once a year or if there’s a hint of trouble, I’ll turn off external power and light up a 1,500-watt heater using the inverter. I’ll run the heater for 15 or 20 minutes – the gauge showing 100 12-volt battery amps being used to power the heater. 

Using 100 12vdc amps to power the 1,500 watt heater

I guess this isn’t a big load considering there are 3 batteries providing power, but it’s good enough for me to watch the voltage of each battery when the heater is turned off. If they’re all pretty close I’m happy. If not, I drag $100 out of the wallet and bring in a new 3-year car battery from Walmart.

Then, because the on board charger keeps the batteries at about 13.3, while the inverter/charger ‘maintains’ at 14.4, I turn off the inverter charger and let the on board charger manage the batteries for extended periods in the back yard.

I’ve only talked about two of the three battery ‘feeders’. I guess I call them feeders because there so much talk about bulk, absorption and float charges that I can’t keep all that technical mumbo jumbo stuff straight. But I do think that storing a battery at 13 volts is better than at 14 volts, that’s why I use the on board charger instead of the ($1,200) inverter/charger.

The fourth Big Duck battery is a lawn mower battery to start the Honda generator. The little Honda OEM AGM battery needed to be replaced every 18 months so I decided to wire in a (remote) lawn mower battery instead of having to dismantle the generator to change the little AGM.

The EU3000i generator has a remote (key fob) start so there’s a small draw from the generator start battery when the key is in the “on” position. I guess I could turn the key to “off” but I’m too lazy. Instead I have a ‘feeder’ for the generator lawn mower battery. The ‘feeder’ is a Harbor Fright $9 ‘float charger’. One day I may hook it up directly to see what it does to the lawn mower battery, but in the mean time I use a timer so the ‘float charger’ only sees the battery for 15 minutes every 24 hours. This gives me a reading of 12.4 volts on the generator lawn mower voltmeter.

I don't track the time the batteries last, but I'm guessing I'm going on more than three+ years. And I'm certainly not knocking the folks who want to do it right, rather perhaps just wanting to encourage bottom feeders like myself to not be afraid of doing it their own way.

More on my battery philosophy here.