Monday 2nd July
My mother thinks it would be very nice for Pete and me to have a dog. A nice, companionable sailing dog…
I do understand her point of view. I am very fond of dogs, and they are lots of fun, and great company. But…I don’t think I want a SailorDog!
We came across quite few yachtiedogs, on our travels. Very happy they looked too, rushing around on deck, keeping the birds from landing and pooing – very handy, this particular Dog Function. People had all sorts of nifty ways of keeping their dogs safe from being washed overboard, with mesh rigging and the occasional safety harness.
But I don’t think I could cope with the responsibility! I find it hard enough to look after myself, on a boat… A dog would need food, a place to poo, exercise, plentiful fresh water handy at all times.
I’m not sure what people in the Pacific Islands would make of our dogs, either. They have dogs everywhere but they are thin, mangy, lethargic, and probably VERY wormy. On Ramata Island in the Solomons some of our visiting teenage boys were very keen to look at some of my magazines. They were, to my amusement, particularly enthralled with photos of the latest Royal Wedding, and at one stage I heard them all laughing uproariously. They had found some photos of two very plump, fluffy Pekinese dogs. “Are they REALLY dogs?” they asked, their eyes round with wonder. If I turned up on 2XS with a big fat golden retriever (my sort of dog…) or a lively, clever sheepdog (Pete’s sort of dog) they would probably be reminded once again of how very wealthy we are, comparatively…
And the guilt, the guilt, the guilt. Yes dogs, like many things come with lashings of the stuff ready to present itself to you when you go to that restaurant for a meal, poor lonely dog. The bike ride around the town, noisy barking dog; poor annoyed neighbors etc etc by the way can't be bothered correcting my bad grammar xxx
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