Leo's not a sailor...

I've been having fun on the boat with my humans. I love to snuggle, which seems to make them happy, too. And they have lots of toys on board for me to play with. Carol is going to put lots of photos of me at the top of this entry so you can see how much fun we’re having.

Today was filled with all kinds of new experiences for me! First, my humans let me watch while this machine made something they like to drink. It was very interesting, but kind of scary. Then, just before noon Roger made that loud noise with the engine again, and our house started moving again. That was okay, because I remembered it from before so I wasn’t scared. It was even nicer when Roger & Carol turned the engine off and started sailing. They even let me go up into the cockpit to walk around and explore. That was fun until my tummy started feeling funny. I came downstairs and went to my litterbox. I almost made it when something really strange happened. Carol says I puked because I was seasick. It’s the first time in my whole short life anything like that happened to me, so I was kind of surprised. I felt a little better afterwords, so I tried to sleep. But the house kept tipping, first one way, then the other. I don’t really understand it all, so maybe Carol should explain.

After leaving harbor just before noon, we put up sail early on, even though there wasn’t much wind. We ghosted along, our speed dropping as low as 2 knots sometimes. Just when we thought about starting the engine, around 12:45, the wind came up. It was more westerly than we would have liked, so we had to tack back up the length of Lake Charlevoix, but it turned out to be a wonderful afternoon’s sail. Eventually the wind piped up and we breezed along at top speed, heeling almost 20 degrees. That was fine, except we had to tack a few times, meaning we alternated between heeling first one way, then the other. This did not make Leo very happy.  But WE thoroughly enjoyed it! If we had stayed out any longer we probably would have taken in a reef. It was a warm afternoon with a WSW breeze -- a perfect late summer day to be out on the water.
As we were approaching the harbor we saw another Nonsuch, “Serenity”, putting up sail to blow downwind back to Boyne City. Her captain, Bill Vesey, sails alone frequently and has even taken second in his class in the solo Chicago to Mac race! We may be partial, but we think she’s a lovely boat, especially sailing off the wind.

Leo was much happier when we got into harbor shortly after 3:00 p.m. He came out and explored the cockpit and I got several good photos of him. It’s been nice having a ship’s cat this summer, but we think in future we’ll leave Merlin and Leo at home to play together while we sail.

Leo's first sail

Hello again.  Life is very interesting.  I don't know what to expect, since I'm only about 12 weeks old.  But this part of life is kind of fun.  I spent a day checking out my new surroundings, which are pretty nice.  There are toys here for me to play with, and food and water and my nice pink potty.  Some of the noises are a little scary, but Carol pets me and tells me it's okay, and I believe her.  Why shouldn't I?

The loudest noise was when Roger turned on the engine this morning.  Carol stayed right next to me, so I didn't run away, even though I thought about it.  But she didn't seem worried, and besides, I was very sleepy.  So I curled up next to her and purred.  She left me after a little while, and the next thing I knew our house was moving!  I wasn't worried, though, but I was very curious.  Pretty soon the engine noise stopped.  Carol came down and picked me up so I could look out the window.  There was water rushing past our house!  So interesting!  And the scenery was pretty, too.

I had a nice nap while Roger and Carol hung out upstairs (I think they call it the "cockpit").  Whenever I woke up enough to notice, they seemed pretty happy.  They were talking about sailing downwind kind of slow, but sometimes faster when there was more wind.  After about three hours Carol came down again to pet me while Roger made that loud noise with the engine again.  Pretty soon we stopped moving and I went upstairs to look around.  All I saw was a bunch of white walls before Roger scooped me up and put me back downstairs.  Maybe I'll get another peek sometime.  Most of the time there is a board at the top of the stairs so I can't get out.

Now I am relaxing downstairs.  It's kind of warm here, so none of us has much energy.  It's nice that the marina here in Boyne City has internet so I can write about my adventures and share them with others.  I hope you enjoy reading about them.

That's all for now.

Leo

Welcome, Leo!

Hi.  Leo here.  Does this pink make me look too girlie?  I'm taking over as ship's cat, at least for a few days.  I was hired to be a buddy to Roger & Carol's other cat, Merlin, when they went away on their boat.  But I can't hang out with him yet because I have a slight eye infection.  Meanwhile, their old ship's cat (and I do mean OLD) went away somewhere (I'm far too young to understand where), so they said I could fill in for her this week.

It's pretty fun exploring the boat.  I like to walk around on the countertop in the galley, but I've been told that's not a good idea.  Something about learning to stay off the counter in the kitchen (whatever that is) when we get back home.  So far all I know about where we live in Grand Rapids is the upstairs bathroom and a bedroom.  I guess I have a lot to learn when we get home.

Tomorrow they say we are going to sail to a place called Boyne City at the eastern end of Lake Charlevoix.  Wonder how I'll like that...

Carol here:  Gretel left us a little after 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 9.  She entered my life on June 3, 1989 and stayed for more than 19 years.   She was a sweet and loving little girl who was happy to extend that love to Roger when he came into our life.  She served us well as ship's cat this summer.  We are glad we brought her with us and will miss her very much.  May she rest in peace.

The end of the line

This will be my last post, since we got back to Charlevoix this afternoon and will be driving home to Grand Rapids tomorrow.  It's a bittersweet homecoming, since I am not doing well at all. Carol & Roger are glad they brought me along to be their ship's cat this summer, since it will be my last.  I'm glad, too, because I got to spend my final days close to them.  I'm especially grateful these last few days when I've been feeling so rocky.  They've been sticking close and giving me lots of attention, and that makes me happy.  I'm going to let Carol write about our day on the water.

We left Northport just before 9:00 a.m. this morning, hoping to get to Charlevoix early enough to get a slip.  Winds were supposed to be from the west, which would be perfect for sailing to the northeast.  In fact, we had a nice sail for the first couple of hours, slow in light winds at first until the winds increased to around 10 knots.  We were averaging around 5 knots of boat speed and hoped to make the 1:30 bridge opening at Charlevoix, some 18 miles away, until, midway through the trip, the wind dropped us like a hot potato.  For the rest of the trip the wind was less than 5 knots, but the waves got bigger because we cleared Lighthouse Point at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula and were subject to the fetch across all of northern Lake Michigan.  So we motored at 6 knots with 2-foot waves on our port quarter for the next two hours.  Not very comfortable.  The good news is that by motoring, we boosted our speed and made the 1:00 bridge opening, just in time to get the last open slip in the marina!  So we are "home", ready for the next stage of our lives, which includes driving to our "house home" and taking Gretel in for probably her last visit to the vet.  We are very sad, but grateful to have spent her last days with her.  And grateful beyond words for the wonderful 19 years and two months of love she has given us.

Heading home

We are headed back to Charlevoix (via Elk Rapids and Northport) after a nice cruise around Grand Traverse Bay over the last couple of weeks.  We spent several more days in Traverse City to celebrate Carol's birthday in style (no, they didn't give me any leftovers, of which there were plenty.  They decided to save them to eat the next day!)...

and so Carol & Roger could go to some movies at the film festival, including one on a huge outdoor screen in a park next to the marina.  Everyone in town (even those who don't care for Michael Moore's politics) agrees that the film festival has been a huge boon to Traverse City and will only get bigger and better as the years go by.  This year they showed over 70 films on five different screens (six counting the one outdoors) in locations all around town.  Madonna even made an appearance, but Carol & Roger didn't see her since they were watching a different movie on the other side of town.

They were also hoping for a nice wind to sail north, but the best they got was a day with no wind (better than a wind from the north because it's easier to motor through calm water than into waves).  That was yesterday.  By now I've gotten used to the engine noise and pretty much ignore it.  I move around between my bed on the floor in the main cabin and the humans' bed in the forward cabin, drinking water and eating a little in between.  We motored north past Sutton's Bay toward the tip of Old Mission Peninsula which divides Grand Traverse Bay in two, East Bay and West Bay.  At that point Carol & Roger decided it was early enough to go around the tip of the peninsula and part way down into East Bay to Elk Rapids, their old home port.

We spent two nights there, and yesterday (Monday) was really hot.  Outside it was in the upper-80s and down in the cabin it was 98-99 degrees!  So they carried me to the air-conditioned lounge to hang out while they played Scrabble.  On the way back to the boat I insisted on walking by myself instead of being carried.  I think there was something familiar about the place.  Carol says they brought me here about 11 years ago to go out sailing on their previous boat.  I loved it!  But then we went out again with Dutch about 9 years ago, and he got seasick and vomited.  So after that I stayed home to keep him company when they went cruising.  Still, I thought I recognized a smell in the air in the harbor at Elk Rapids...  I wandered the dock back towards shore, getting compliments (and some petting!) from other sailors and powerboaters.  It was great!  I felt like a queen (of course, I am one, you know).

The forecast for today (Tuesday) was for wind from the northwest, but not too strong, with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Last night they were predicting big waves for Wednesday, so Roger thought it would be smart to leave today for Charlevoix.  By this morning, however, they had changed the forecast for Wednesday to include lots of sun, small waves and wind from the west -- perfect for sailing home from Northport.  So we motored here in just a few hours and now we're ready to sail again tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Carol!

Today is a special day, because the human I know better than any other is having a birthday. She celebrated it by renting a car and taking me to the vet to have me checked out. There are signs that my kidneys are getting old, but they will probably keep working for quite a while. Otherwise I seem okay, I just need to eat more. I only weigh 6.8 pounds (I used to weigh twice that!). So they bought me a different kind of food to try, especially since I like variety.

When we got back to the marina I asked if I could spend a little time in the fresh air. Since I don’t move too far too fast, Carol said that would be okay. So I spent almost an hour resting under a bush while Carol sat on the wall next to me and read a book. When Roger came out to join us she took some pictures of me and Roger with the marina and Grand Traverse Bay in the background.

Last night Roger & Carol left me and went into town to see a movie at the film festival. While they were waiting in line to get in, the audience from the previous movie came out. It was a movie made by Phil Donahue, and he came out of the theater with Michael Moore! It was a mob scene. Roger & Carol were close enough to see clearly what was going on, but not close enough to talk to either of them. Still, it was exciting. Tonight at dusk on the big screen they’ve set up in the park next to the marina they are going to show “Back to the Future”. I heard Carol tell Roger she’d like to go see it (it’s free). Before that, though, they are going to have a yummy fancy dinner on board. Their favorite restaurant (Windows) closed after they moved away, but the owner now has a chocolate shop and catering business, so Roger ordered a gourmet dinner for take-out! I hope they give me the leftovers!

It looks like we will move again tomorrow. The prediction is for wind from the wrong direction, but it’s the only day for the next week that there are no thunderstorms in the forecast. I’m not sure how I will like tacking into the wind (tacking makes the boat tilt first one way, then the other). We’ll see.

Back to Traverse City

Carol & Roger are very happy after a beautiful day of sailing. The wind was from the west, so they sailed back south to Traverse City, where Carol wants to spend her birthday on Friday. They thought it was exciting to be moving really fast through the water.  The waters of Grand Traverse Bay are pretty protected, so you can get lots of wind (today the wind varied anywhere from 6-25 knots, but averaged about 15-20) without big waves. Even so, we “tipped” a lot (20 degrees and slightly more at times). The official sailor’s term is “heeling”, but I can’t say “heel”, since that’s what dogs do, not cats.

They were also excited to see a boat they recognized sailing north, a beautiful schooner with tanbark sails, the “Inland Seas”. It’s an educational ship that teaches people about the science of the Great Lakes.    Roger & Carol know the captain from their old church in Traverse City, so Carol called him on the radio to say hi. You can see a picture of the schooner at the top of this post. If I don’t move it down into the text, you should be able to click on it and make it bigger.

I spent most of the day below on the bed, trying to sleep, but I was bothered by the sound of the water rushing by the hull. I’m not doing as well as I was, so Carol has made an appointment for me to see one of my old vets here on Friday morning. I hope they can make me feel better. I don’t like making Carol worry.

There is a big film festival going on right now in Traverse City, so the town is crowded with tourists (more than usual). A few famous people are here for it, including Michael Moore, its founder, Phil Donahue who is presenting a film, and on Saturday, Madonna, who made a documentary about Malawi they are going to show. The other big-name attendee is Stanley Donen, the director of “Singin’ in the Rain”, which they are going to project on a huge screen in a park overlooking the bay, I think tomorrow night (there’s a free outdoor movie every night during the festival, which started yesterday and runs through the weekend). What fun!

Photo enlarging

This post is so I can try an experiment to see if I can post photos that you can enlarge by clicking on them.  I'll start with the panorama looking south from Northport (where we still are) so you can hopefully click on it and see the island on the left.

Friends Old and New

Carol & Roger have been busy since I last wrote. I've been mostly sleeping and eating, although I did help them refill the water tank under their bed before we left Traverse City (that is, I supervised).  

They thought about leaving the first day the wind was from the west (Friday), but it was too strong and gusty, so we stayed in harbor.  On Saturday the prediction was for 10-15 knots of wind from the west, which is perfect for sailing north, so we left for Sutton's Bay, a nice town about 18 nautical miles or 20 land miles north of Traverse City.  

Carol got a nice photo of one of the local schooners as we were leaving. 

 If the sailing was good, we might go on to Northport, another 13 nautical miles further north.

Once we got going, I knew the wind was strong because Carol didn't come below to check on me after the first half hour or so (she doesn't like to come below if there are many waves).  I'll let her tell you about the day on the water:

Wind and waves were more than predicted.  We sailed with a single reef and still lost a batten, which I think hit the shackle that holds our topping lift to the boom, on its way out.  (Battens are the long strips of stiffener that help to shape the sail, kind of like stays in men's old shirt collars.  The topping lift holds up the back end of the boom--a very important job!)  Fortunately, we have a backup attachment line.  After an hour of sailing we took in a second reef when wind gusts came up at 30-35 knots (35-40 mph).  By then we were feeling we'd had a workout and decided Sutton's Bay would be far enough.

Stopping in SB gave us a chance to hear our favorite jazz singer, Claudia Schmidt, who was the headline act at the Sutton's Bay JazzFest.  Also in the band was Mike Hunter, husband of the choir director at our old church in Traverse City.  In the audience we ran into that church's former organist, too, so it was like old home week!

Whenever we travel we are always on the lookout for other Nonsuches, because ours is such a distinctive rig.  Well, we found one in Sutton's Bay and met a very nice couple who helped us out immeasurably. Besides visiting each others' vessels to compare notes, they found among their spares a replacement pin for our shackle so we could fix our topping lift.  All the more welcome since we discovered that the local marine supply store we thought was here closed two years ago.

Armed with our reconditioned topping lift (but still missing a batten), we set out Sunday morning for Northport.  We could not have asked for a more perfect day for sailing.  This time the predictions were right and we enjoyed west winds between 10 and 15 knots (ideal) with some prolonged gusts around 20.  We sped along at hull speed (the fastest our boat can go, given the size and shape of the hull) most of the way, with only small waves following behind us.  Such are the joys of sailing in the protected waters of Grand Traverse Bay!

I liked our trip yesterday.  We didn't tip too much, so I just basked in the sun on the bed.  When we got here Carol and Roger saw a boat they recognized.  It belongs to a very nice couple from Minnesota.  They came on board to meet me because they like cats.  Carol and Roger seemed very happy to see them, since they haven't run into them for a couple of years.  That's one of the things they like best about cruising.  They get to meet lots of interesting people.  And the scenery is really pretty.  

Here is a picture of Northport Bay looking south.  On the left if you look really carefully (I wish I knew how to make the pictures bigger) you can just make out Gull Island and the two chimneys which are all that remain of some guy's attempt to build a house there (he was driven out by seagulls and cormorants).

Exploring

Roger has been worried about our engine. Something about the oil pressure. While he was waiting for the mechanic to arrive, I went into the engine compartment to investigate. I had fun looking around in there, but I got out of the way when the mechanic arrived. He said that the oil pressure was fine, but the part that sends the information to the gauge was not working right. So Roger and Carol decided it was safe to leave Northport and head south to Traverse City.

We were expecting the wind to be from the north, which would have been perfect, but there wasn’t any wind at all. So I had to listen to that noisy diesel engine for five hours! But sailing wouldn’t have been much fun, anyway, since it was raining most of the time. I just stayed on the bed and rested, except when Roger came down to make tuna fish sandwiches. He’s so nice, he gave me the juice to drink!

I was so surprised when we got to Traverse City. It seems familiar, somehow. Carol says I used to live here for a while. But we moved away seven years ago, when I was twelve (we moved here when I was seven, too long ago for me to remember). It’s a nice place, with tons of good restaurants. My humans went out to eat with some old friends last night, and they plan to go out again with different friends tonight. It’s a good thing I like to sleep so much or I might get lonesome. I heard them say they are like Mary Poppins; they will stay here until the wind changes. Then I guess we’ll sail somewhere new.

Our Home Away from Home

Carol forgot to let me finish what I had to say in the last entry, and she embarrassed me by writing about my arthritis. I can get around just fine, only sometimes it’s to my advantage to let my humans think I can’t. Yesterday I was curious about all the new smells. Our house seemed the same on the inside, but I knew we were someplace different. Charlevoix was full of big powerboats with loud humans aboard; Northport is much quieter, with big trees and lots of pretty sailboats.

I thought I should describe where we live. “Cattitude” is different from a lot of sailboats.  It has what is called a “cat rig” (although I’m sure I don’t know why, and I know they didn’t consult with any of us cats before calling it that). This means that it has only one sail attached to the mast, and the mast goes through the deck way at the front of the boat. It’s also really wide for a boat of its size (it’s 30 feet long and almost 12 feet wide), so we have lots of room to move around down below. Smaller, traditional catboats are really slow, but “Cattitude” sails really fast, even when there isn’t a lot of wind. Roger says that has to do with how it’s built below the water. Sometimes when we sail fast, the boat tips a bit. I don’t mind too much. I try to sleep through it, but occasionally I get up for a snack. As long as we aren’t tipping over too far.

Carol put my litterbox in the head (I don’t know why they call it that, either, since it doesn’t look like anyone’s head, and I don’t think you’d like to put your head in it). She says it’s the perfect litterbox for me because it’s small, like me, and it has a handle on it so it can be moved out of the way when they need to use the toilet. It’s also Barbie pink, which is okay, since I’m a girl.

The best thing about being ship’s cat is that I get to spend a lot of time with my humans. Sometimes they leave me and go into town for food or to check email, but I just sleep and eat while they’re gone. They piled up a bunch of pillows next to the bed in the forward cabin so I can get up and down from it without help (although I like it better when Carol helps me, so I’ve told her I can’t do it alone. Please don’t tell her I can, okay?).

Getting Started

My humans, Roger & Carol Faber, took me to Charlevoix, MI at the end of June to spend a week on their beautiful sailboat (beautiful because there's a picture of me on the transom!) just after it was launched.  They wanted to see if I would make a good ship's cat, since Carol didn't want to leave me at home this summer (she's afraid, since I'm already 19 years old, that it might be my last).  I told them I loved being on the boat (I purred a lot during that week), so they decided I could join them on their cruise this year.  It's going to be a pretty short one, since we all got a late start (they had a bunch of guys working on their house in June, then a friend's funeral, and a bunch of other stuff that delayed them).  We just left Charlevoix yesterday (July 20), but so far, we're having lots of fun!  I'll let Carol tell you about our sail.

We left Charlevoix at the 1:30 bridge opening. 

Forecast was for not much wind, but with a northerly component, so we decided to head for Northport, on the NW tip of Grand Traverse Bay, about a four-hour trip from Charlevoix across the top of the bay (hence, our own "traverse").  Wind came up about 2:30 p.m., just after we'd finished lunch in the cockpit, 

so we put up sail.  Wind increased and became more westerly as the afternoon wore on, so we moved along between 4 and 6 knots most of the way.  

As we approached the buoy marking our turn due west into Northport Bay, the winds were blowing 18-20 and dark clouds were forming on the horizon.  So we took in sail and motored the last half hour.  Gretel doesn't seem to mind the motion.  She has a few favorite spots in the cabin where she feels most comfortable, so she just hangs out there.  Once we were tied up in harbor, she even came up the stairs into the cockpit to have a look around, a first!  We weren't sure her arthritic back legs were able to make that climb.  When we brought her out in the past, she made a big fuss about not being able to get back down.  Not yesterday.  She keeps amazing us.

We plan to leave here tomorrow morning and sail to Traverse City, as our motto this year is to go wherever the wind blows us.  The forecast is for north winds, and TC is about 30 miles south of here, so it should be a nice blow downwind.  And tomorrow is one of the first days there's no rain in the forecast!