C is for Cat

… Lucky the cat, On Delay’s first feline visitor.

Oranjestad, Aruba, Thursday September 6th, 2012

We decided to take a berth in the marina in Oranjestad (the capital of Aruba). There are lots of nice reasons to park in a marina for a night or two:

  • Stepping off the dock into the center of things: shops, restaurants, taxis, etc.
  • Shore power: giving our house batteries a really good charge.
  • Running the air-conditioners all night long.
  • Filling our tanks with water (Aruba’s water is made by desalination too; like On Delay’s but in a bigger plant).

The marina in Oranjestad is associated with the Renaissance Marriott hotel — thus marina guests have access to the hotel facilities too. We enjoyed the beautiful swimming pool complex and the thrill of charging drinks at the bar to our yacht’s name instead of our room number.

Anyhow, getting On Delay into the slip in the marina required our first “Med moor” — a tricky procedure made more complicated by bad instructions from the marina employee (he told us to drop our anchor too far out so we didn’t have enough rode to reach the dock). Anyhow, Tony nailed it on the second try; backing On Delay in between two bigger catamarans. Seconds later, Lucky the cat jumped from our neighbour’s deck onto On Delay’s.

Lucky is a very curious cat. She wandered over the deck, looking at everything, pausing for a chin rub from Gayle. Then she went through a window to look at the salon, down the stairs to inspect both starboard cabins and peer out the escape hatch into the water, then up the stairs again for a tummy rub from Kathy.

Lucky the cat, after inspecting the starboard cabins.

The cat is on the mat.

Lucky’s human is a nice Swiss man who seemed happy to share his cat, as long as we promised to return her before leaving dock.

Unfortunately, when all the lines were tightened, our decks were just too far apart for Lucky to jump between boats. Lucky had to be returned by hand via the dock — a less elegant way to leave than she had arrived.

Postscript, September 9: One evening after I’d left, Lucky and her human (Erich) came over for drinks. At that time, Lucky gave On Delay a more thorough inspection. I am happy to report that Lucky has declared our boat mouse-free. 🙂

5 thoughts on “C is for Cat

  1. Just like kit kat, Laura and Wren can’t wait for our tour above and below decks! My imagination has its highs and lows as well! I found a web article on 9 best things to packI I am pre- packed except for list from On Delay! Shiver me timbers with excitement. Xo

  2. awwwww….cute little Lucky. Sounds like a wonderful “break” in Oranjestad! Just love your Blog!

  3. how fun to have such a nice guest!! She looks like our Lilybell…Glad you had a nice break at the pool with drinks…Love all the posts!!!!

  4. How surreal! Was just thinking about On Delay having a cat aboard, wondering how that would work. Kitty life-vest? Long kitty safety line? “kitty overboard” drills? Kitty climbing the mast to the crows-nest? Kitty with GPS collar in case s/he went ashore without human supervision? The list goes on… I’m sure it could be worked out somehow :).

  5. Lucky was so much fun, that I think I will bring Chuy the Wonder Cat on my next On Delay adventure. (Just kidding Pete).

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