We’re cruising America’s Great Loop aboard our power catamaran Bella Nova, accompanied by our golden retriever first mate, Bella.
This is an image of our first few weeks on the Great Loop. We started in Fort Lauderdale and headed up the Intracoastal Waterway. In Florida, we had 11 stops for a total of 300 miles. Along the Georgia coastline, we had only 3 total stops (Jekyll, anchoring at St. Catherine’s Island and Savannah) before entering South Carolina and going to Lady’s Island marina and Charleston.
Bella Nova is a Fountaine Pajot MY6 power catamaran. She is 50 feet long with the swim platform and has a 21.5 foot beam. Her draft is 4.6 feet and there are 3 bedrooms and 3 baths on board.
Gunner (gray man on the left) and Kodie would fly down the stairs so I would make them wait at the top so they didn’t cause skid marks on my tuckus.
Howie’s personal space taken over by the
Gunner monster.
Gunner decided to carry this beer can home. It was wet and nasty out, but he was determined. I sent it in to Golden Retriever Rescue and the picture made it into their yearly calendar.
A little about Bella and our other amazing pups
Elyse was our first addition in 1989. She never wanted to be too far away from you, hence she had major anxiety issues. Tore out the arm rest in the back of our Toyota Tercel, chewed the garage door to try and get out and once, I found her walking in the middle of the street as she had figured out how to open the front door. She lived 16 years with us, from Edwards AFB, Beavercreek, OH, Statesboro, GA and then to North Bend, OH.
We found our sweet Goldie wandering in the desert near Edwards AFB. She loved to roam and get into trouble, usually coming home full of burrs, but with bright eyes and a smile. She passed at 11 years old.
We are dog people. We both grew up with dogs and when we got married, a puppy was in our future. In 1989, While Howard was stationed at Edwards Air Force base, Elyse, a German Shepherd, became part of our family. She was incredibly smart. We moved to a rural part of Georgia from 1997-2000 and when I went on walks with her, she was typically off leash. I could actually read a book with her walking beside me. If a car came, I would just tell her to wait and she would sit until the car past. Elyse lived to be 16 years old.
While out on a walk during our 4 years at Edwards AFB (1988-1992), we found a Golden Retriever mix female that had recently had puppies. We put up signs, called animal rescue, but no one claimed her. She became our second sweet girl. Due to our great naming abilities, she became “Goldie”. Her main trick was disappearing while going out to potty and coming back an hour later full of burrs and a wild look in her eyes.
It took us awhile before we got another dog. In the meantime, we fostered dogs for GRRAND (Golden Retriever Rescue and Needy Dogs). In total, we fostered 27 dogs that went on to great homes. One of the dogs became a “foster success” as we fell in love with him and adopted him. Gunner was about 11 months old when we got him and a bit of a handful. It is pretty typical for a dog to grow into their adult body but still have a puppy personality and the family that adopted them isn’t about to cope. Training is such a crucial part of the process, though many miss this important step. Gunner was with us from 2001-2012. He went with us to Bangalore India for two years (2008-2010).
About a year after getting Gunner, we wanted to get another dog that he could play with. GRRAND had a dog in Louisville that was red and had an Irish Setter look. Kodie quickly became a loving member of our family. He was such a sweet dog, playful and happy. If we ever raised our voices, he would start barking which meant a lot less arguments! Unfortunately, we lost him to a blood cancer when he was almost five years old. He passed away when we were in India.
These four amazing dogs were wonderful additions to our family. They are missed.