Boatyard Dog-Halley-96

There are mixed breeds, and then there are superior mixed breeds. Halston Thorkleson—a.k.a. Halley—an employee at Atlantic Boat in Brooklin, Maine, is a representative of the latter. Here we have at once a yellow lab and a border collie. Retriever, and herder. Perfect. “Hey, Halley,” one of the yard crew says, “fetch me a half-inch shoulder eye bolt two inches long.” And she does. “Hey, Halley,” the yard manager says, “the gang over in the east yard have gone shiftless. Drive ’em back to work.” And she does. Of course, that only happens when Halley’s on duty. During the summer season when she isn’t, she’s napping in the warm sun on the dock, or swimming in the cold clear water and then rolling in the seaweed to regain that certain eau de seaside, or tiptoeing through the yard office after the secret stash of dog biscuits. When her chums, Virginia Campbell and Nate Hopkins, take a day off, she goes “skiffin” with them in the little boat (a blast) or sailing with them in the big boat (boring). And in the off season, she joins them on hikes in the White Mountains in the good weather (energizing) and watching the rodeo on TV in the bad (intellectually stimulating). When you’re a representative of a superior mixed breed in a boatyard on the coast of Maine, life is good.