Friends and more friends
The winds came in from the same direction last night, but way less intense. We enjoyed a nice rocking, but it was more soothing. I attempted to get up early and write my blog, but even with the better winds I hadn’t slept the greatest the night before and I tried to go back and cuddle with Captain for awhile rather then finish and post.
Jaycee and Dan (and Dolly!) were expected to join us around 9:30am so I got up around 8:30 and emptied all the trash, did dishes and readied the boat for guests again. We took Kona to shore for her morning walk and greeted them at the docks.
Their pup, Dolly, is a little older. She did well last night getting on the dinghy and boat but she has a good memory and this morning she was a whole bunch of “nope” getting on our small boat. It was cute to see the family get her on, turn their back to get on while she jumped off, on repeat.
Eventually though we got her secure and back to Ciara where she was happy to just chill out down below or on deck. Captain made bacon and I played bartender. Honestly, I think it was Jaycee’s declaration at One Barrel that she loved Bloody’s that got them the invite back to Ciara in the first place. We are so very proud of our little food invention and it seems to get rave reviews. Jaycee says she is pretty good at making dirty martini’s and we have made plans for a martini party to teach me. Ever since I had that yummy one in Vegas I am very intrigued!
After our brunch we packed up our day bags and headed to Peninsula state park (where we had been the last week). Now being experts on most of the trails we took them on the Eagle Trail they had been wanting to do. When we got to Eagle Tower I noticed a sign for an overlook I have never seen before so we took a short detour to be greeted with a beautiful view of the town of Ephriam down in the bay below. We watched Dolly as they enjoyed the tower for the first time and then took a new trail back to their car. Kona was a good girl and alerted to a deer and that was the highlight of the new trail. What a beautiful and nice day.
We stopped in Fish Creek on our way back to Egg Harbor. They had dinner reservations at 7pm, but we were all just a little hangry from the hike so we found a dog friendly pub and had some fries and a drink.
We had such a lovely day with new friends, proving yet again that the best ships are friendships. I am always grateful for Captains ability to put us out there, and Kona for breaking the ice. I’m so glad we can share this adventure with friends new and old.
Speaking for friends! Jaycee and Dan said goodbye to us just shy of 5pm. At 5:05 my good friend Erin and her dog Kiwi arrived to visit for the weekend!
Kiwi is about one and half years old. Erin hasn’t been up to visit Ciara in awhile and we both wanted to see each other a little this summer. Kiwi has gotten his swimming down and is training on her SUP so we were both curious how he would do on the other boats. Mostly we wanted to see if he could learn to use the pup plank.
People often ask how Kona likes sailing. We say she tolerates it. She has truly grown up on this boat and doesn’t know any different. She loves the perks (long walks, fresh air, lots of swimming and more) but also needs comforting while under sail or long rocky nights. Having Dolly, and now Kiwi aboard it is really clear how much of a boat dog she is. She gracefully maneuvers herself around the boat that other dogs simply can’t do either because of coordination or confusion. Dolly was older, so the jumping around was harder and she got lifts and chilled out. Kiwi is younger (and visla!) and he was just so confused to this floating island his mom brought him too. Way too much energy to be confined on a boat.
We did pull out the pup plank and gave it a whirl. Kona didn’t mind teaching Kiwi, afterall, it was her that taught Kiwi to swim in the first place.
I threw the ball for Kona a few times and she showed Kiwi how to jump off and swim back to the pup plank. All the while Kiwi is barking and trying to figure out how to get off the boat to the ball. Eventually I brought Kiwi down to the dinghy and threw him a ball from there and finally got him in the water. Kona and Kiwi raced for the ball and I threw a second ball so each would feel like a winner. Kona came back and got on board as she should. Kiwi followed but utterly refused to use the plank. Instead just treading water in his life jacket begging to be brought out of the water. I got him to use it once and I thought he would get it but he continued to like the “whine until mom pulls me out” method. It worked for him. We played for a little bit and decided to call it a day with the swimming. Maybe he will sleep on it and figure it out tomorrow.
We decided to try the Mexican place we walk by all the time for dinner. I was expecting a full restaurant but found it was more like a little tapas bar. Nonetheless, they had tacos so we were game. As we were seated I noticed the young wait staff girl looked like the Ukrainian girl we had met in the park a few days ago. She worked at a different place so I wondered if this was a friend. Nope, it was her! She recognized us and apparently has a few jobs here this summer. We had a lovely chat about her and her family and grumpy cat back home. We were so happy to hear they feel safe and are doing well and sadly “were just used to it.” Door County, like so many tourist towns in America rely very heavily on summer work visas. Because of reasons (enter curse words) you can feel the pinch of people not being able to get work visa. She said this was her second summer coming to America. She worked in housecleaning in upstate New York last year. She is loving the more customer facing positions she has this summer. I’m glad we ran into her again.
It rained, again, while at dinner, but thankfully we had closed up Ciara so we enjoyed a long dinner and the free ping pong table in the back for a while.
We came back to Ciara just in time for me to play Taps and take Kona right back to shore for her night walk. Erin thankfully had thought ahead to the possibility that Kiwi might be stir crazy on a boat and had readied her Tesla for camping mode and to sleep in their car right at the marina. We had a nice long walk and all said good night at the docks. I was happy to get in bed with Captain and cuddle up after a whirlwind day.
