Lost my compadre' of 4 years

[SURV69]

Learning things the hard way sometimes costs a lot.

In October and especially November marinas in the Great Lakes become cold, somewhat uninviting and desolate compared to the summer.

While a pet(a cat), may have lots of options for getting out of trouble in summer(lots of boats and lots of people), a slip into the water in November is a death warrant.

My buddy . . ."Windsor", evidently fell into the water on Veterans day about 4 am. He was found a day later next to my dock. I'm told that bodies often sink in colder water and re-float about 24 hours later.

He was curiously found near my dock, where he normally would've found a ladder(made for him) and flotation that was always in the water. He has used both in the past.

With my boat having been pulled, the flotation aids had also been removed.

In hindsite, I should've left the flotation aids in the water after the boat's removal.

Windsor proved to have very unique qualities not often found in a cat and he was very well liked(an doted over), by other marina residents. Even the dogs in the marina got along very well with Windsor.

I hope this serves as warning for those who take pets to their boats, to remember that marinas are much more dangerous in those weeks before and after the season . . . for people and for pets.

[Stray-Cat]

My condolences
Poor Windsor, sounds like he will be deeply missed
My cat thankfully does not want to venture outside the boat

[sushirama]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ vibes to you.

[svstrider]

Sorry to hear about Windsor, even if he was a cat. Kaspar de Wonda Dawg (who is even quite tolerant of cats if they don't run) has had two near death experiences in the last 2 days. In the last year he has become quite weak in the hips after 14 years of 40 km per week running. Yesterday he was standing on the rib bow with another smaller dog when she jumped off onto her own boat. He fell sideways and then over the side on his back. He took an eternity to surface and I had a hell of a problem getting his 35 kgs back in the dinghy.

Then in a squall last night at 2 am , I heard him hurrying back from a wee on his astroturf on the bow. He slipped on the wet deck and I heard him falling down the 4 steps to the stern sugar scoops and then into the water.

i was up in a flash and into the water in the pouring rain and wind to find him swimming for shore which was a few hundred metres away. He has been a tripod dog all day but has been putting a little weight on his hind leg tonight. He is certainly feeling sorry for himself. We were both pretty bedraggled when we got back on board. I am so glad it did not happen in the Kimberlies where we could well have both been crocodile or tiger shark breakfasts. One good thing to be said for shark fin soup.

It is sad when 91 dog years catches up on your furry friends.