Partly cloudy. Low 56F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Partly cloudy. Low 56F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.

Mary Lucille Hays teaches writing at UIUC and Zhejiang University in Haining, China.

I’m sitting in the cockpit of the boat. Well actually, my feet are in the cockpit, and I’m sitting above it all in a rumble seat. The dogs are curled on the floor in the shade. It’s quiet here, and I am listening to the dock sounds. A neighbor across the way is making repairs or renovations, and I hear the whine of his power tools. It may be a sander, and he is revitalizing his teak. One lovely piece of wood (maybe the cockpit floor?) is propped sideways against the cabin to dry. It is dark and rich and looks newly varnished. The teak I am sitting on looks weathered and dry. I may walk over and ask him about it, but it is a long walk since he is on the opposite pier, and I would have to go all the way around and then back again.

Other sounds are the occasional motor as boats go out into the channel to sail or motor on Lake Erie proper. This is a big fishing area, and I’ve been surprised at how boats go out at sunset. We always anchor or come back to the dock before then to avoid sailing at night, but I guess people go out when the fish are biting. The dogs have been drowsing all day, either below or in the cockpit. It’s not too hot, and we have a sunshade, but when all the shade squeezed into a small corner, I rigged a tent over the table with a towel, and I think they appreciate it.

Before we left on this trip, we researched dogs on boats since then have never been on one before. I bought a non-spill rubber water bowl, and Ursula keeps sitting right on top of the bowl, spilling it anyway and wetting her belly. The third time I filled it from the hose on the dock, I began to suspect she is doing it on purpose.

We’re here for the sailing, but we still have a lot to do before we take our maiden voyage. We have to change the oil on the diesel motor and figure out how to inflate the dinghy we bought today. Then we have to figure out where to keep it, since the boat parallel parked behind us is too close to just tie it to our stern. And the only boats keeping dinghies seem to have fancy pulley systems that suspend the dinghy over the water.

Then there are the stairs. Michael precut wood to build little stairs to make it easier for the dogs to get up on the boat. We have a ramp for them, and they are getting better at going up and down, but we think the stairs will be easier. Descending into the cabin is more like a ladder than a set of stairs, and that’s hard for them. Cullen is getting pretty good at it, but Ursula is hesitant. She doesn’t remember the last time she did it (though it was only a few hours ago) and waits, worrying at the top until she suddenly figures it out again.

This morning the dogs woke up early with the sun and came into our bunk, and we walked down to the park for their morning constitutional. A killdeer was singing its piping cry and then ran across the road in front of us, suddenly stopping and extending her wing in a funny way. Was it broken? No! Next, we saw her mini me, then another, and another, and another, all running on invisible feet, darting here and there, like they are floating just above the ground. She was trying to distract the dogs from her family by playing the easy mark. But the dogs were oblivious, so intent were they on sniffing every little scrap of evidence of doggy neighbors. Her family soon rejoined her on the other side of the road, and her wing was miraculously healed. The dogs finished their sniffing, and we headed home for breakfast.

Float in Beauty; Cruise in Peace; Blessed Be