As to the heat concerns, our kitties have adapted very well, actually they tolerate it better than we do. We prefer to
anchor out because it is cooler. Another significant reason we prefer to be at
anchor is we usually don't get the mosquitos on the
boat unless it is a really still day. The mozzies really love me and Chloe!
Both are big breed, long hair cats. Lilly, an 18-YO
Maine Coon mix calico, doesn't have much of the undercoat she once had -- we attribute that to her age and having her thyroid zapped 6-7 years ago. Chloe, a 7-YO Ragdoll, has a very dense and luxurious undercoat which makes her look a lot bigger than she already is at 15 pounds!
In June every year we have had them shaved down to about 1/2", this helps get them through the hottest part of the year in the Caribbean. They actually look pretty cute, I posted a picture of Chloe a few pages back.
I wrote a couple of blog posts about how the cats have adapted, one was 'Happiness Is A Cold
Freezer To Snuggle'. Chloe spends the hottest part of the day pressed up against the base of the
refrigerator and
freezer.
I wrote about Lilly in 'Confessions Of An Iceaholic Cat'. I'm not sure how we figured out Lilly's passion for ice, but if we haven't turned on the ice maker by noon she starts following us around and meowing. She gets even more obnoxious after she hears the first load of ice drop.
We don't have any hatches that they can easily get out of, so we don't have any screens on them. We do have screens on the
ports but not because of the cats (they can't easily get to them either) -- the original thought was bugs. We close and lock the
companionway at night, to keep the cats in and who knows what out. We also close all but one of the hatches at night, between the fan, the one
hatch and the four small ports we leave open all the time we get pretty good airflow through the boat at night. During the summer months the cats sleep in the
salon at night. As the
weather starts
cooling off (a very relative term, lol), we have discovered they move back into our
bed to sleep at night.
In summary, I would say hubby and I seemed to be bothered more by the heat than our two cats.
Robyn
Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum