This is Kitten. She was never given another name, because that would have been even more dangerous than letting her live on our boat for the duration of our stay on Pangkor. She was often referred to simply as 'the kitten,' not that there would have been any real confusion among us during that week.
That week at Marina Island was quite productive. The boat was hauled out, the rudder shoe fixed, the bottom scrubbed, two coats of bottom paint and a new layer on the bootstripe applied, a new prop fitted - even the gold pinstripe received a touch-up. One evening after a days work, a few of us decided to go out to dinner. Matt, Martin from Anima III, Adam, and myself walked almost a mile across a field, through an empty group of apartments, crossed a relatively busy traffic circle, over the bridge connecting Marina Island to the mainland, and down a street to get to our favorite char kway teow cart. Sadly, the noodle cart was closed so we decided to eat at Kopitiam instead, which was on the way back to the boats.
While heading back up the street toward the bridge, I spotted a black cat near the road. Of course I stopped to see if it was friendly; half the cats and dogs were, but half would run away if approached. This one was friendly, and I happily stopped to pet her as the other three continued to walk. She was eerily similar to my cat, Isis, with her sleek black coat and raspy meow. As I started walking to catch up to the others, I was slightly surprised to find that the cat was following me. I kept going, sure that she would turn around after a little further. Halfway across the bridge she was still following, often running to catch up to Matt and I only to stop directly in front of us, as if to get our attention. Now, I'll admit that I did walk slower than normal, and Matt and I would pet her when she caught up to us, so maybe we encouraged her a bit... but she was still very determined on her own to keep pace with us.
We got to the traffic circle and I finally capitulated - I carried her across. I figured she would follow us one way or another, so why not help her cross this dangerous roadway? Martin and Adam were already sitting down outside when Matt and I arrived, and Martin's face lit up when he saw that the kitten was with us. I guessed that she was about 7 or 8 months old, still young enough to be called a kitten. She hung around the table and on our laps as we ate, and Martin not-so-secretly snuck her pieces from his plate. When we finished dinner and starting walking back to the boat, she again ran to keep up to us.
Once back at the boats, we decided to see how she would do on Martin's boat. Since the boats were up on jackstands, we had to climb ladders to get onto them. Kitten purred while being carried up, and then confidently explored Martin's boat. After her brief tour, Martin laid out refreshments in the form of cold milk in a dish, and after sampling this she jumped up on a cushion and laid down, purring. It was like she had lived on a boat her whole life. I made a litter box out of a shallow plastic container that Martin donated and sand from a nearby construction site, and she used this litter box without fail the entire time she was on either of our boats!
It had gotten pretty late, and we left Anima III to go to bed. We climbed down Martin's ladder and up ours, watching to see if Kitten would look over the edge after us. She didn't, but she did get curious when she saw us up on our boat. Adam and I were on the WTP, and Martin was still on Anima III with Kitten. Staving off sleep for a little longer, we decided to fashion a bridge, or a catwalk (ha ha..), to see if she would cross to our boat. Martin held one end of a long piece of canvas and we caught the other end, holding it taught over the twelve foot drop to the ground. With only a little hesitation, Kitten walked across it fearlessly! She explored our boat for a bit and then we climbed down with her and back up to return her to Martin's boat for the night.
The next morning, Adam was very confused when he woke up to find Kitten on our boat again. Did Martin carry her across sometime in the night, or very early in the morning? He asked, and Martin said he thought Kitten had left sometime in the night. This would be difficult considering that she would have to climb down his ladder in order to leave... but that's EXACTLY what she did! And not only did she climb down Martin's ladder, she knew where we were and climbed UP our ladder to get to us on our boat! Incredible!
Needless to say, Kitten hung around our boats while we worked on them, and made herself quite at home on both of them. She spent most of her days sleeping on someone's bunk, on top of the sail bags, or sprawled out on the floor. When we left, we would just lock her up down below with food, water, and the improvised litter box. On one trip the the grocery store, I bought a small bag of cat food because the tuna didn't last long once it was out of the can. If we left for a day, she hung out with Martin. When Martin left to pick up crew in Kuala Lumpur, she stayed with us.
When it was time for the WTP to go back in the water and test the new prop, Kitten came with. She didn't seem to mind the engine being on, or even the motion of the boat on the water. She was a bit scared when we turned the blower on (a fan to keep the engine compartment cool) but she soon got over that. She walked around a bit, and then, apparently bored by the whole mess of sailing, went to sleep under the dinghy. We stayed on the dock right across from Martin that night, and Kitten went back and forth between our boats, equally comfortable on each. I think she liked Martin's boat because it had more places in the shade to sleep. And he spoiled her by giving her cold milk!
The day before we were scheduled to leave, we all talked about the pros and cons of having a cat on board. Yes, we almost decided to keep her. It was really close. But, we weren't sure about the rules involved with bringing a cat into the countries remaining on our route, and it was up in the air who would keep her upon our return. I have two cats already (Isis and Dart!) and I'm very happy with the dynamic that they and my dog (Baron!) have; I wasn't planning on bringing another cat into the mix. Another factor that weighed heavily on my mind was the possibility of rough weather and the dangers they posed to a small creature in a big ocean. It would be all too easy for her to wash overboard during a storm, unless she was locked down below. Things sometimes get hectic though, and it would be better for her to stay in Pangkor, where she'd lived her whole life, than to be faced with the chance of washing overboard.
With these thoughts in mind, crews from both Anima III and the WTP carried her back to where we found her - through the field, past the apartments and the traffic circle, and over the bridge. We set her down and walked to a nearby restaurant to eat dinner. When we exited the restaurant and started over the bridge to go back to the boats, we were split into two groups- Martin and everyone else. The big group walked around the corner toward the bridge and spotted a familiar black shape laying on a chair. We kept walking, looking back frequently to see if she followed. She didn't... until Martin rounded the corner behind us and passed her. Then she leapt off her chair and sprinted after him. He crossed the street to lose her, and she crossed it after him. He crossed it back and picked up his pace to lose her, and she followed him and ran even faster. It seemed that she really didn't want to stay behind!
She followed us the whole way back to our boat, this time on a different dock entirely than Martin's. Resigned (and not a little happy) I went off to fetch new sand for her little box, and Adam went to open hatches on the boat. He turned his back on her for 10 seconds and when he turned back she was gone! We thought she might be confused on the new dock so we set off to look for her, hoping she hadn't met the dog that hung around the marina. Then, lo and behold, we see Martin walking toward us holding a small black something. "I think you lost something" was all he said as he handed her over. Kitten had found her way to Martin's boat, probably looking for her litter box (or cold milk!).
Our plans changed, as they do, and we ended up staying in Pangkor for a couple more days. Kitten hung out on our boat during that time, and I really liked having her (I think we all did, Martin included). She was always sleeping somewhere cute, or willing to be held and purr contentedly. We all waffled back and forth on whether or not to keep her (it seemed to be definitely yes or definitely no depending on what hour of what day it was), but the original decision held. In the hour before we left, I got a car ride back to where we found her. I set her down in the grass and then got back in the car, and sadly headed back to the boat so we could shove off. It was terribly hard to leave her like that, but I know she'll be fine - she has been so far in her life on Pangkor.
Plus, there's still a chance she'll find her way back to the marina a third time, and spend the rest of her life sleeping on and getting spoiled by every boat that comes in.
