Kitty on Board?
 

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...

So, any thoughts, suggestions, stories, advice, etc. about having a cat
on board? She's "toilet-trained" meaning she uses a toilet rather than a
litterbox, so I suspect I can easily train her to use the head (but I'd
have to flush it!). My Lady wants me to get her a PFD, but I suspect some
kind of "kitty-overboard" flag would be more useful?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

Kitty on Board?
 

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
...
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

Kitty on Board?
 

Should be an interesting thread :-)

So, any thoughts, suggestions, stories, advice, etc. about having a cat
on board?

Kitty on Board?
 

"bowgus" wrote:
Should be an interesting thread :-)

So, any thoughts, suggestions, stories, advice, etc.
about having a cat on board?

Will my cats get seasick if I take them across the Pacific
in a 46' boat ?

Kitty on Board?
 

Yes, they are easy to store too.
http://leacasey.tripod.com/eaturnips...inabottle.jpg\

http://www.bonsaikitten.com/

DP

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
...
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...

So, any thoughts, suggestions, stories, advice, etc. about having a cat
on board? She's "toilet-trained" meaning she uses a toilet rather than a
litterbox, so I suspect I can easily train her to use the head (but I'd
have to flush it!). My Lady wants me to get her a PFD, but I suspect some
kind of "kitty-overboard" flag would be more useful?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

Kitty on Board?
 

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:
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...

Leave her at home, Lloyd. It's one thing to move a cat aboard
permanently...cats can adapt pretty easily to a new home. But unless you
start taking 'em places with you from the minute you bring 'em home as
kittens, it's quite another to take 'em out of their "safe" home
environment--that's HER territory--to drag her along on weekend and
vacation cruises in surroundings that aren't her established territory.
She'll just be miserable, and you will be too...she'll hide and you'll
spend half your time with your hearts in your mouths, afraid she went
overboard.

I've had cats for more than 40 years...always in pairs till just a few
months ago...Buckley (in my lap as I type) is 19 now--a Siamese,
btw--and will be my last I think. I don't even board 'em when I
travel...I get a "sitter." Some of my dockmates brought their cats to
their boats for weekends...I considered bringing mine till I saw how
miserable they were among all the strange people, strange noises,
rocking boat. They could prob'ly have adjusted to it if the boat became
their permanent home, but not just for weekends.

So leave her at home...she'll be a LOT happier and so will you.
--
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://www.seaworthy.com/store/custo...0&cat=6&page=1
http://shop.sailboatowners.com/books...ku=90&cat=1304

Kitty on Board?
 

"kitty" is its name? how original.
heres my advice, give it the boot, watch it sail thru the air into the
drink and have a good belly laugh.

animals have no business aboard a proper vessel unless its for human
consumption.

Kitty on Board?
 

bob, friend to cap. neal and like minded fellows of the sea. wrote:
"kitty" is its name? how original.
heres my advice, give it the boot, watch it sail thru the air into the
drink and have a good belly laugh.

animals have no business aboard a proper vessel unless its for human
consumption.


No self respecting 'Kitty' (feline or female) would be caught dead on a
mustard yellow Coronado.

Kitty on Board?
 

bowgus wrote:
Should be an interesting thread :-)


So, any thoughts, suggestions, stories, advice, etc. about having a cat
on board?



I like a pussy on board. I helps make the day more relaxing.

Kitty on Board?
 

Lloyd Sumpter wrote in
:

She's "toilet-trained" meaning she uses a toilet rather than a
litterbox, so I suspect I can easily train her to use the head (but I'd
have to flush it!).

I wanna watch her in 25 degree rolls and pitch and yaw....(c;
Poor cat can't hang onto the towel racks like I do...

How's her "aim"??

Kitty on Board?
 

"Leanne" wrote in :

We cruised with our cat which at the time was about 10 weeks
old.

My friends Dan and Kay have a striped orange tomcat that's mean as sin.
He bites, HARD. When they had the Hatteras 56, he used to sit atop the
main helm right over the opening where the spiral companionway came up
from the galley and staterooms below. When your head ascended the
stairs, he'd try to jump on top of you and bite your head!

He doesn't mess with Dan. I don't wanna know why not....(c;

I took his overhead compartment over the main helm apart and completely
rewired the last owner's wad of balled-up cables, installed a new breaker
panel in the port side of it to safely service all the radios, lights,
sonar, radar, etc. that were all strapped with regular lamp cord to a 50A
breaker in the panel. We had to confine that damned cat to the forward
head while I was working up there because he wedged himself into the
partially dropped down panel twice and attacked me once, leaving my arm
bleeding at the claw marks. By that time, I was for leaving him inside
the panel and just closing it back up with him inside. Kay didn't think
that would be a good idea. He's still vicious at their house in Mt
Pleasant. If he heads in your direction sitting on a couch...watch out!

He also attacked me when I was in the A/C-Generator house under the
galley deck on my knees because its low down there in the bilge. I had
the drawings for the 20KW diesel Onan genset laid out tracing the wiring
someone had screwed around with to the panel at the main helm and he
slipped, quietly around the end of the genset and just clawed hell out of
my left calf, causing me to bang my head on the overhead....damned cat.

You were safe in the engine rooms with the 8V92TAs running. I don't
think he liked the NOISE of the 2-stroke beasts.

Kitty on Board?
 

Larry wrote:
"Leanne" wrote in :


We cruised with our cat which at the time was about 10 weeks
old.


My friends Dan and Kay have a striped orange tomcat that's mean as sin.
He bites, HARD. When they had the Hatteras 56, he used to sit atop the
main helm right over the opening where the spiral companionway came up
from the galley and staterooms below. When your head ascended the
stairs, he'd try to jump on top of you and bite your head!

He doesn't mess with Dan. I don't wanna know why not....(c;

I took his overhead compartment over the main helm apart and completely
rewired the last owner's wad of balled-up cables, installed a new breaker
panel in the port side of it to safely service all the radios, lights,
sonar, radar, etc. that were all strapped with regular lamp cord to a 50A
breaker in the panel. We had to confine that damned cat to the forward
head while I was working up there because he wedged himself into the
partially dropped down panel twice and attacked me once, leaving my arm
bleeding at the claw marks. By that time, I was for leaving him inside
the panel and just closing it back up with him inside. Kay didn't think
that would be a good idea. He's still vicious at their house in Mt
Pleasant. If he heads in your direction sitting on a couch...watch out!

He also attacked me when I was in the A/C-Generator house under the
galley deck on my knees because its low down there in the bilge. I had
the drawings for the 20KW diesel Onan genset laid out tracing the wiring
someone had screwed around with to the panel at the main helm and he
slipped, quietly around the end of the genset and just clawed hell out of
my left calf, causing me to bang my head on the overhead....damned cat.

You were safe in the engine rooms with the 8V92TAs running. I don't
think he liked the NOISE of the 2-stroke beasts.



A spray bottle filled with cool water should mellow that wildcat down.

Kitty on Board?
 

Don White wrote:
A spray bottle filled with cool water should mellow that wildcat down.

Better yet, a dilute of ammonia and water...or straight vinegar.

--
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://www.seaworthy.com/store/custo...0&cat=6&page=1
http://shop.sailboatowners.com/books...ku=90&cat=1304

Kitty on Board?
 

Don White wrote in
:



A spray bottle filled with cool water should mellow that wildcat down.


Naw....I'm aboard someone else's boat, he's buying beer and a few
thousand gallons of diesel and taking me on a trip. I can put up with
Charlie's cat attacks....(c;

I miss that boat. There was plenty of electrical and mechanical things
to make weekends a lot of fun. I caused some distress, once in a while,
like when I came up from the bilge declaring we needed THREE banks of
expensive 8V odd batteries for the 32V train electrics "down here". I'd
hate to think I was partially why they sold her. Hell, I had just about
all the systems running smoothly by then....twin water pumps, twin diesel
gensets, 5 water-cooled air conditioners, helm and flybridge electronics
and electrical systems, TV cable system, even the Cuisinart food
processor built into the galley counter top...all worked. Fixed the
electronic controls to the Naiad hydraulic roll control system, too.
That was great to have. But, God what a constant expense to keep it all
running, even with the free labor....

Kitty on Board?
 

Commodore Joe Redcloud wrote:
On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 01:34:33 GMT, Gary wrote:


bowgus wrote:

Should be an interesting thread :-)



So, any thoughts, suggestions, stories, advice, etc. about having a cat
on board?



I like a pussy on board. I helps make the day more relaxing.


What an infantile response!


Commodore Joe Redcloud
Prude!

Kitty on Board?
 

Kitty on Board?
 

We've taken cats with us all the time, including a one year trip. For
the long trip, we had a piece of carpet off the swim step so a kitty
would have a chance to climb up. We also keep a fish net in the
cockpit as a kitty retrieval system. One of the cats has gone over 3
times - we're beginning to suspect he likes swimming. Once I had to
drag him out from under a dock, the second time he climbed a piling
before the 'gators could get him, and the third time he actually swam
around with a manatee before we could coax back to the boat. Now that
he's older, however, he mainly stays down below.

We don't bother bringing them for long weekends, but for a week or
more, they come with us. For litter, we use the crystal "pearls"
which keeps the odor down. We converted a floor level locker to hold
a litter box. For the first day of a trip, they hide in a "safe
locker" somewhere forward. We keep a plastic table cloth over the
bunk as a "yack mat," though on the catamaran they haven't been sick
too often (no more often then at home!).

We had three cats on our year long trip. One was 16 and sickly when
we left, so we thought the stress might be too much for him. However,
he loved it, and spent every day under the dodger enjoying the
scenery. He returned healthier then when he left, and lived another 2
years.

Here's Arlo, having a conversation with a neighbor in the Keys:
http://www.sv-loki.com/FullPelican.jpg

Woody smiling on his favorite spot, the TV. He won't be so happy next
year when we switch to a flat panel!
http://www.sv-loki.com/TVWoody.jpg

And Arlo has taken over the breadbasket. Hat's courtesy of our daughter.
http://www.sv-loki.com/Breadbasket.jpg

And sometimes, you just have to dangle your feet over the side and
catch some z's:
http://www.sv-loki.com/MollyDangle.jpg







Lloyd Sumpter wrote:
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...

So, any thoughts, suggestions, stories, advice, etc. about having a cat
on board? She's "toilet-trained" meaning she uses a toilet rather than a
litterbox, so I suspect I can easily train her to use the head (but I'd
have to flush it!). My Lady wants me to get her a PFD, but I suspect some
kind of "kitty-overboard" flag would be more useful?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

Kitty on Board?
 

Larry wrote:

Don White wrote in
:



A spray bottle filled with cool water should mellow that wildcat down.



Naw....I'm aboard someone else's boat, he's buying beer and a few
thousand gallons of diesel and taking me on a trip. I can put up with
Charlie's cat attacks....(c;

I miss that boat. There was plenty of electrical and mechanical things
to make weekends a lot of fun. I caused some distress, once in a while,
like when I came up from the bilge declaring we needed THREE banks of
expensive 8V odd batteries for the 32V train electrics "down here". I'd
hate to think I was partially why they sold her. Hell, I had just about
all the systems running smoothly by then....twin water pumps, twin diesel
gensets, 5 water-cooled air conditioners, helm and flybridge electronics
and electrical systems, TV cable system, even the Cuisinart food
processor built into the galley counter top...all worked. Fixed the
electronic controls to the Naiad hydraulic roll control system, too.
That was great to have. But, God what a constant expense to keep it all
running, even with the free labor....


Tell us about the water cooled air conditioners, please!

Terry K

Kitty on Board?
 

On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 00:11:06 +0000, Peggie Hall wrote:



Lloyd Sumpter wrote:
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...

Leave her at home, Lloyd. It's one thing to move a cat aboard
permanently...cats can adapt pretty easily to a new home. But unless you
start taking 'em places with you from the minute you bring 'em home as
kittens, it's quite another to take 'em out of their "safe" home
environment--that's HER territory--to drag her along on weekend and
vacation cruises in surroundings that aren't her established territory.
She'll just be miserable, and you will be too...she'll hide and you'll
spend half your time with your hearts in your mouths, afraid she went
overboard.


Yes, these are my fears.

I've taken her to the woodwork shop behind the house, and she's pretty
"tenative" (and she HATES it when I run the ShopVac or tablesaw!). But I
like her company, and I think she'll adapt.
Good point about liveaboard vs weekend: I've based my "cats love being on
a boat" on liveaboard situations, now that I think about it. But I think
I'll bring her along a few times and see if she gets used to the idea.

Lloyd Sumpter
http://www.bcboatnet.org

Kitty on Board?
 

There is no way to predict what your cat's reaction will be. Though in
my experience it is usually favorable.

What is certain, however, is that there will be several messages about
using cats as food, soccer balls, or similar crude suggestions. Odd,
isn't it, that when people query about dogs on board no such comments
are made? But some insecure, arrested development personalities have
negative reactions to any mention of felines.

Cat's have been onboard boats since there were boats. Odds are yours
will adapt just fine.

Kitty on Board?
 

On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 12:30:41 -0400, Terry Spragg
wrote:

Tell us about the water cooled air conditioners, please!

===========================================

What do you want to know? They are fairly common on power boats where
you've got enough power to run things like that. My trawler has 4
water cooled air conditioners with reverse cycle heating, 2 water
cooled refrigeration units, and a water cooled freezer. Fortunately I
have a neighbor here in FL that knows how to keep it all running. :-)
The fridges and freezer have individual circulating pumps for their
condensing units (small gas/water heat exchanger coils), and the A/Cs
are all driven from one large circulating pump similar to what you
would use for a swimming pool filtration system.

Kitty on Board?
 

Larry wrote:
Lloyd Sumpter wrote:

She's "toilet-trained" meaning she uses a toilet rather
than a litterbox, so I suspect I can easily train her to
use the head (but I'd have to flush it!).

I wanna watch her in 25 degree rolls and pitch and yaw....(c;
Poor cat can't hang onto the towel racks like I do...

How's her "aim"??

Maybe you should give her a litter box too. Otherwise if she
has trouble using the head when the boat is moving too much
she may decide to use your bed instead.

Kitty on Board?
 

Wayne.B wrote:
On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 12:30:41 -0400, Terry Spragg
wrote:


Tell us about the water cooled air conditioners, please!


===========================================

What do you want to know? They are fairly common on power boats where
you've got enough power to run things like that. My trawler has 4
water cooled air conditioners with reverse cycle heating, 2 water
cooled refrigeration units, and a water cooled freezer. Fortunately I
have a neighbor here in FL that knows how to keep it all running. :-)
The fridges and freezer have individual circulating pumps for their
condensing units (small gas/water heat exchanger coils), and the A/Cs
are all driven from one large circulating pump similar to what you
would use for a swimming pool filtration system.


What mechanism provides the cold?

Do you have an airconditioner pump, evaporator and condenser to cool
recirculated water?

I was twigged when you indicated water cooled A/C, and was hoping
your system used cool sea water to provide modest cooling to the
cabin, with no power needed to actually chill the water.

Guess not.

Thanks,

Terry K

Kitty on Board?
 

Terry Spragg wrote in
:

What mechanism provides the cold?

Same as any window unit....Freon, mostly R-22 but more R-134A these days
at lower pressures. The difference is the condensor is cooled with
seawater. There's a pipe-in-a-pipe. The inside pipe is where the high
pressure freon is pumped by the AC compressor. The outside pipe has a
flow of seawater going through it at no pressure at all...from a little,
cheap plastic pump whos strainer soon fills with some of the nastiest
prehistoric creatures on earth sucked up from the sealife that lives
under a marina dock....blocking the strainer, zeroing out the seawater
flow, overpressuring the backed up freon condensor and causing a tripout
from high head pressure on the AC compressor.....It's inevitable...(c;


Do you have an airconditioner pump, evaporator and condenser to cool
recirculated water?

The water is raw seawater, not recirculated. It eventually eats the
condensor from its caustic contents. (see pipe-in-a-pipe above). The
freon parts, except for this seawater condensor, are the same cheap crap
from a window airconditioner....marked up to amazing "marine" prices, of
course.


I was twigged when you indicated water cooled A/C, and was hoping
your system used cool sea water to provide modest cooling to the
cabin, with no power needed to actually chill the water.


Nope...it's just an air conditioner cooled with seawater.

Anyone in a boat with any brains will do what the tugboat operators
do....go to a MOTORHOME dealer and buy a rooftop AIR COOLED AC unit for
$2000 less money. No seawater flooding from a broken hose. No creatures
to clean out from tiny strainers all clogged up that bite like hell. No
duct work hogging valuable STORAGE SPACE at a premium inside the boat.
No losing valuable locker space for the damned NOISY air conditioning
unit INSIDE the living space, half of who's cooling capacity is cooling
its OWN STUPID HEAT. The RV AC unit has the noisy compressor and fan
OUTSIDE the living space so if you have a 12000 BTU unit, you get to use
all 12000 BTU cooling the space....not the hot compressor, hot fan motor,
hot seawater condensor, etc.

"Marine" air conditioners are really stupid on small boats like
sailboats. It was OK on the Hatteras because it was in the bilge, not
the sleeping space!

Kitty on Board? -- A/C gen.
 

Thanks a bunch! good gen.

Terry K

Larry wrote:
Terry Spragg wrote in
:


What mechanism provides the cold?


Same as any window unit....Freon, mostly R-22 but more R-134A these days
at lower pressures. The difference is the condensor is cooled with
seawater. There's a pipe-in-a-pipe. The inside pipe is where the high
pressure freon is pumped by the AC compressor. The outside pipe has a
flow of seawater going through it at no pressure at all...from a little,
cheap plastic pump whos strainer soon fills with some of the nastiest
prehistoric creatures on earth sucked up from the sealife that lives
under a marina dock....blocking the strainer, zeroing out the seawater
flow, overpressuring the backed up freon condensor and causing a tripout
from high head pressure on the AC compressor.....It's inevitable...(c;


Do you have an airconditioner pump, evaporator and condenser to cool
recirculated water?


The water is raw seawater, not recirculated. It eventually eats the
condensor from its caustic contents. (see pipe-in-a-pipe above). The
freon parts, except for this seawater condensor, are the same cheap crap
from a window airconditioner....marked up to amazing "marine" prices, of
course.


I was twigged when you indicated water cooled A/C, and was hoping
your system used cool sea water to provide modest cooling to the
cabin, with no power needed to actually chill the water.



Nope...it's just an air conditioner cooled with seawater.

Anyone in a boat with any brains will do what the tugboat operators
do....go to a MOTORHOME dealer and buy a rooftop AIR COOLED AC unit for
$2000 less money. No seawater flooding from a broken hose. No creatures
to clean out from tiny strainers all clogged up that bite like hell. No
duct work hogging valuable STORAGE SPACE at a premium inside the boat.
No losing valuable locker space for the damned NOISY air conditioning
unit INSIDE the living space, half of who's cooling capacity is cooling
its OWN STUPID HEAT. The RV AC unit has the noisy compressor and fan
OUTSIDE the living space so if you have a 12000 BTU unit, you get to use
all 12000 BTU cooling the space....not the hot compressor, hot fan motor,
hot seawater condensor, etc.

"Marine" air conditioners are really stupid on small boats like
sailboats. It was OK on the Hatteras because it was in the bilge, not
the sleeping space!

Kitty on Board?
 

On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 23:20:23 -0400, Terry Spragg
wrote:

I was twigged when you indicated water cooled A/C, and was hoping
your system used cool sea water to provide modest cooling to the
cabin, with no power needed to actually chill the water.

============================================

No unfortunately not, everything requires lots of power, not really
feasible unless you are dockside or have a generator.

Kitty on Board?
 

On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 23:31:49 -0500, Larry wrote:

"Marine" air conditioners are really stupid on small boats like
sailboats. It was OK on the Hatteras because it was in the bilge, not
the sleeping space!

========================

Most of the Hatts I've seen have them on an elevated rack in the
engine room. Bilge indeed...

Kitty on Board?
 

Wayne.B wrote in
:

Most of the Hatts I've seen have them on an elevated rack in the
engine room. Bilge indeed...



In the Hat 56, circa 1981, they're mounted on a rack with a common water
pump and supply manifold to a common overboard drain above the waterline
on the port side of the little generator house under the galley
deck....actual in the bilge with the galley raised up about 4' so you can
crawl around on your knees inside there where it's 105F on a "normal" day
with some of them running...120F if one of the 2 gensets is lit off...