Hero's Loop

p> By noon we had calmed our nerves and the bridges were getting further apart. Lunch was served in shifts and all was well in the Florida sunshine. Maggie was pacing the deck and looking at the large green lawns as we motored past. We knew what our little brown dog was thinking. She had not been off the boat since the evening before and was not due to be off the boat until the day's end. I know with all the excitement and the new environment she probably had to go badly. We had the grass carpet on the bow which had yet to be used. We had even walked her forward with the leash just like going for a walk in the park, but she was having no part of peeing where she lived. So she knew the carpet was there and it gave us comfort that it was there if she really needed it. Beagle dogs are scent dogs. They are guided by their nose. They are very particular about where they poop and pee and love to smell new areas. This was going to be a matter of wills. Who could last the longest? Could we outlast the dog? This was a test and we were determined to make her use the carpet or just wait. Our veterinarian had told us that she could go 72 hours or longer without harm. WOW, can you imagine going 72 hours. Not me!! But at the same time I'm not a dog. Denniese noticed a long green grassy park with a seawall. We were in Hollywood, Florida and the channel deep up to the seawall. Denniese asked me, "Do you think you could pull over to the seawall and I could walk Maggie?" Seemed like a good idea to me. I told Jim and Beverly to get the fenders and lines ready and we were going to pull up along the seawall. From the upper helm, I eased the boat over to the seawall and all was going well until I noticed a blur of a brown furry object jump over the bow of the boat. Maggie had jumped from the bow of the boat over the fence and was now running north at full speed up Highway A1A. The grassy area beside the highway was the wonderland of grass and smell she had longed for. Our first trip, our second day and our crew was already jumping ship. I yelled to Denniese and told her that Maggie had jumped ship and was headed north. Denniese was off the boat, onto the seawall and over the fence within a couple of seconds. Denniese with leash in hand, in her best sundeck outfit, was running at Olympic speed in her cute little boat shoes, the ones with the pump heals, after the blur of brown fur which by now had a hundred yard head start. I heard Denniese yell to the geriatric citizens walking along the sidewalk, "STOP THAT DOG!!" No one seemed to notice the beagle dog or the woman yelling. Life seemed to going on as usual in Hollywood, Florida.