The ship’s cat, our seafaring feline friend, Beamer, passed on to Fiddlers’ Green yesterday morning. His demise was the onset of a severe bronchial condition. He will be missed. Beamer was with us for 15 years. He was born in Richmond, Virginia in July of 1994 and we became his family in January of 1995.

A majestic Maine Coon, he was shy for the first decade of his life, with two other cats in the family. Once they passed on, he became “number one cat” and the personality change was amazing. No longer reticent, he demanded attention and any lap available became his command-and-control seat. He moved aboard Mahdee when we did, in the boatyard August 1st, 2008. From the start, he loved his home aboard Mahdee more than anyplace he’d lived with us. He was most happy as a seagoing cat. He enjoyed (or perhaps put up with) Mahdee’s launch, our various short voyages around the San Diego area with Mahdee and before Mahdee aboard Stargazer, our Rawson 30. He claimed the galley and main saloon as “cat central” and kept a chatty conversation going with the humans who passed through his territory.

We bid a fond farewell to the best ship’s cat we could have had.

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Here are a few pictures of Beamer as we best remember him:

Dreaming about sailing? Nowhere is Too Far by the Cruising Club of America is his pillow in the below pic.

As a kitten, he surely had seafaring dreams. Look at that happy face:

Whenever a chair became available after being warmed up by a human sitting there–Beamer was in it:

Better yet, sitting on David’s lap:

Or just hanging out with David, his favorite buddy:

Crammed into a cubby on Stargazer while at sea:

Sleeping in the boat during the construction of the stateroom bed…of course, in the way, under the stateroom bed:

Last week, not feeling well, but enjoying a hug: