Hairy hazards to navigation

You know what it’s like when you try to read a newspaper when there’s a cat around?

Well you can probably picture the look of glee on Ollie’s face when I rolled out a large chart on livingroom floor.

No sooner had I pulled my chart protractor out than I was faced with this:

Unfortunately “my cat’s big hairy butt was in the way” is not likely to be accepted as an answer in the exam.

So Ollie and I commenced battle. I would shovel him off the chart and he would sit quietly for a while watching me drawing lines, then suddenly my bearing would land me smack in the middle of Fur Rock again.

I attempted to deal with this by navigating where he wasn’t sitting and this worked for a little while – until he decided it would be a great game to try to whack the dividers out of my hands. His uncanny sense of timing meant that he often chose to do this exactly when I doing something that involved concentrating deeply to get a measurement right down to the last millimetre.

When the score had reached Cat – 20 Chart- zero I decided it was time to give up.

Luckily the following night I had remedial navigation lessons, where there wasn’t a moggy in sight. (The tutor did have two boxer dogs, but they just sat quietly under the table.)

I felt a bit better after working through a few charts like that. Although the other people playing nav catch-up with me were streaks ahead of where I was, I think I’m getting the basics. Since dropping out of Maths in the fifth form I had forgotten how utterly crap I was at it. Now I remember!

So now I just have to practice – and stuff as much information into my head about flashing lights and beeping noises, tides and weather and give way rules as possible over the weekend.

Variation east, magnetic is least

Red Port Left in the bottle

How do you identify a barge towing a mine-clearance vessel in restricted visibility?

My brain hurts!

The theory exam is Monday night – I shall be bringing Cal the good luck troll, but I’m leaving the cat at home!