CatNav and Buttery Paws

Ships_Cat

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Real Ship's Cat was most scathing about our passage through Cook Strait over 3 weeks ago. We left on a 25 knot forecast and ended up with 30 - 50 knots in our faces. 7 - 8 knots just off close hauled with small foresail and like being in a washing machine going through the rips across the bottom of North Island, and then motored directly into it when headed the rest of the way.

So, 3 weeks later for the return passage we decided to let Ship's Cat make the decisions. Like all Ship's Cats he has his paws buttered while we are away else he is always yowling to go home again. Day before yesterday we unbuttered his paws and left him to it. First move was he wandered out into the cockpit and sniffed the air (blowing 25 knots in the anchorage and grey clouds scudding in our faces out over the Strait) and then promptly came in and went to sleep. 4 am yesterday morning he had us out of bed and gave orders to go - to our surprise not a breath of wind and moony/starry sky.

Off we go, motoring of course as not a breath, for the flattest Strait passage ever, just glassy with only a residual 1 m swell coming through. Ship's Cat just lay sunning his tummy with a "just leave it to me" smirk on his face.

As we approached Wellington banks of fog were rolling out the entrance, a very rare occasion as anyone who has visited the place will know (made the national news). 15 minutes out I called Port Control to check on big ship movements and advise our intentions, as required in poor visibility and as we also have to use the main channel and cross it. Only one ship due coming out around the time we expected to cross the channel and the comment "You won't be able to see where you are going, the harbour's full of fog" - Ship's Cat just smiled.

Rounded the outer buoy and proceeded up the main channel into the harbour, Ship's Cat staring intently ahead and sniffing the air. And wonders, for the whole 7 mile run up the harbour the fog started to lift and kept doing so about a mile ahead of us all the way and remained clear behind us. So when we got to the marina the whole harbour was cleared behind us, very smug Cat in the cockpit gave final sniff and disappeared below.

They say great navigators always instinctively know where they are and I often wonder how animals with homing instincts manage. Must be something in the buttery paws and Animal Nav, I think /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

John
 

Greenwichman

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Delightful dit. One of the finest sea-going cats was Trim, who sailed with Matthew Flinders on his circumnavigation of Australia. The National Maritime Museum has posted a number of Flinders' papers on their site and eight of these papers refer to Trim. The animal has been given a human character by the author, who sailed with the creature for more than 5 years, so he had time to observe and record .... Definitely repays a read by any cat or boat lover; the epitaph is especially good. <font color="blue"> </font>

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.13041
 

Bergman

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I read your post to our moggy, Trex

She didn't seem overly impressed and when I suggested that she should learn to forecast the weather I got a very brief response:

Me - How?
 

Ships_Cat

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Very interesting thanks. I see that Flinder's tribute to Trim is currently the featured manuscript on the site and a great read too.

Trim being shipwrecked reminded me of a friend (now dead) who used to cruise to friends living on a remote part of the coast. One night he was invited to the evening meal so he went in and moored on their dock. Afterwards he left the dock and anchored out for the night, but on anchoring he discovered that his friend's cat had boarded uninvited while he was ashore and was still on board.

He decided to return the cat next morning but on getting up then, the cat was gone. So he had the sorry task of going ashore to tell his friend that the cat was drowned - but on opening the house door, there was the smirking cat, having swum ashore during the night.

John
 

Ships_Cat

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A very observant Woofy, you are /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. Yes another year clicked over for him.

We don't know the day of his actual birthday so is celebrated on the anniversay of his rescue from the SPCA (which he seems to think is good enough) and at which time he was reputedly just 1 year old.

John
 

aluijten

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Quote:

'Like all Ship's Cats he has his paws buttered while we are away'

Is this a English expression that naieve Dutch people don't understand? Please clarify before I develop some strange ideas...

Thanks in advance,

Arno
 

Ships_Cat

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Hi Arno

It is said that if one takes a cat away from its old home to a new home and then puts butter on its paws, then it will not try to go back to its old home (as they are inclined to try to do).

I doubt it is true, but it is a common folk tale.

Regards

John
 

aluijten

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Thanks John!

I've got two of those monsters, but clipping their nails (needed regularly as they do not go outside) is challenging enough for me.
Though we are considering to bring them to the boat as soon as we have a boat with some some (interior) space. That way its more easy to spent the whole weekend on the boat.
We are very curious how it will work out, as one of them is quite shy and the other quite noisy (and nosey as well).
 
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