Bandit our rescue Border Collie who is now 15 years old!
She now needs a ramp to get on and off our boat.
This one works is perfect for a boat. Check it out!
Solvit Deluxe Telescoping Pet Ramp
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Day in Life of Liveaboard Dog
Bandit our rescue Border Collie who is now 15 years old!
She now needs a ramp to get on and off our boat.
This one works is perfect for a boat. Check it out!
Solvit Deluxe Telescoping Pet Ramp
You've got to see this!
Abandoned piglet is lost and hound: Giant farm dog saves baby pig’s bacon by adopting it as one of its own….
A giant farm dog and a tiny piglet cuddle up as if they were family after the baby runt was dismissed by its own mother.
Surrogate mum Katjinga, an eight-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback, took on motherly duties for grunter Paulinchen – a tiny pot-bellied pig – and seems to be taking the adoption in her stride.
Lonely Paulinchen was luckily discovered moments from death and placed in the care of the dog who gladly accepted it as one of her own. Thankfully for the two-week old mini porker, Katjinga fell in love with her at first site and saved her bacon.
Enlarge
Motherly love: Baby piglet feeds on its new surrogate mum
And the unlikely relationship has made the wrinkly piggy a genuine sausage dog. In these adorable images Paulinchen can even be seen trying to suckle from her gigantic new mum.
The two animals live together on a huge 20-acre farm in Hoerstel, Germany, where Katjinga’s owners Roland Adam, 54, and his wife Edit, 44, a bank worker, keep a pair of breeding Vietnamese pigs.
Nose place like home: The baby piglet nuzzles up to its new mum
Property developer Roland found the weak and struggling piglet after she was abandoned by the rest of her family one evening after she was born.
He said: “The pigs run wild on our land and the sow had given birth to a litter of five in our forest.
“I found Paulinchen all alone and when I lifted her up she was really cold.
Feeding time: Piglet’s new canine mother has no problem providing milk for the youngster
“I felt sure some local foxes would have taken the little pig that very night so I took it into my house and gave her to Katinga.
“She had just finished with a litter of her own, who are now 10 months, so I thought there was a chance she might take on the duties of looking after her. “Katinga is the best mother you can imagine. She immediately fell in love with the piggy. Straight away she started to clean it like it was one of her own puppies.
Doting: Caring pooch checks up on her new addition
“Days later she started lactating again and giving milk for the piggy. She obviously regards it now as her own baby.”
Mum of the year? Quite possibly.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Dampness,Mildew&Rust:Oh,My!
Boat owners, especially liveaboards, have to contend with the ravages of corrosion, rust and mildew. Mildew and mold can thrive in canvas sails or upholstery, leather seats, dark cabinets or closets. Our biggest problem is mildew, it can pop up anywhere in a liveaboard’s life; not just the bathroom, but on stateroom ceilings, walls and crevices. I have even discovered mildew in drawers that I hadn’t opened in a while.
My best friend is now bleach spray cleaner Love the stuff!
You do have to be careful when using a bleach product to keep from discoloring items. If I use it in a stateroom, I strip off the bedding and make sure I wear protective eyewear if I’m cleaning mildew off the ceiling. I also make sure to have plenty of ventilation in the room. Don’t forget to wear old clothes, as you WILL get bleach spray on them.
Everyone knows best way to prevent mildew is to keep things dry. That is not always possible on a boat. We get tons of condensation in one of our forward stateroom because of the large hatch in the ceiling. It’s not too much of a problem during the summer, but when the cold and rain comes and that hatch stays closed, it is a constant battle; thus the bleach spray.
Some boaters leave a low wattage bulb burning in a mildew-prone room. I’m not a big fan of that idea, as it is a potential fire hazard and really believe that you need to have a Dehumidifier
.
When we had a smaller boat, not a liveaboard, we used Goldenrod Dehumidifier Rod that comes in various lengths.
This handy item is a great way to stop mold, mildew and dampness in your cabin and compartments. You can leave it on when you are not aboard as it is safe from fire danger and it has no moving parts to wear out and no chemicals to replace. It runs on 110V AC shore power, installs in minutes and is energy efficient.
While we are on the subject of keeping things dry and warm, I found the perfect Portable Cabin Heater for a terriffic price at Amazon.
It has 2 Heat Settings and you can Stand It Up or Lay It Down so it is easy to put just about anywhere on a boat. Adjustable Thermostat / Anti-Frost Setting and a Cool Fan Function - Can Be Used Without Heat If The boat Gets Too Hot. But the most important feature: Overheat Protection Shut-Off / Power Indicator Light /Thermal Cut-Off /Fire Retardant.
We have one in each stateroom and that is all we need during a Southern California Winter.
Another of my favorite tricks is to keep an electric blanket on our bed during cold weather. About an hour before we go to bed, I turn that baby on to High and it is an absolute treat to snuggle into that nice warm bed. P.S. if there are two of you sharing that electric blanket, be sure to get one with two (2) controls! I like it real warm and the captain does NOT.
My best friend is now bleach spray cleaner Love the stuff!
You do have to be careful when using a bleach product to keep from discoloring items. If I use it in a stateroom, I strip off the bedding and make sure I wear protective eyewear if I’m cleaning mildew off the ceiling. I also make sure to have plenty of ventilation in the room. Don’t forget to wear old clothes, as you WILL get bleach spray on them.
Everyone knows best way to prevent mildew is to keep things dry. That is not always possible on a boat. We get tons of condensation in one of our forward stateroom because of the large hatch in the ceiling. It’s not too much of a problem during the summer, but when the cold and rain comes and that hatch stays closed, it is a constant battle; thus the bleach spray.
Some boaters leave a low wattage bulb burning in a mildew-prone room. I’m not a big fan of that idea, as it is a potential fire hazard and really believe that you need to have a Dehumidifier
When we had a smaller boat, not a liveaboard, we used Goldenrod Dehumidifier Rod that comes in various lengths.
This handy item is a great way to stop mold, mildew and dampness in your cabin and compartments. You can leave it on when you are not aboard as it is safe from fire danger and it has no moving parts to wear out and no chemicals to replace. It runs on 110V AC shore power, installs in minutes and is energy efficient.
While we are on the subject of keeping things dry and warm, I found the perfect Portable Cabin Heater for a terriffic price at Amazon.
It has 2 Heat Settings and you can Stand It Up or Lay It Down so it is easy to put just about anywhere on a boat. Adjustable Thermostat / Anti-Frost Setting and a Cool Fan Function - Can Be Used Without Heat If The boat Gets Too Hot. But the most important feature: Overheat Protection Shut-Off / Power Indicator Light /Thermal Cut-Off /Fire Retardant.
We have one in each stateroom and that is all we need during a Southern California Winter.
Another of my favorite tricks is to keep an electric blanket on our bed during cold weather. About an hour before we go to bed, I turn that baby on to High and it is an absolute treat to snuggle into that nice warm bed. P.S. if there are two of you sharing that electric blanket, be sure to get one with two (2) controls! I like it real warm and the captain does NOT.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Living on the Hard
Have you thought about it? If you are a liveaboard, sooner or later the time will come when your boat will have to be pulled out of the water and worked on in a boat yard. Whether it’s new bottom paint or maintenance, you will need a new home for the duration. Depending upon the amount of drydock work that needs to be done, you could be homeless for days or weeks.
When this happens, it is always best to have planned ahead. Hit up all your friends and family for a place to stay. If you have been around your marina for some time, there will always be another marina tenant who will allow you to stay on their boat (If they are liveaboards, they will need the return favor some day soon.) This is where your dockmaster can help. He knows his tenants and who's boat may be available for you to use for a nominal or no cost at all.
Very few boat yards allow you to Live on the Hard while they work on your boat. If their insurance does permit you to stay aboard, what will you do with the dog? You will have to use a ladder to board, and unless Fido is a lap-dog, or an athlete, you will have to make arrangements to live elsewhere while the boat yard does work on your boat.
Last year, the diver who scrubs the bottom of our boat gave us the news that we needed to paint the bottom of our boat. We called around to the various boat yards and got the best price, within boat yards with the best reputations. We then had to figure out where we would go for the four plus days it would take to sand, repair, and paint our bottom. Fortunatly, we have connections at a few wonderful San Diego hotels, and made arrangements to get accommodations for super-bargain price. We put in for vacation time and planned to really relax and enjoy ourselves for four day at a resort!
The morning we were scheduled to cruise the boat over to the yard, San Diego had near-gale force winds and horrible wild fires. Thank goodness my husband is a professional boat captain, as I really believe that he is the only one who could have piloted our boat through those frightening high winds. We had to go through with our scheduled repairs as both of us had already arranged for the time off from our jobs, and didn’t know when we could again arrange simultaneous time off. We had planned to stay at a local pet-friendly hotel, but it was right in the middle of the fires.
Plan B - Shall I say we threw caution to the wind, and called a hotel in Las Vegas that also allowed pets
(The Red Rock Resort). They had space for us, so off we drove to Las Vegas.
All worked out, and the best part of this incident was the fact that my husband, Mr. Lucky, won enough gambling to pay for the entire trip plus a good portion of the boat yard fees!
But we did learn another lesson liveaboard lesson:
Always have a plan B.
Keeping Fit Aboard a Boat
If the dog is overweight YOU are not getting enough exercise.
Just where do you exercise when you live on a boat? You'll not have enough dedicated space for a home gym or even one piece of decent equiptment. Fear not, it can be done and I offer you some suggestions that have worked for me as a long-time liveaboard.
I love a folding bike as part of the liveaboard exercise regime because it is light and compact, folds and unfolds for easy storage. These bikes ride like any standard road bike and looks good. I had a standard bike that I had to keep in the marina bike-stand and the dampness and salt air ruined it in just a few months - what a waste of money that was. You can keep a folding bike in your car trunk (that's what I do) or store it on the boat: perfect for the liveaboard.
when you can't walk the dog. What then?- how can you walk the dog.
Live aboards do get exercise just walking up and down the marina ramp, and the long walk to and from car to boat. Boaters have a love of outdoors and those of us with dogs do get to take long walks with our pets several times a day. Is that enough? Perhaps to feel good, but obviously not enough to keep fit or lose weight.
What does a liveaboard do? I'm no fitness nut, but I do like to keep feeling good, and over the years I've tried every way a small space will allow and I've come up with several winners.
What is a good exercise to do in a small space such, as a boat, to lose weight and keep fit?
In most forms of yoga there are three components to doing yoga: breathing, concentration and physical poses.Obviously, to practice yoga, you will need to find precious space on your boat. The great thing about Yoga is you need only the space your mat and body need. In some cases, using a combination of different spaces or areas inside and outside your boat can be effective. You may have a wall in the salon where you do against-the-wall poses and another space on the deck or dock where you practice freestanding poses. Many poses are perfect with small spaces in mind.
I'm no yoga expert, and I use it mainly to stretch and keep myself flexible and moving with ease. I feel better when I do the poses at least 3 times a week, and it does help with weight control.
At our marina is a group of live aboards who get together in the morning and practice Yoga around the pool. One of the features of yoga that has helped boost its popularity with those of us who live on a boat is that it is easy to practice the routines onboard and no special equipment is necessary.
Although it's best to begin yoga in a class with a teacher who can help you make sure you're doing the postures correctly, there are also lots of videotapes, CD's, and books that can help you get started. I love Yoga Onboard
Yoga Onboard offers creative alternatives to adapting yoga postures to a boat. Using various parts of the boat as props, the author demonstrates how easy it is to do yoga on whatever size boat you have.
Yoga items that you may want to purchase once you decide that yoga is for you!
Basic Level OM Yoga in a Box
Blue Cotton Yoga Rug
You will find it hard to put these Hugger Mugger rugs away after practice because they are so beautiful! Place these colorful cotton rugs over your yoga mat to create a comfortable, absorbent surface for practice; very useful on a boat!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Naming Your Boat
Don't casually name your new boat…NAME IT CAREFULLY. Remember, other boaters will know you by the name of your boat. You do not want others referring to you as the guy on I'M WITH STUPID. You will also be using the boat name over the VHS radio. My husband thought it was "cute" to name our first boat SWEET CHEEKS, as that was his nickname for me. I was delighted, but I cannot tell you how embarrassed he was when ever he had to use the boat VHS radio and announce to the boating world, "Sweet Cheeks calling ABC Marina." He quickly changed that announcement by adding. "Motor craft Sweet Cheeks calling ABC Marina," but he never again felt comfortable with that boat's name. Needless to say, we gave our next boat a no nonsense name, but at that time we thought we were still stuck with that original name.
However, all was not lost, we did discover that the only cost to change the boat name was the new lettering graphics for the stern. It cost nothing to notify the Coast Guard for documentation of a boat name change. This is something that is done automatically when you purchase a boat and change its name at the time of sale.
The name of your boat will be plastered across your stern for the world to see, so be absolutely positive, it's a name you love and can live with for a long time. Nothing is worse than a 6' 4" man checking in at a new marina and telling them he is arriving on Sweet Cheeks.
BoatU.S. Top Ten Boat Names
Boat names can reveal much about the personality, lifestyle, passions or experiences of a boat owner. The BoatU.S. list of Top Ten Most Popular Boat Names is particularly revealing:
1) Black Pearl: The name of a fast, stealthy and intimidating fictional ship from the Disney Pirates of the Caribbean films, a recreational boat with this moniker was probably named by the kids.
2) Liberty: A patriotic name that first appeared on the Top Ten List just after 9-11, the owner of this vessel is clearly passionate about the freedoms enjoyed in the U.S.
3) Second Wind: Perhaps this boat owner has had a life changing experience and feels that their boat now gives them a second lease on life.
4) Amazing Grace: It could be that this boat name borrowed from a hymn provides the boat owner with a new spiritual outlet.
5) Aquaholic: This name illustrates a boater’s chronic love for the waterways. This boat is probably the first one out of the slip in the morning and the last one back in at the end of the day.
6) Knot on Call: Perhaps named by a boater in a professional field or industry with non-traditional work hours, this boat name affirms a desire break away from work pressures.
7) Second Chance: See #3, Second Wind.
8) Wanderlust: Defined as “A very strong or irresistible impulse to travel,” this boat owner clearly has a passion to cruise and explore the waterways.
9) The Dog House: Being in one (Dog House) isn’t necessarily bad for this boat owner as their vessel likely provides a “walled-off” escape away from the distractions of everyday life.
10) Carpe Diem or Seas the Day: This boat owner likely believes that boating allows them to enjoy life at its fullest.
Undoubtedly, there is indeed much in a name, and a boat, especially one large enough to be a liveaboard vessel, must be christened after careful thought.
- BOAT NAMES RESOURCE LINKS -
Boating Magazine PDF of Boat Names
10,000 boat names
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Where to Stow Your Shoes
Liveaboard life is casual, but not what I would call easy; there are many things to be taken care of that do not really affect the “land dwellers”.
Shoes! Where or where do we liveaboards keep all our shoes? That question may not sound important now, but once you become a liveaboard, it will be of utmost importance.
Marina parking lots and docks can get quite dirty, and you do not want to track all that mess onto your boat. The dog tracking in dirt is one thing that cannot be avoided; however, human shoes can be controlled. We have a basket just inside our boat entry for shoes. We either go barefoot or trudge around in socks or slippers. Now, a few words about what to do with all your shoes.
Camping and RV stores are a great place to find those perfect little storage solutions for the resourceful liveaboard. If you don’t have such a store near you, or if you prefer to shop on the internet, (yes, I’m one of those) then try CampingWorld.com.
Remember, if you just think about a liveaboard storage problem long enough, the answer will come!
Shoes! Where or where do we liveaboards keep all our shoes? That question may not sound important now, but once you become a liveaboard, it will be of utmost importance.
Marina parking lots and docks can get quite dirty, and you do not want to track all that mess onto your boat. The dog tracking in dirt is one thing that cannot be avoided; however, human shoes can be controlled. We have a basket just inside our boat entry for shoes. We either go barefoot or trudge around in socks or slippers. Now, a few words about what to do with all your shoes.
Most doors on a boat are not as thick as regular house doors, so over-the-door shoe storage bags are not suitable. We all have jobs, so here we have three people needing shoes for work, shoes for dress, shoes for play, and shoes for boating.
I love shoes! So, what to do?
I bought see-through plastic shoe boxes at the dollar store and line up the boxes against our stateroom walls and have them 2 and 3 boxes high. This works for my shoes as I can fit 2 pairs in each box, but my husband’s shoes are too big for this to work as solution for him. So, I bought several canvas shoe bags and cut them across each horizontal row. Fortunatly, our stateroom walls are covered in a material that resembles the loop layer of velcro, so I got the bright idea to attach the hook side of some heavy-duty velcro strips to the back of the canvas shoe pockets, lined them up against the wall, and, miracle upon miracle, they attached to the stateroom walls. So that was our solution to our liveaboard shoe storage. I thought I was pretty clever until I found this item in an RV supply store.
Camping and RV stores are a great place to find those perfect little storage solutions for the resourceful liveaboard. If you don’t have such a store near you, or if you prefer to shop on the internet, (yes, I’m one of those) then try CampingWorld.com.
Remember, if you just think about a liveaboard storage problem long enough, the answer will come!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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