Where’s the Cat?

Friday – June 12th. After a night in Frederick Sound our plan is to go back through Nakwakto Rapids. We are planning to navigate through the rapids during slack water at the end of the ebb tide, which was about 4:02 pm. We were about 36 nautical miles away from the rapids. This meant we would need to leave Frederick Sound at approximately 10:40.

We had our morning coffee. Watched a bit of helicopter activity. Tidied up the galley a bit. And then the usual statement – where’s the cat? We must say — Where’s the cat? 100 times a day. Where’s Lilly? She is in 100 different spots on the boat – she’s in the pilot house – under the couch – in the plastic container on the shelf – in the washing machine – in a cupboard – in the cockpit. If we can’t see her we go look for her. And locate her. She often is trying to get outside and in years past has been found on the top boat deck hiding in the prawn pots. Or under the skiff or somewhere she should not be. We keep pretty close watch on her – Because she’s a cat !

So – Where’s the cat? We look in all her usual spots – no Lilly. Usually if she thinks we are getting busy and she thinks we are going to start up the boat she hides under the couch. Nope. No Lilly. So we start looking in all the cupboards. There are a lot cupboards! We open every cupboard and look inside. Some of them locked and some unlocked. Securing each door after looking inside. No Lilly. We are calling her – shaking the catnip container – which usually brings her out. So did she get out of the boat? Jim went outside to empty the coffee pot into the water. Did she go out on to the boat deck. It was raining quite hard.

Jim went to the boat deck and looked under the flybridge cover, in the prawn pots, under the skiff which was strapped on the boat deck. No Lilly. We called and called. We have been looking for over a half an hour. We were getting desperate. I said she is not on the boat! I thought she had gotten out and then jumped up on the railing trying to get to the top of the boat deck – which she does – and slipped off the wet railing in the rain. She fell off and has drowned in the cold water. Jim figures she would swim to shore. She’s determined – she’d swim to shore. We were both very upset by this point. Jim figures he could find her in the skiff. She’d swim. Maybe she’d swim over to the logging camp. I had my doubts. We were both quite upset by this point.

So – in the pouring rain we get the skiff down off the boat deck and into the water. Jim is so upset and blaming himself for letting her out. I’m expecting he won’t find her. But he’s going to drive the skiff around the shoreline and look for her. And go talk to the loggers, maybe she will make her way to the logging camp. Off he goes in the skiff with the hand held VHF radio. We’ve now been looking for almost an hour – it’s 9:30 AM.

So while he’s looking I decide to go back through boat again starting in the salon. Back to the galley – I open the locked cupboard under the sink and there she is ! Right at the very front of the cupboard! Big as life! In the locked cupboard! Right away I pick her up – put her in the state room and shut the door and call Jim on the radio! I found the cat. Ok he says – goes over and has a little chat with the loggers at the camp. Back to the boat – put the skiff back up. Both of us stressed right out – too stressed to even talk about it! Jim decides he needs to text Dianne.

By the time I opened the cupboard the second time she was right out in front next to the doors. Probably had a enough of being stuck in the cupboard. Not a single meow! Nothing. Sitting quietly. Boy that was stressful! but we were still on schedule to leave by 10:40 AM! And we didn’t lose the cat – thank goodness!

Neither one of us had been in that cupboard. And I looked in that cupboard. I discovered how she did it a few days later – again looking for the cat – because she did it again. She had managed to open the cupboard on her own because the top latches just twist to close and are easily turned. And she’s a determined cat.

We left on time. It was an uneventful transit through Nakwakto Rapids and a short trip down Schooner Channel. We anchored up in Murray Labyrinth for the night. A beautiful spot. Well deserved! It was a two beer night by the time we dropped the anchor!