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These are the voyages of the sailing vessel Pétillant. Her original eight-month mission: to sail from Baltimore to France via Florida and the Bahamas, to successfully navigate the shoals of the French douane, to boldly go where few Maine Coon cats have gone before was completed in 2008. Now she is berthed in Port Medoc and sails costal Spain, France, and the UK during the summer months.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Dante’s Latest Talent, Revealed


In the last posting we made an allusion to some “Dante” activity at Rona.  Well, it involved Dante, and the pier we tried to tie up to, and a ladder, and water...


Yes, he fell in again.  While we were  fussing with lines, trying to figure out the best way to tie up, he decided that he could make the leap across 3 feet of open water, up to a pier that was 2 meters above his head.  Needless to say, he did not make it.  Fiberglass and concrete do not give a good purchase to cat claws.  The claws scratching on the concrete were the first sign of a problem, and the splash provided confirmation.  Once we realized that he was in the water, rxc ran to the stern to see if he could be fished out from under the dinghy (hanging on the arch).  However, the smart red cat had already noticed the fact that Her Majesty’s Navy had equipped the pier with several ladders to deal with exactly this situation, and he quickly swam to the nearest one, and climbed 3 meters(!!) out of the water up to the top of the pier.

While we tried to discuss which was the higher priority, the cat or the boat, he looked around, decided there was nothing of interest to him on the pier, and launched himself back on to the boat, and inside.  This caused us to do an emergency mooring of the boat to the pier, and then follow him into the cabin, where he was seated on the chart table, dripping wet, trying to lick the salt water off.  

We quickly got him into the shower to get the salt off and give him an initial toweling, and then left him to his own devices while we un-hooked ourselves  from the pier and looked for a new  spot to anchor.

So, we have now discovered that he can climb vertical ladders.  We knew that he could descend, from the ladder on the front of the house when he got stuck on the roof, but now we know that ascent is also possible.  Probably a good thing…

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