Today’s guest blogger is Annie Holmes. I’ve written a lot about my friend Annie Holmes, artist, writer, dog lover, and sail boat enthusiast. Today she sent me a photo taken of her long ago and published more than once by the photographer. Shows you that a good photo never dies.
Annie writes: This photo is nearly 20 years old. It is one of a series taken by Bob Grieser, professional boat photographer, who sells photos to advertisers, publications, etc. Meggie and I were just out tooling around Shelter Island basin one day when Grieser showed up in his skiff and asked to take pictures. I said sure. He gave me one of the slides way back when, and it’s fun to see other images from that shoot show up now and again. Makes me realize how much fun we had and how much I miss Miss Megan the Australian Wonder Dog.
January 2010 issue of Sailing Magazine
Sailing with a dog is great fun – especially if the dog is well-behaved and likes to go with you anywhere. It also helps if the dog is a good swimmer and isn’t afraid of the water. In my case Miss Megan was the best sailing dog in the world. She knew HOW to sail. She knew to go to the high side of the boat as I tacked and because of her instinctive ability, I didn’t have to change sides each time I tacked the boat. Meggie was “moving ballast.”
Meggie and I probably put 10,000 miles on that dinghy. It's an antique El Toro, named HOT YOT.
Meggie was a purebred Australian Shepherd, my favorite breed of dog. She was so in tune with her humans, you almost didn’t have to give her a command. She just knew what you wanted, and she’d do it. Besides being a good sailing companion, Meggie was a beloved therapy dog, visiting the sick and the elderly in two different hospitals. Our biggest adventure together was probably our trip up to Oregon (from San Diego) in my old ’76 camper. We went to get a boat that was given to me. [That adventure is another story. Ed.] We stopped all along the way and hiked the beaches, shopped in the little towns, stayed with friends, and she protected me at night, when we slept in the camper. Well, she would have if anyone had bothered us. No one did, but it was a great feeling of security to know she was there, sleeping or sitting in the front seat, keeping watch while I slept.
If you want a dog to like the water, don’t force it into the water. Dogs are naturally good swimmers, but it must be their idea. If you toss a dog into the water to “teach” it to swim, it will never go near the water. Just get her used to being near the water, walk in and out yourself, swim and act like you are having a good time in the water. Eventually the dog will want to join in. THEN you can teach them to rescue you in the water, or sail in a small dinghy, or ride with you in a kayak or canoe. Meggie loved it all, and I miss her great heart and spirit to this day, even after a decade without her.
