Date: May 12, 2018
Trip #14 (#34)Weather: Cloudy
Waters: Choppier than usual out west
On board: C, A, J1, J2, R ... and Pudding, the family dog!
New gear on board: A dog life jacket, size M, slighly oversized now
Folks, we have a new member of the family. Pudding came to our home two months ago, and in that time, it has become abundantly clear that our nearly-six-month-old pupper is no water baby, despite being a golden retriever. We have been taking him to the beach and installed a kid's inflatable pool in the balcony, and we bathe him every Sunday. Each time, he's shown that he'd rather be somewhere else.
So what are we to do if the original plan had been to include a water-loving, athletic dog in our outings on the boat?
Force it. Haha.
Pudding was carried on board. He had no say. The engine was already running, so he wouldn't have to deal with its sudden firing up. He weighs about 14kg now. Eventually, when he hits adult weight of between 35 to 40 kg and refuses to board, we may not have this option of carrying him on board...
Notice his tail between his legs.
We didn't want to make the trip longer than needed, so we turned to starboard upon leaving Raffles Marina and headed up towards the SAF live-firing range. We dropped anchor north of the live-firing area and cut the engine.
Pudding calmed down considerably without the roar of the engine. He wouldn't jump off the swim platform into the water though, no sir. Then again, none of us felt inclined to either. The water was a murky dark green-grey today.
He even managed to catch a nap with J1, who had to sleep off some sea-sickness. They were both below deck, in air conditioned comfort.
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| R comforts a nervous Pudding as the boat pulls out of the marina |
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| 'God, why did you have to assign me a family that keeps bringing me to the beach, to pools, and now, this big, noisy thing that floats on a LOT of water??' |
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| Pudding didn't seem to mind being up front with C and A. |
We'll be back, and so will he.
