"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
news
Hi,

I'm thinking of taking out 1-yr-old cat "Kitty" on board
Far Cove next
year (Maybe this winter, I donno...) She's been indoors all
her life,
except a few times outside on a leash. And then she tends to
hide under
whatever's handy...

We cruised with our cat which at the time was about 10 weeks
old. For the first week she had the fwd cabin gated off with her
litterbox and feed dishes. By the second week, she was all over
the boat. I have seen some cruisers, while at anchor, hang
something like carpet runners on each quarter to give kitty
something to swim to and get back aboard. A friend had several
2" lines knotted every few inches dropped in the water as a
climbing aid. We never had to worry as the cat didn't venture
out of the pilot house. Although we spent several hours at
Daytona looking for her and thought she might have gone
overboard. The boat was searched top to bottom in all of the
spaces, including engine compartment and lazerettes as the were
accessible from the engine compartment, but after a while, we
heard a meow and finally found her under the galley sink up
behind the ice box. After what she put us through, I could
thrown her over the side myself.

Leanne
s/v Fundy