My foot stepped in a puddle in the middle of the night. That’s a sailor’s worst nightmare so I quickly started looking around for the water’s source. Were we taking on water? Had something given way? No. Was it raining and water was leaking through a porthole? No. I’ve been installing new water tanks. Had something come loose? No. Then we found our little, black cat, Lucky. She was hiding under the salon table, drenched!

Jan and I are not cat people but, somehow, we ended up with two of them on board. Phoebe is a huge, gray tabby and Lucky is a little, black pistol. Last summer in Phoenix the thermometer read “114 degrees.” Jan and I stepped out of the air-conditioned car and started to race across the blistering asphalt to the air-conditioned restaurant when Jan suddenly stopped.

“John, I hear a kitten.”

My feet were on fire through the bottoms of my shoes. “You’re imagining things,” I replied anxious to get to dinner.

“No! I hear a baby kitten.”

I reluctantly dropped down and looked under the black car next to us. There, behind the rear wheel was a tiny black kitten on her last legs. She could barely mew. I scooped her up and she barely filled the palm of my hand. It didn’t look good.

We got back in the car and drove to the nearest drive-in for some ice water. Jan used a straw to pipe water into her mouth and bathe her but I really didn’t think this cat had much of a chance. I was thinking about where to dig a hole but Jan sat with the kitten all night long and by morning she was fine. “Lucky” has been with us ever since.

Both cats have interesting personalities. Phoebe is so mellow she won’t move even if you step on her. We weren’t looking for a cat but a little, tabby kitten showed up on our porch one day. Our dog, Shelby, adopted her and the two of them were best buddies. Three weeks later the neighbor knocked on our door looking for her cat. Shelby was heart-broken and sat at the screen door every day looking for her little buddy. It was so sad. Finally Jan bundled Shelby up and went to Pet Smart. Shelby sniffed at each of the caged cats. Most of them hissed and spit and clawed at her – all of them except for a full-grown, very mellow, gray tabby. Phoebe has been with us ever since.

Phoebe spent so much time growing up in a kennel that she feels uncomfortable in open spaces. She spent the first day in our home sitting in a magazine rack. Here on board, her favorite place is to crawl through an access hatch and creep around in the bilge. This isn’t easy since Phoebe is a very big girl.

Phoebe loves to eat but she is very particular. She won’t go near milk, table-scraps or people food. She turns her nose up at tuna and the only thing she will touch is dry cat kibbles. She does delight in a bowl of kibbles and can devour a bag full at a sitting. Her other great joy is watching fireworks. Here in San Diego, Sea World puts on a show every night at 9:30. At 9:25 Phoebe goes on deck and sits up attentively waiting for the show. When it’s over, she goes below and helps herself to a big bowl of kibbles and then begins the night shift. That brings us to the other night.

We come into the municipal docks once a month and stay for a week to work on Santa Teresa. There is unlimited electricity and water here so it is the perfect place to sand and varnish and take care of the never-ending list of repairs. We were worried about the cats “jumping ship” and getting lost in the marina but there really is no way to tether a cat. We just had to trust that they would find their way home.

Lucky is the adventurous one. Phoebe sits quietly on the deck but Lucky loves to walk precariously along the outside rail. Phoebe loves small, confined spaces (like the anchor locker) but Lucky prefers heights. It’s fun to watch them. Lucky puts on a show for Phoebe and Phoebe tries to act bored watching her. The two of them did discover the dock beside us, and the huge pilot boat across from us. The pilot boat has giant black fenders – huge rubber floats that look like barrels lying on their sides. The fenders are tied fore and aft and can spin. They allow the pilot boat to tie up to other boats at sea and transfer materials and men.

In the middle of the night, Phoebe was sitting on the dock and Lucky decided to put on a show. Phoebe yawned and Lucky sprang up onto the giant fender. “Hey Phoebe! Look at me! I’m a lumberjack.” The big black fender began to roll as Lucky ran on top of it. It was like an inside out hamster wheel and Lucky began to run faster and faster. Then it happened. Lucky missed a step and the fender launched the little cat into the chilly bay. Fortunately she was able to swim over to a low barge tied to the dock and pull herself out. It is amazing how much water one little cat can soak up. “Come on Lucky. Let’s go get some kibbles,” Phoebe sighed as Lucky mopped the dock with her fur.

Watch a video of Lucky's Second Swim!