… the prodigal cat! Hooray! Sorry to keep you in suspense – (go on, admit it, bet you were biting those nails and pacing the floor just like us, waiting for news of Jack, our worryingly absent feline friend) – but you need fret no more. Al (youngest son) emailed yesterday afternoon to say His Nibbs showed up that morning by our pond, cool as custard, without so much as a by-your-leave, loudly hollering to be welcomed back into the fold. Whatever the reasons for his disappearance, he’s keeping them to himself apparently. Which is bloody inconsiderate, we think. I mean if you’re going to worry the bejezus out of your adoring human caretakers, then you should at least have the courtesy to let them in on what you’ve been up to. Given this Jack-goes-awol milarky seems to happen just the once almost every year – usually around the same time in summer – we’re wondering if there’s an annual convention of moggies that meet in Ramalley Alley, or behind the newsagents in Hiltingbury Road – somewhere, where all the local cats gather for their AGM to discuss mousing tactics or optimal scratching posts or what to do about the feline-loathing pair of Jack Russells at No. 29. If so, then it’s a pretty sophisticated affair with shrew scraps and tuna titbits for refreshments – because he never returns hungry or thirsty. Just very vocal, demanding a fawning reception committee and non-stop fussing … which he always gets, of course. Whatever – Jack’s back and that’s another little prayer very happily answered.
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Popped down to the marina to say goodbye to James and Roz, who are off back to Free State today. Both busy putting their boat, Sunday Star, to bed, though they’ll soon be back in a few weeks’ time to continue working on her. As for our own boat, well, work on Butterfly is coming into the final finishing stages now. Looking down the pontoon while talking to James, we could see she now sports an impressive set of sails and a smart sailbag in a dapper shade of navy blue.
Fascinating watching the guys rig up the lazy jack lines. The bosun’s chair being put to good use – something neither of us have actually tried as yet. As I’m the lightest by several stones and have a head for heights, it may well be my job to learn the art of that one. Alternatively, Dick has the brawn and size to be more effective, perhaps – guess we’ll just have to toss a coin. Fighting over who’s to go aloft, or fighting who’s the one to stay below – ha, perish the thought! This skipper and his first mate are always as one – on everything. ( ahem.)
Y’know, it is rather exciting to see her decked with sails and running rigging now. And what rigging! Some very snazzy dyneema sheets and halyards – colour co-ordinated to match the blue and yellow design of her name and logo. Even the guard rails are blue and yellow dyneema – she’s a slick and snappy looking dame, alright.
The new shower room doors are just the ticket, too. Lightweight, fully functional (they’re hinged to concertina, making it easy to get in and out of the shower cubicle) – with a cool smoky-white finish. Very swish. The doors to the saloon, though, we’ve decided to change. They look absolutely great, but we’re not entirely happy with the degree of flexing you get if you yank on the handle. (Btw, these doors are made of Lexan Margard, which is fabulously tough stuff, but it is rather bendy under pressure.) Our concern is that any opportunist burglar will test the handle, immediately see how much give there is, and be encouraged to force-it-Phoebe to get them open. Of course the fact is that no boat is burglar-proof and any hatch can usually be broken open fairly easily given the right tools, so why worry about the doors – but we just didn’t want to put ideas into anyone’s head. No probs, because Steven is going to make us a set of ‘old style’ doors. Like the ones that were fitted to Hull No. 2 – African Love. These won’t allow so much light in, but they are impressively solid and unyielding. And in any case, the light issue is well taken care of with the saloon having so many windows as it is.
Back to the sailbag and sail-hoisting/dropping system: having seen the new hybrid flaking Dutchman-cum-Lazy-Jacks arrangement today, must say we think it’s looking rather good. The sailbag hasn’t had the new basalt battens fitted to it yet, so it’s too soon to say if they do the trick, but the combined system seems very workable – and if there are probs, then it’s easy enough to dispense with the flaking Dutchman element altogether. We’ll certainly keep you other Fast-Catters posted.
And speaking of sails, we also have a very sexy looking genoa, navy-trimmed, mounted on the forestay now. Steven (and we, of course) are itching to put all the sails to the test and take Butterfly out for a spin. The difficulty is that until Dick gets the DOC certificate that I keep mentioning (the appointment can’t be made until next Tuesday for some reason), we can’t take her out on our own without someone aboard who DOES have a DOC cert. All of which means we might have to wait until the middle of next week when Gideon arrives. But there again, we’ve waited so long for that moment, that one more week certainly isn’t going to hurt us. Must say, talking with Steven, who’s been an absolute gem throughout everything, we’re all of us getting really excited about putting her through her paces very soon now. What do they say – the good things in life are worth waiting for. Well yes indeedy – ain’t dat da truth!
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