Move to Siesta Key

Eagle, our Beagle, has developed into quite the fish. She won’t swim in the Gulf because the waves worry her, but back on the bay or bayou you can’t keep her out of the water. Bud Raoul has been keeping his sister’s dog, and Eagle runs down to the tip of our island every morning, swims across the bayou to Loke’s house, and plays with Tia.

The first time Eagle ventured across the gangplank onto the big boat, she dashed along the catwalk, up onto the deck of the forward cabin, and lay down just in front of the windshield. It was slightly unnerving to see a dog staring in at us from eye level. Anyway, when we got ready to leave on an errand, we called and she couldn’t figure out how to get down. She didn’t have sense enough to go all the way forward, where the catwalk leveled off, but jumped for it from where she was. There was a splash that rocked the boat, and she swam on in to shore. She hasn’t been up on the trunk cabin deck since, either!

We have been using an old boat from the Proving Ground and a Mercury for running around. (I don’t see how we could get along without their help!) Eagle simply adores riding in it. Alex, Bucher, and she take off in the little boat and are gone hours, literally. Bucher says that she just stands up on the front seat with her nose in the wind and grins. She has been sleeping in the little boat, too, up under the decking in the nose, and until a couple of days ago we could tell what time she woke up by the splash she made jumping ashore and missing. Now she has learned how to jump up the boarding ladder into the afterdeck, then go ashore on the gangplank. She’s getting awfully spry now that she has run some of that excess poundage off. When we first got here, she had trouble jumping into the Ranch Wagon when the tailgate was down. Last night, we saw her leap nimbly in through the open top half of the rear door.

 

Labor Day we went for our first cruise. Bucher had promised Alex he would take him. The evening before, Alex was so excited he hardly could stand still. He paced the floor of the deckhouse for two hours, talking the whole time in his most adult, most self-possessed, most business-like way, to Bucher’s and my complete delight.

Bucher let Alex turn the key, punch the starter, and do a few other things to help us get under way. He was simply beside himself with importance and excitement. Soon after we leave the bayou, we have to go under a drawbridge and Bucher let him sound the horn to make it open for us.

Carli and I sat up in the cruising cockpit ahead of the trunk cabin and enjoyed the ride. She was dressed for the occasion in a special cruise outfit designed to keep her cool but protected her from the sun. I didn’t get a picture, but will next time; it was a sight. She had on a long white baby nightgown, tied at the bottom and at her wrists. And on her head was that precious white nylon bonnet Mother bought her for Higgins.

When we got out through the Pass and into the Gulf, we had some gently rolling water, small waves. It was just a very pleasant amount of motion. Alex got very quiet, crawled up in the hight seat across the cabin from the helmsman’s seat, and just sat. I put Carli up next to him, telling him that he would have to take care of her because it was her first trip in a cruiser. He wrapped both arms around her as if he were protecting her from the devil himself. She got restless after a few minutes and I put her to bed for her regular noon nap. A few minutes later I missed Alex, looked below, and found him sound asleep in his own bunk. He wasn’t sick, and he wasn’t actually scared. He just apparently had the feeling that he was way out of his depth in this adventure, and wished he could go to sleep and wake up back at the dock. And that’s exactly what he did!

Meanwhile, Bucher and I had a lovely cruise. We just circled Siesta Key, but it took us two hours because we came back through Little Sarasota Bay, which is a narrow, shallow, and twisty channel.

 

Bucher loves the way the boat handles. She has only one engine, which he really didn’t want, but he says she “smells the bottom,” squats down, and simply won’t go fast in shallow water. I thought it was a lot of seaman’s yarn when he told us that until he explained that a single engine boat has an extra large rudder which gets very sluggish as it sucks close to the bottom, and actually does keep you from going aground. Also, the boat is very economical to run for her size, and the bottom is perfect. She hasn’t taken on a drop of water since we have had her, and we really did roll her around a bit in the Gulf on our little trip.

We spent most of last week beginning to renovate her. Bucher tore out half of the deckhouse and we are rearranging bunks. He built in a new seat business, did some very fancy cabinet work on some drawers under it, paneled one side where we had torn something out, etc. We have an awful lot left to do. And I hope he can get it pretty well finished this week because we start on the house Monday. Our master carpenter wanted a little extra time, which suited us beautifully. We really wanted to put it off till another week so we would have longer to work on the boat. We’re in no hurry now.

 

We love our lot more than ever. Right now, with no other houses out on our island, we have a 360-degree view. The sunsets are dazzling. Mullet jump all around us day and night. (You can’t catch them on a hook; have to use a net.)

During low tide, great flocks of egrets feed on the flats across from us, and occasionally white cranes join them. Since there is nothing to interrupt it, we get any breath of breeze there is…which has been a steady, strong one…enough to keep us blissfully cool no matter how hot the day and enough to discourage any mosquitoes. We have had only an occasional straggler of them so far. The weather couldn’t have been nicer, but it is cool enough today that I’m going to have to dig out some blankets before tonight.