May 8, 2025; Finished May 20 after replacing my computer!

We are back in the US and headed north. I’ll do an update on the Abacos and our journey north in other posts as I get caught up now that I have a new, happy computer. I wanted to provide a status of the kittens as we had a very important event in Rock Sound Eleuthera which I managed to forget in my Eleuthera post.

Nikki, our black and white cat and Chicha, our black cat sailed with us from 2020 until 2024 with nary a mishap. We lost Nikki as you may remember last year and have added Tori to the sailing mix. Tori is very inquisitive and has to check out every nook and cranny. We’ve had to pull up panels to get her our from under the floor, “lost her in closets” and are always working to find her new spot. She is young, but it is in her nature.

Chicha on the other hand has never been quite this adventurous. She is interested in what is going on and loves a good snooze in the cockpit, a visit to the boat deck (the top part of the boat where the dinghy lives when not in the water) or an occasional dock walk (she mostly just wants to roll in the dirt) but has never had the exploration gene that Tori has.

Nikki, loved to get under our bed covers and in caves while underway, but otherwise did not feel the need to venture into every hiding place on the boat.

The Rock Sound Adventure

Tori’s inquisitiveness, however, got her into a bit of trouble while we were in Rock Sound. Jim, Leesa and I were enjoying a chat in the cockpit. No lights on, just enjoying the darkness and quite. Whoosh, a white flash flew from the boat deck and with a splash, hit the water. We knew it was Tori

Our dinghy was tied to the swim platform and there was no thud or clunk so we knew she went straight into the water. Luckily it was not terribly windy making the waves bigger, nor was there a current. Tori is not a talker but started meowing. Not a really scared meow, just a “here I am” meow in a rather loud voice for her. I asked for a towel and light as I could not see her and wanted the towel for her to climb onto.

As these tools were arriving, I jumped into the water to find Tori under the swim platform. She had managed to swim over and got her hind legs onto the bow thruster and her forepaws around a support for the swim platform. I collected her (a bit of a challenge as she was holding on pretty tight) and climbed up the swim ladder.

We dried her off a bit then took her to the shower for a rinse to get the salt off of her and dried her again as best we could.

She had double thick hair and it does not appear that the water had in many places had even reached her skin. And, to boot, her head was dry; she never went under!

An hour later after she had completely dried herself, she was ready to play and eat. Did she learn anything? Maybe. She does seem a bit more cautious near the edge of the boat, until she then wants to walk out on the bow pulpit or start to walk the railing on the boat. No Tori!