My Name is Jetsam... And I'm A Boat Cat

Yes, it has come to this.  I was born a poor black cat.  I have little memory of my first six months of life, but they have left me with unresolved issues that only years of self reflection and unconditional love from a couple of lowly humans, have recently begun to unravel.  

I had little hope of finding a home, and that was fine with me... until one day.  I was snatched up from my cage and put on display.  It was a degrading audition.  Why should I have to prove anything to a human about my self worth?  I did my best Psycho act but it was no use... they took me anyway. 

I held myself apart from them for many months, but was finally forced to relent.  They were in possession of the one thing I lacked... Thumbs!  Yes, this is what lifts them to the status they enjoy in this life.  If only Cats had thumbs... we would rule the world.

I eventually became resigned to this life where I further debased myself by accepting not only shelter, but food and drink from these people.  It made me feel better that they had no idea that I was eating off the counters and drinking from the toilets when they weren't looking.  Oh, sure, they caught me red-handed a couple of times, but I played dumb and they believed that it was the first time... every time!  They really aren't very smart.

The years rolled on and we moved from a small apartment to a small home, and finally to a sprawling two story place that was just made for me.  I loved spending hours staring out of my upstairs bedroom window at the birds in the branches just outside.  I would speed around the upstairs rooms and then zip down the stairs to the kitchen for a bit of a snack.  Then back upstairs I would go for a nap.  The humans left me alone for the most part.

Most days the man would come home smelling funny and the woman... well she just came home yaking about something that had irritated her that day.  Now and then I would give them a thrill and purr a bit... usually when they made it to bed on time.  But I didn't want them to get cocky so I would usually wait until they were asleep then climb up into my bed with them and wait for breakfast time.  

Then one day, I was stuffed into the box that leads to the lady with the bottom stick.  I was none too happy about it as you can imagine.  But this time, there was no lady.  The rest is a bit of a blur... I was taken, still in the box, across some water on a board.  The smells were completely foreign to me... where were they taking me?  I was beginning to get freaked out!  There were big white things with sticks jutting out  from the top all lined up and my man took me onto one of them.  Then we went down into a dark place that smelled just like the man's clothes do when he comes home every day.

The people brought a whole bunch of stuff from home and stacked it all around.  They seemed very pleased with themselves and expected me to feel the same.  Tough chance of that!  I wanted to go HOME!  I wanted my window seat.  I wanted my cat box.  Wait... the cat box is here!  What does this mean?  Surely we aren't staying HERE!  It's so small!  There are no picture windows for me to sit in.  And you call that ladder thingy some kind of excuse for stairs?

This can't be happening to me.  After all I've been through.  You know... maybe I've been to hasty in my judgement of you guys.  I'll be nicer.  I'll sit on your lap.  I can change!  I've gotta get outta here!  I dashed up the ladder and out of the screened porch.... WHAT!  That's WATER!  OMG I feel woozie.

That was more than two months ago... It seems like a lifetime.  Things were messed up for a while.  I didn't know where to sit or why there were so many unexplainable noises, like giant squirrels on the roof.  Sometimes the whole house feels funny and I'm pulled towards one side or the other when I try to walk.  I tried being in a funk and got away with it for a while.  But I got over it when I realized that I still get breakfast every morning.  I still have my cat box and my people seem to have taken up sleeping on that bed in the back room.  Even though it's kind of small, I guess I can sleep there too.

If I were to be totally honest with you, I'm beginning to think it's not so bad.  The woman still disappears for long stretches, but the man is home most of the time.  It's kind of nice to have him around, especially since he protects me from Jezabelle, who thinks she's Queen of the Evil Empire.  She can't touch me when the man is around.

Self Appointed Queen of the Evil Empire

It's also nice that I get to go outside.  This was a dream of mine... like some distant memory from a time before this life.  The humans NEVER let me go outside at the other places.  I thought it was a trick at first.  They just left the door open.  They didn't lunge at me when I tried to make a break for it.  They even seemed to encourage me to go out.  I'm not completely sure that I'm not being set up for some big joke, but it is really cool to go outside and sit in the sun.  I even get to go out at night and walk around.  I love checking things out in the dark, hiding in stealth mode.  It makes my blood sing!

THIS is the life I was born to live!  I have the best of both worlds.  I have my freedom and my nice cushy life too.  I think my cat box is even cleaned out more regularly than before... so I can be dainty.  I fee the chains of oppression falling from my shoulders.  Yes, my name is Jetsam, and I'm PROUD to be a Boat Cat. 

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A New Name For An Old Concept...

The term "Leaving a clean electronic wake" is a new way of verbalizing something that I've always believed.  I became aware of the phrase while reading one of my favorite Sail Blogs, thegiddyupplan.  It stuck in my mind and has been fermenting there for days.

Coincidentally, the idea surfaced again in the pages of the Premier edition of the new Cruising Outpost Magazine.  An article called "Cruisers Connect:  Different Eyes in Suakin, Sudan", written by Lisa Lopez, describes the effects of negative social media on an entire city.

The article really resonated with me, tying so neatly back to the newly learned catch phrase... I felt that I should share the concept with others.  While it is by no means limited to the Cruising Community, this is where I choose to aim my focus.  I've really not found much negativity about cruising on the Internet.  I'm sure there are people out there who have tried it and found that it was not for them... There are sailboats in all corners of the world for sale that must be someones dashed cruising dreams.  But those people must be writing about something else because I have heard none of it, and believe me... I've searched!  Cruising, in general, seems to be safe for now... But what about the places visited by Cruisers?

Bruce and I have traveled to several other countries, but not yet as Cruisers so our frame of reference is limited to our own experiences.  We have done some chartering and a lot of coastal cruising, and we have stayed in a fair number of marinas.  Of course we have opinions about those experiences.  I have personally noted a vast difference in opinion about marinas, anchorages and restaurants and marvel at how others find places we've loved to be so far below their own standards.

This is the take-away I got from Lisa's story about Suakin.  It's all about how you look at things and in how you portray those views to others.  With the Internet, we all have the power to do great damage or great good with a few keystrokes.  We should be mindful of this when we toss off those remarks that could cost a person, a business or an entire town a lot more than we intended in the long run.

There is a website called Active Captain that is gaining momentum in the Cruising Community.  They offer Cruisers the opportunity to share "real time" information about cruising grounds all over the country.  They make this free to users by offering the information to the Marinas and other merchants frequented by the boating community.  It's really a very new way of marketing, driven by the consumer and it is to me..., a brilliant idea.  That is, unless the voices of the few disgruntled users outweigh the voices of people who either have a different set of standards by which to judge (like myself), or are just not posting the positive experiences.  Sure, the squeaky wheel gets the grease… but sometimes the squeaky wheel causes loss of vital revenue to a business that was just having a bad day… There are just not enough kudos being handed out these days.

Someone once told me that in reading my blog, it seems like I never have a bad day... that I'm always happy.  That is FAR from the truth...  But, I try not to dwell on the negative aspects in my writing and in my life (not always easy...), because it drags people down.  I want to share the good or constructive things and never to put anything out there that could be hurtful to anyone.  I can't say that I've always been successful, but I am very conscious of the far-reaching effects of my written words.  My original reason for this was not so noble.  My reasons for blogging are 1) keeping friends and family involved in our lives and 2) documenting all of the fun things we have done so that when I'm old and suffering from memory loss, I can cruise back through these pages and remember the good times.  I don't want a a bunch of waaa waaaa cluttering up my cherished memories?

Now don't get me wrong… I am sure that there are more than a few people out there who could say that I've done or said something hurtful to them.  Maybe I'm just getting old or maybe it's the many changes going on in our lives that have made me so reflective at the moment.  But if you read this and can apply any of it to your own life, maybe it could change an outcome somewhere down the road for a small business owner, or maybe a small island…  Words have power.  I will endeavor always to leave a clean electronic wake.

Why This? Why NOW?...

The Dream...

Wild hair?  Mid-Life Crisis? Fit of pique?  Why did we walk away from our lovely townhome and confine ourselves to this 45 ft. floating mobile home?  Why have we offloaded all of the treasures we've worked so hard to procure in the name of "feathering our nest"?  WHAT WERE WE THINKING!?!? 

Well, I could say that it is the fulfillment of Bruce's lifelong dream, but I must really lay blame at the door of one Bob Bitchin.  I didn't really consider it a possibility until I began reading "that magazine" that he put out… Oh, sure, I paid lip service to Bruce's musings… maybe he only married me because I was the first girl who actually sounded like she would put up with it… But, when I subscribed to "that Magazine" and found out that there really were people living "out there" and that maybe we could do it too…  I got excited!

During the early years of our marriage, there was no reason to seriously consider upheaval… We were happily making our home (on land), we had a great 36 ft sailboat that perfectly suited our (then) needs, I thoroughly enjoyed my job and Bruce was having a good time windsurfing and sailing while I worked.  Things were great!  

So what changed?  Why now?  Well, lets face it… nobody is getting any younger.  I began hearing song lyrics in my head about waiting too long, seeing (everywhere) that famous quote by Mark Twain -  "Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do, than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover."  My subconscious was busily moving towards it even if my consciousness wasn't...

We coasted along as wannabes for several years saying we were "gonna" do it but not really making active progress.  Don't get me wrong, we were quietly paying off our town home so that "if" we ever did go we would be in a good financial position.  Bruce's income is sufficient (judging from all I've read about cruising) to keep us well enough.  But I will admit that in my secret thoughts, I never thought we would do it.   

But… times were changing.  The Healthcare Industry is in a state of flux and many of the people I once enjoyed working with have moved on.  I began to realize that life shouldn't be all about work when it started to affect my health.  I was stressed out and after about the sixth physician told me: "quit your job"… I began to listen.  One day, one of my Drs told me something that suddenly released me from the bond of "ownership" I felt towards the practice.

The defining moment occurred one weekend while we sat on the deck of our beloved 36 ft CS.  We decided that if we were ever going to really do it, the time was now…  Yes or No… In or out.  Get on with it or just settle in where we are for the long haul…  We DECIDED!

The next 12 months were very busy with marketing our boat, finding a new (to us) boat, making the sale and the purchase, getting the boat home to Texas and sorting through the stuff that came with it.  Then the process of reducing the possessions we own from nearly 2000 sq. ft. space to this 45 ft. space.  It's not as easy as you might think to find new homes for old treasures.  

We moved aboard almost one year to the day of our decision.  I'm currently interviewing candidates for my replacement at work so I think they've realized that I REALLY REALLY mean it now…   although I don't think they understand it at all.  They still think I'll be back!

The reactions of our friends seem to be divided into two camps… those who grimace and shut down when they learn of our plans, and those who light up and get all warm and giggly.  Even the questions they ask are biased.  The first group ask things like "do you REALLY think you'll still be doing this in a year?".  The other group asks things like "Where will you go? and how long will it take you to get there?".  It's seen either as an end or as a beginning to life.  I feel sad for those who see it as an end, because I can't help but think that must be a projection of their lives onto mine…   

I see this as a beginning to a life doing what makes us happy.  I look forward to meeting myself on this journey.  I welcome the opportunity for opening myself up and to finding out what is really inside of me.  I want to shed the stresses that force me into a role that I've grown to hate.  I don't want to be the bad guy anymore. I don't want to have to force all of the good parts of our lives into tiny windows of opportunity (read weekends and vacations).  I want to seize this marvelous opportunity we have been handed and explore each day like a gift alongside my husband.  I want to make sure that we have no regrets when we're done living.  

Sure we have fears.  One of mine is that I just won't like it!  Bruce fears mechanical breakdowns.  Well, if we can't fix it, we can throw money at it.  Fortunately we have passive income and if we live right, we will be OK.  Worst case scenario, we sell the Townhouse or get jobs to pay for whatever we need.  In all seriousness, my biggest fear is that one of us will fall ill or be in some way incapacitated… on a big scale.  This is the fear that urges me insistently towards this   cocamamie scheme…  If we don't do it now, it will never happen.   

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