28 January 2011

Toby and I have been boat dogs again. After ages and ages in the car we finally got out and, surprise, surprise, we were at the Marina. Mum and dad thought I would have forgotten all about being a boat dog because we haven't been there for such a long time but I remembered everything.

My people had been quite worried about the boat because they hadn't got round to putting it to bed for the winter properly before all that cold and snowy weather but the engine started first time. Everything inside the boat was fine. Dad untied the ropes and mum and Toby and me sailed the boat across the marina for a pump out and to fill up the diesel tank. They should have done that in October when we were last there!

On our last visit there had been big problems. I had a lovely time rolling and bouncing and eating all sorts of lovely yucky stuff that made me sick. Dad's new furniture was delivered on Friday and dad and Toby took all the old stuff home on Saturday. Mum discovered that there was water leaking out under the deck. She asked some men who were fixing another boat if they could have a look and the men said it was the waterpump but they couldn't mend it until Monday morning. Mum turned the water fuse off, filled a bucket of water and put it on the pontoon next to the hatch. She was quite happy and I wasn't bothered. Dad and Toby decided to stay at home. That night it suddenly got really really cold and the bucket of water froze. Mum had to keep putting pans on the stove to keep enough water melted for us to use. A kind man came back first thing on Monday and put a new pump on. Mum knew that the boat needed pumping out and the tank filling with diesel but by this time it was raining and it was slippy so she decided to leave that until next time. But, there wasn't a next time because of the snow. So, all over Christmas she worried. She knew that the water tank was fine because that was all drained down and switched off but she worried that the waste tank might freeze or burst.

Anyway, everything was fine. Dad really enjoyed sitting on his new chair and Tweeting to people on his Blackberry. Mum was just happy being on the boat again even though her leg was so sore and she couldn't walk properly. When we left the boat everything was closed down properly so it doesn't matter now if there is another cold spell. I don't know what the plans are about going back to the boat because mum and dad keep talking about a new knee and I think that means we can't be boat dogs again for a while. We all had a lovely day and I was a really good dog all the time. Mum was really relieved because she thought I was going to be a nightmare!