Sandra’s Miscellany

Dash has now gone into the water for the second time in two weeks.

When we brought her home from the animal shelter, we suspected she was thick as two short planks, and she has continued to live up to that expectation. Who knows? Perhaps she’s exceeded that expectation….

The first time she went into the water was a Friday night. The dSO and I had just turned off Letterman where we usually do — after a full minute of watching an uninteresting guest blather on about nothing — and I went out on deck to call in the cats. Dot was right there, ready to come in. But from the stern I heard the distress howl of a feline in the water, and Dash soon came paddling around to the starboard side where I stood. The dSO wrestled the KRD (Kitty Retrieval Device, a.k.a. a fishing net) from the aft deck and I held it into the water. Dash swam right in.

Once out, she seemed thoroughly unconcerned by her ordeal. She’d been in the water for some time, but as she came from the stern, I surmised that she’d latched onto the Salisbury silencers — large heavy-duty plastic elbows that are attached to the exhaust ports just above the waterline. There’s plenty for a cat to cling to, so I suppose she was just hanging out there until it was time for me to call her in.

Then, last night, she went in again. I heard it this time — a splashless plunk — and saw Dot looking very alert as she stared over the coaming. Sure enough, there was Dash, paddling toward the starboard side door. Again, the dSO brought the net, and again, I held it down and she swam into it. She came aboard, looked totally unconcerned, didn’t even shiver, and merely waited patiently to be dried off before settling down in the middle of the salon for a good wash.

I’m not sure if perhaps she’s too stupid to be afraid, or if she’s just young enough that she’s getting used to swimming, or maybe she’s just a throwback to an obscure and little-known swimming feline. Who knows?

Maybe we’ll just change her name from Dash to Float.