Jelly's 13th Birthday

 

Magellan Louise Lemay, aka Jelly, JellyBelly, Jells, Jello, was our ship's cat for seven years. We adopted her from the Seabrook SPCA in Texas the day she was street legal (6 weeks old).

A gray-nosed, white and gray domestic short hair, she had us at “meow”. She moved aboard Nine of Cups with us as our ship's cat in April 2000 and it was with sincere regret that we opted to leave her with my Mom in 2007 when we decided to sail to New Zealand and Australia.

Jelly was a natural at sea. She got her sea legs almost immediately and got seasick only once in all the time aboard. She was a good sailor. David built her a cat door, so she could go below or go up on deck whenever she pleased. This worked out well when we were off the boat for errands.

Though she never fell overboard at sea, she fell overboard three times when we were in port. Once in Charleston, SC, she was intent on watching sea gulls floating on the water near the boat. Probably figuring she could walk on water, too, she jumped in and found out the hard way that cats do not float. Another time on the dock, she was chased into the water by a fellow cruiser's loose dogs. She was plucked out by fellow sailor. She did NOT enjoy being wet. Obviously, the nine lives myth was proving true.

We really enjoyed having her aboard. She was fun to play with and good company. Though she was not good at standing watch, she certainly was happy to snuggle up with the off-watch crew for a nap. She did keep birds, moths and other critters off the boat except when she caught them and brought them below.

Quite honestly, she was the best pet we've ever had. It might be that the sheer amount of time we spent with her was significantly more than pets we'd had while working full time and raising a family. We certainly developed a closeness with Jelly that we don't remember having with other pets.

Moving in with my Mom has allowed me to spend time with Jelly again and today was her 13th birthday. We celebrated with a Happy Birthday song sung in falsetto cat voices and a special cat food treat. She's an old lady now....a teenager if you're a human, but she's 74 in cat years. Of course, we all know 74 is the new 60, so really, she's still a spring kitten.

Jelly still has her own page on the website. Forgive the quality of some of her baby pictures … poor camera … poor photographer!

Having pets aboard has its challenges. Check the blog tomorrow for our take on having Pets Aboard.

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

Longitude Day

On this day in 1693, John Harrison, British clockmaker, was born. It was his lifelong efforts to develop a precision timepiece that would work at sea which allowed sailors to finally be able to calculate longitude. Read Dava Sorbel's book Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time or watch the movie.

It's a Small World After All

 

When you're in the middle of a big ocean on a small boat, the world seems pretty big. But whether you're on a boat tied up to the Elizabeth Street Pier in Hobart or anchored in some distant harbor, it's definitely a small world. You invariably meet someone you know ... or at least someone who knows someone you know.

When we sent out our holiday newsletter and advised folks we were in Hobart, we got all sorts of emails back letting us know that relatives, friends and acquaintances were in town and we should be on the look out for them. Pam e-mailed to say that Ted's son, Robert, owns Ready Lunch on the Elizabeth Street Mall and we should stop in for some great coffee which we did.

Jan whom we'd met in Gisborne, New Zealand a couple years ago, said her son, Jamie, and his family was arriving shortly on the yacht Wild Goose and we should watch for them. In fact, unbeknownst to me at the time, I had already met Lisa in the shower that very morning.

We met Richard in Dunedin, New Zealand two years ago and he e-mailed to say a good friend of his lived in Hobart. Sure enough, we made contact and Paccy stopped by one night for a beer. When we were told by TasPort Control that we needed to vacate the Elizabeth Street Pier within a day, it was Paccy who let us rent his slip in the marina until Boxing Day.

When we met Pauline and Denys from Adelaide on their vacation in Fiji a year or so ago, we never thought we'd see them again, but we stayed in touch. They were visiting their son and his family in Blackman's Bay while we were berthed in nearby Kettering and they stopped for lunch aboard one day. We now have some friends to visit when we stop in Adelaide in a couple weeks.

It was no surprise to see a boat anchored at Deal Island that we'd seen on our previous visit. Running into friends of friends anchored at Grassy Harbour in King Island didn't shock us either. Getting an email the other day from Dan on Jacana who'd shared a horrific night in Suva Bay when our yachts were almost run down by a dragging ship caught our attention though. He'd read our blog and realized we were on Australia's southern coast and invited us over.

The oceans may be big, but our world is still a pretty small place. And if you're humming that song “It's a Small World After All” … stop it!

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

International Mother Language Day

Originated by UNESCO, this day promotes international language and cultural diversity. It's estimated that there are between 6800-6900 distinct languages spoken in our world today. Learn how to say please and thank you in five languages. Por Favor?

AQIS - Australian Quarantine

When we first arrived in Australia, we were instructed to tie up to a quarantine dock and the first person aboard was an AQIS official, Australia Quarantine and Inspection Service. “Service” is kind of a misnomer because it implies doing something for you that you ordered or wanted, when in actuality, we would have preferred NOT to have this service, though we understood the reasoning behind it.

The AQIS guy spent about an hour on the boat inspecting nooks and crannies, drawers and lockers, food and stored goods. He was looking for 1) sick crew 2) animals, bugs, rodents and other non-human liveaboards and 3) any indication of worms, termites or other critters eating our boat. Basically, anything unwanted in Australia. Domestic animals arriving on vessels have very strict rules that apply.

We were also required to show proof that we'd anti-fouled the boat bottom within the last six months. He was required to collect any fresh produce aboard (we had none left), took away our honey and mayo and few other odds and ends. We saved our eggs by hard boiling them just before arrival and promising to eat them post haste. He inspected our hiking boots to make sure they were clean and we weren't importing foreign soil. He emptied our vacuum cleaner. All went into a large black bag marked QUARANTINE which was headed to the incinerator.

For this, we paid $330 AUD, the largest amount we've ever paid to any foreign country for entry. We received a one-year Pratique which allowed us to sail in Australian waters until expiry. We received only one year because we were considered “high risk”. We asked “why high risk. We're a fiberglass boat?” and were told “95% of boats arriving are considered high risk.” That wasn't really an acceptable answer, but we didn't press it. Well, one year is up.

Actually it expired one month ago. We did not renew the Pratique, but not from lack of trying to be on time. We began calling AQIS Hobart in mid-October. We spoke to a pleasant woman who asked why we were calling and all sorts of pertinent questions and said she'd have an officer call back right away. No one called within a week and so we called again. Another pleasant woman answered, asked the same pertinent questions and said she'd have an officer call us back if there was a problem or something we had to do. No one called. We were off the hook or so we thought. Two days ago one of those pleasant women called back. She said she'd trying calling previously, but got no answer. That would be the “no-bars on the cell phone” reception (or lack thereof) in Kettering.

She asked exactly what it was we needed. We explained once again our situation and provided all the necessary and pertinent information. She said she'd have an officer call us right back. And this time, we did. We got a phone call from one of the officers. Yes, indeed, we needed another inspection. He was certainly pleasant enough, but there was no getting around the inspection requirement. When would we be in Hobart?

We have a problem with the logic in requiring another inspection after we've been here for a whole year. We figure after a year if there was something wrong with the boat or us, we would have infected everyone by now, but evidently AQIS does not agree with our logic. Even if we accepted the logic, we had a problem with another costly charge for another inspection. It really kills the budget...and the Christmas spirit. Ah, well. Our philosophy has always been, if you don't like the neighborhood (or the rules of the country), leave. We've chosen to stay and thus the onus is on us.

As soon as we arrived on the Hobart pier, both AQIS and Customs stopped by to “say hello”. Customs inspected our newly renewed paperwork and left without issue. AQIS scheduled our inspection. As it turns out, it was not much to worry about. He did, indeed, poke around the boat and verify that anti-fouling was done, but he was quite pleasant and efficient and pronounced us “healthy” and renewed our Pratique for another year. The impact on the budget was not nearly as painful as we feared since this was a renewal. The fines for not renewing the Pratique and being caught … more than we want to contemplate. Pays to play by the rules.