Best wishes with your plans. Coffee and
internet are nice to have, but I reccommend that you spend some time and effort reasearching storm tactics. It'd be a shame to ruin your planned
boating life beacuse you got into a nasty storm early and couldn't cope. you should also try to get out on someone else's boat with experience in storm conditions and see what tactics are needed. Then do the same on your boat with an experienced hand to teach and learn how your boat behaves in storm conditions.
I'm not trying to discourage you, just suggesting that you really need to be prepared for the occassional storm at sea. They do happen and being prepared makes all the difference in how you react and ulimately the outcome.
Carry and learn to deploy
sea anchor and/or
drogue. Be sure your boat has strong enough attachment points. Being a cat I don't think heaving to is an option, but all the cat owners here can advise you on how your cat is best handled in a storm.
Again, I wish you nothing but the best...