My first morning out and anchored a lake mile from home port, yet just over the hill by foot, I encountered a hungry, and apparently homeless, hound dog.  He was hesitant to approach and ducked his tail in while hunkering as if he expected punishment.  I suspect he was a mistreated hunting dog who had been abandoned.  He wore a collar without any name tag or any other identification.  His hunger overcame his timidity, so what could I do except invite him for breakfast?  He seemed to like the boat, as well as tolerate -- even relish -- the grub I offered (starvation will have that effect).  This was  when I considered and accepted that I was in need of a deck hand.  

In earlier times the Dutch barges used dogs, usually Keeshonds, that were specially bred to bark.  They carried on a barking exchange during foggy evenings so the boats could navigate without crashing together.  Having no foghorn aboard, I immediately conscripted this spotted hound for sea duty; you might even say that I shanghaied him.  I proclaimed him an Able Bodied Seaman and immediately promoted him to the rank of First Mate.  Needing official ship's papers, he came to be titled  A.B.S. Gilligan, First Mate aboard the little ship FreeBird  (I was still trying to christen the boat and FreeBird was the working title).  Thus, I had a companion in my travels.  

 A.B.S, Gilligan

 

Every boat needs a garden.  Here is one of my plantings, attempting onboard fresh tomatoes.  I had a sweet pepper plant as well and another bucket tomato.  In the end, the pepper was a total failure.  The tomatoes grew into a great display of flowering yellow decorations without fruit.  I think that moving the boat daily kept the bees confused and pollination did not happen.  My garden failed due to a bunch of lonely tomato plants.  

The lake was a few feet above full pool (the anticipated upper limit of water) when I set out.  This one factor would cause me significant trouble as I made my way around the lake, a situation I did not really appreciate in the early stage of my odyssey.

 I had aboard an inflatable pontoon raft which I expected to use for short trips for supplies and exploration along the way.  Unfortunately, this did not work out as I hoped and I would soon abandon this craft, relying on my kayak instead.

Gilligan took several days to accept that I was not a hard master.  He continued to exhibit the traits of an abused child despite my efforts to reassure him.