By 9PM, all is dark, a cold front with tornado warnings has come and gone, and it’s time to fade into sweet dreams.   But first, sounds of Soxy crying for help are heard and Paddy leaps from the salon in a panic.  I run to the starboard hull, and we can hear her pleas to be saved, and we presumed she was in the water.

Soxy is not an endurance swimmer. We have minutes to save her.  Paddy grabbed a flashlight and ran to the dock trying to pinpoint her location, while I ran to Cat Maudy’s trampoline to untie the kayak.   The thought of rescuing a cat swimming in dark, Chesapeake Bay water – with unknown sea life (sharks) lurking….is not my cup of tea.   But we’re talkin’ Soxy.

I untied the kayak, and the thought of losing her sent a shot of adrenaline thru my weary bod – and like magic, I became Popeye the Sailor and lifted the kayak with one hand and ran with it to the cockpit.  Paddy grabs the kayak and tosses it in the water. “She’s under the dock” he yells…and I jumped into the kayak, listening for her screams.

It was not easy to navigate underneath the dock with a kayak.  The waters were at high tide so I laid low, listening for her to talk to me.

She responded when I called out her name, and I pointed the flashlight.   There she was.   A sopping wet cat, shaking, terrified, with her head inches above the waterline – clinging to the underbelly of the dock.   I navigated the kayak to her, but she wouldn’t let go of the dock without a struggle.   Finally, I was in position to grab her with both hands….and pulled her until she finally let go.   She clung to me digging her claws deep into my skin with a death grip.

Paddy pulled both on the line to the kayak and we reappeared from under the dock.   The adrenaline rush was over and all were too exhausted to move.  Finally, Soxy ran aboard, and hid low in the hull, living to see another day, unaware she is on lock-down for the foreseeable future..  The next day we purchased a big-ass fishing net, just in case Soxy evades her lock-down.