February 2015 – Sail Away Into the Blue

Meow, cats, humans and other beings….

According to Wikipedia, I’m now around 70 human years old (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_years), should sleep peacefully more than 70 % of the day, which both sound an awful lot but sitting here on my bed, I can tell you, this human of mine has moved me around so many miles I hardly know where I am!

Well, at the end of 2011, I had everything I hoped for, a lovely home with a view over the Simon’s Town harbour and mountains, a cat door which gave me freedom to go wherever I wanted, lovely neighbours that spoilt me and the occasional chase of mice and birds – life was a bliss. Then my human changed it all…

She met this little female chick who brought her human with her and that furball kept on bothering me from then on. No respect for elders, she jumped on me, tried to bite into my tail and to top it all, ate most of my food out of MY bowl! I could hardly escape outside because of a new human that moved into the house above – innocent me strolls over as usual, to discover a yelping human plus her two yelping doormats putting up spikes on the fence. The mood in the house got a bit tense, lots of packing, shopping, and then the furniture kept disappearing until there was hardly a cushion to find comfort on. And you know how I hate change! My human would still surprise me even more! The dreaded box came out, she lured me into it and off we went to that animal torturer – being poked by needles again. But instead of giving me proper rest in my home, she soon dragged me into the box again to this thing on the water – a floating home?!?!? Now who can be so stupid to build something like this! I was terrified and didn’t like the idea of sharing my home, toilet, food bowls, human with others in such a small space! But no, she wouldn’t be persuaded and the dreadful journey began – I got sooooo seasick, I thought I’m going to die….

Apparently, we rounded Cape Point – the other furball and myself were out cold on the cabin floor and another human was queasy up on top – my human cleaned up the mess and tried to cheer us up – in vane – all I wanted is to get off the boat with her back into our little home. Almost three weeks in Hout Bay got us a bit more stable but then the real horror started – no more marinas, where I could at least try to jump off, no, just anchored or moored from now on (apologies, got used to the humans’ strange language on a boat – just ask if I need to clarify). Soon we were in the middle of nowhere, just water around us – I wouldn’t eat nor drink and anyway don’t remember much, just my human trying to comfort me and forcing down yucky water with salt – I wanted to spit it out but she wouldn’t let me …at least the other furball wasn’t in much better shape. We made it to England, rather a small island in the middle of the South Atlantic, called St. Helena where they wouldn’t let me off, nor take the ship back to South Africa. The English don’t like any animal to be landed, which I can understand for dogs and roaches but for me?!?!? So we kept on sailing to Ascension, Brazil (where I got off for 2 days with my human but then moved back on again), French Guyana and finally to Tobago and then Trinidad. Me and my human weren’t happy on that boat and desperately tried to find either a way back to South Africa or our own little new home, even if it’s another floating one! But that’s another story…

Welcome sailors and landlubbers,

it is the time to reflect on past adventures and plan new ones – my beloved cat Ska and I took refuge at my parents place on the island of Sylt in the most Northern part of Germany while our boat, the ‘Ocean Maiden’ is stored in a winter hall on an island in the middle of the Kiel canal. Although she is amongst hundreds of fellow yachts, I try to get to her as often as I can and give her well-deserved love and care to get her ready for the next episode of sailing into the blue. Unlike in the Caribbean, say Trinidad where i bought her, it is quite a lonely affair working on the boat and it’s sooooo cold!!! Not what we’re used to, that is Ska, the boat or myself – I even had to ‘winterize’ her so that hopefully no pipes or other containers burst in or after the frost. Can’t paint or glue anything yet, you have to wait for warmer weather (March I hope…). And if you’re fingers start sticking to the metal bits you know it’s time to make a steaming hot coffee – and drink it right away before it’s frozen….

In the meantime I keep myself busy visiting friends in South Africa and in Germany and with other bits and pieces that one can do while on a sabbatical in Germany – having fairly good internet, deliveries that take between 1 or 2 days (not weeks or months as we’re used to….) and enjoying a hot bath after a chilly winter walk when you’re whole body is red like a boiled crab because your blood is just pumping!

A beautiful plate given to me by my dear friend Liz Webb

Sailing and boat care are still fairly new to me and the learning curve is steep, advice is readily available but need to learn how to apply it to our situations. And there is so much more to learn and discover. Stay tuned for more on the past year’s adventures and new ones to follow.

Silke & Ska