Beryl has decided to share a few more secrets of the highly successful ship’s cat. The next thing she’d like to share is the importance of charts and navigation for the ship’s cat. Command and control is all about keeping on top of the available information. In the case of a boat, that means sitting on top of the chart table when it is closed up with charts inside. There are two approaches. Above, we have the “use-the-table-to-stand-a-lookout-kitty” approach and below, we have the “I’m the cat in charge of the charts and you’re not opening this table until I say so.” approach. Knowing which approach to use is what sets the highly successful ship’s cat apart from the rest. This just can’t be taught; you’ve got to figure it out on your own.
When the chart table is open, sitting on key charts or tide tables is a really important thing to do. Don’t just go straight to the largest most obvious looking chart. Watch the human watch stander’s eyes. Make sure that you’re sitting on the thing they’re most interested in looking at. In the photo below, a lesser experienced ship’s cat might have sat on the chart book when the really important bit was the atlas and tide tables next to it.
The ship’s cat must be diligent and stand this post as much as possible. Day and night. When a human is standing anchor watch, they may well be doing planning at the chart table. Here, the experienced ship’s cat manages to sit on top of the tourist attraction map while blocking view of the wind speeds on the computer instrument. Since high winds were what was keeping the human watch stander up all night, this is quite an important success for the ship’s cat to stay in-the-way and thus in-control of all the information.
And, if the charts happen to move from the table to say…the seat beyond the table? This can happen when the humans begin to think you’re just interested in the chart table itself. Here they’ve moved the chart and left the table completely free for the ship’s cat. Well, move! and sit on top of the charts on the seat! Location is key and it is good to see the human crew realizing that you, as ship’s cat, deserve a high level command-and-control position! We always have to remember though that information is even more key than location. The human crew needs to know that you, the ship’s cat, are on top of all the pertinent information at all times!
Beryl will have more tips for you at a later date. In the interim, practice what you’ve learned.
