October 8, 2024
Five weeks ago this day — September 3th, 2024 at 14:00 GMT — my mother’s life came to an end; she was 77. I understand from my sister who was with her that it was a peaceful death. She was sleeping, my sister holding her hand, when she inhaled deeply and let her life go with a last exhalation. She was a devoted mother, a women of principles and character, intelligent, cultivated, and objectively beautiful. She didn’t have friends, she disliked people, she had us.
After studying journalism she was involved in politics and wrote about politics. She decided to stop when I was born. She continued writing speeches for my grand father and father, short stories, and poems but as the family expanded she let aside that as well. I always thought it had been a mistake to give up her career for us. Until one day she told me that if writing had been her passion nothing could have stopped her.
We are not a religious family, no ceremony was held. My father, son, sister, and brother took turns to be with her overnight. The next day she was cremated. I’m told the ashes are now in a wooden box in her room.
I will travel to Ecuador in mid November to visit my father, take some of the ashes with me and bring them to BEHEMOTH. I promised her that one day I would spread them somewhere in the South Pacific.
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Since her dead I have been in Hua Hin for most of the time. I’ve resumed work and the normal routine. A few days ago I had the impulse to read one of the first books she gave me: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. I bought a Kindle edition for almost nothing. He was born Robinson Kreutzanaer in a wealthy family in England. His father warned him about the risks of leaving a comfortable and stable life to travel the world, but failed to convince him and he sailed away.
Alone in the island, after having retrieved as much as he could from the sunken boat and built an abode for himself, two cats and a dog, he wrote in his journal: « All evils are to be considered with the good that is in them, and with what worse attends them .»
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My morning hikes or runs at the beach with Woland (and Natalia when she is around) help. Woland is usually off-leash in these walks. But until recently, when distracted by an animal (say a peacock) or a smell that he finds particularly interesting, there was always the risk that he would not respond to my commands. And he wasn’t great at walking by my side, the «heal » command, when off-leash.
So it is that a couple of weeks ago, under Natalia’s encouragement, I started using a Garmin e-collar I had bought when he was a puppy. Contrary to what people might think, the small electric charge the collar delivers when you press on the remote control doesn’t hurt the dog; it’s more of a reminder to pay attention and focus on you, the equivalent of pulling on the leash. Before putting the collar on Woland I tried it on me — on my hand, I didn’t get to put the collar around my neck. The collar is useful when the dog is off-leash outside of reach. It is not a replacement for traditional training with the leash, but a tool to be used temporarly for polishing behaviors and responses once the dog knows very well all the basic commands.
Woland is now graduating from the e-collar and I am extremely proud of him. Unless we are in a place where the leash is mandatory, I don’t use it. The other day in Bangkok, we went for his first city-walk with no leash in the middle of the morning rush-hour. He did great and I could see that people walking past us were impressed.
This past weekend we went for a walk on a busy part of the beach where there are many tourists, children playing, motor bikes transporting goods, soi dogs, and horses. He used to steal balls, run after bikes and bark at horses. He is still tempted, but he is able to control it and obeys when asked to stay with us or to come back.
Beach and soi dogs can be a problem, they keep barking at him. Woland usually ignores them, doesn’t engage or tries to play with them. That same day when walking at the beach, a dog attacked him from behind. Woland defended himself, subdued the dog down to the ground, but then let him go without harming him.
The Monks of New Skete are among the most experienced dog trainers and some of them are also good writers. They recently came up with a book with Marc Goldberg, another famous dog trainer, The Art of Training Your Dog: How to Gently Teach Good Behavior Using an E-Collar, which I think is the best reference for people trying to bring their dogs to the next level in terms of excellence.
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We celebrated Natalia’s birthday on September 25th. Roses (one of each rotation around the sun), a day at the beach, champagne, dinner at her favorite place. The champagne we had with locally produced caviar. Hard to believe, but it is true. I discovered a sturgeons farm here in Hua Hin owned and managed by a Russian young man. He personally delivered to our place a can of minute black eggs. They were delicious.
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The one who is homeless is BEHEMOTH. I still don’t understand how it happened, but when she was moved to Manzanillo boatyard for repairs (propeller and propeller shaft) and anti-fooling, she lost her slip at Marina Club the Pesca. They claim we didn’t inform them that the boat would return. But Hector, who manages the boat during my absence, told them he was just bringing her to the yard. And it is not the first time BEHEMOOTH leaves the marina for a few days. They have my credit card which they charge monthly to cover the slip rental, electricity, and water consumption.
My guess is that a powerful member of the marina club was in need of a slip for himself or a friend and they saw the opportunity. I haven’t been able to find another slip in Club de Pesca or in another marina, and in Manzanillo they can’t keep BEHEMOTH past the end of this week. No sure what to do.
Sailing to the Pacific 