Ah…it’s been a warm…actually almost hot couple of days. We’ve had the butterfly hatches, companionway, and forward scuttle open to let the wind blow through the boat. Clean, fresh air. Finally.
For the past month, we’ve been taking Beryl outside on a halter and leash. We hang out in the cockpit where she wanders around, playing in the sunlight on the teak grate and then hiding in the shade behind the binnacle. She clearly was an “inside only” kitty before joining us, though. When a duck flies overhead–Beryl ducks for cover! literally. Heaven help us if a goose comes by with all the racket they can make. Even the cute Grebes playing on the water with their little warbles can make Beryl jump down from the cockpit seat and hide behind the nearest set of human legs.
If a sailboat comes by, the sound of wind in the canvas is enough to send poor Beryl scurrying back into the relative comfort of the chart house. There, she sits on the chart table looking calm and in control. Only we know now that it’s all an act. That layer of glass between Beryl and the outside world is sufficient to make her feel secure.
On quiet days, David has taken Beryl on a few strolls around the foredeck. However, Beryl is much more comfy playing in the dappled sunlight of the cockpit sole–with views of the water and associated wildlife blocked, she is in the happy state of “what I can’t see isn’t really there.”
There are places in the boat which Beryl has yet to explore. Whenever she finds a new cubby hole or hide-y spot in the boat she’s thrilled with herself. She has spent quite a bit of time wandering around the things stored in the forecastle (fo’c’sle) and I do worry that she’ll end up stuck far forward near the stem where it would be hard to retrieve a wayward cat.
Yesterday, with the wind blowing through the boat, I heard a scurry, scraping claws, a squawking cat sound, and a thump from the general vicinity of the forecastle. Immediately I thought poor Beryl has fallen off the front of the anchor locker where the chain is kept! Ouch! I called to David–I think she’s stuck forward somewhere. I don’t explore forward of the anchor locker–David went looking for her–no cat. Hummm…. Oh, no, maybe she’d jumped up and out of the scuttle hatch which is open! The tempting-to-a-cat sound of small finches chirping can be heard from that hatch! David went to the back of the boat and out into the cockpit to begin an exploration of the boat deck looking for Beryl. Yep. Guess who was crouched low on the foredeck looking bewildered? Beryl. Once she saw David back in the cockpit, she got her bearings and ran directly to him and the safety of the familiar cockpit sole. Well, more like “scurried” directly to him, hugging the deck with her belly trying to remain invisible in this scary world of “outside the boat.”
Putting two and two together–we think she thought the open hatch was simply an entrance to yet another part of the boat. One with cute chirp-y sounds, too! Finding herself outside, alone, was a big surprise! Sort of like the children in the C.S. Lewis book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
