We lost a crew member yesterday. Gertie was less than two years old. The first year of her life, things were fine, but then she went downhill. She labored to breathe and lost weight. We took her to two vets, one of which even did exploratory surgery. Everything looked normal and tests showed nothing wrong. Both vets were stumped. Finally, we decided to get her off the boat, thinking it might be an allergy, and sent her off to Pam's mom in Florida. Yesterday, we got the call. Gertie was barely alive.

So yesterday we drove to Florida. Pam picked up Gertie, who was as limp as a dishrag. She managed to purr, looking at Pam through squinty eyes. Pam took her to a local vet and had her put down and we buried her.

This pic was taken June 21st, 2012, and she was fine.