Commemorating Splodge

Last week, one of our cats, Splodge, died. At 17 years old, he'd enjoyed a reasonable innings and certainly lived a comfortable and loved life. Found curled up in a corner one morning, he'd died in his sleep.

Losing a pet is always sad, but later in the day, I found myself looking at a model I'd made of him years earlier.

A nighttime sail caused me to dig out the only boat I have with working lights, and in the wheelhouse is a slightly overscale representation of our cat. I'm pretty certain he wouldn't have been impressed with becoming a ship's cat in real life, but the model is 1:12 scale so cats from a dolls house supplier are easy to obtain and once I had him, it was obvious the colours he should be painted.

Like many pet owners, the desire to celebrate their animals is strong. Many of my boats enjoy the same names as past pets. You won't be surprised to know that there is a boat named after Splodge.

Splodger is my footie fishing boat built from the George Turner kit built many years ago. I haven't sailed it for years, but now feel the urge to get the model back on the water as a tribute to my puss cat.