Happy Easter to You!

Moonlight in -28C

Mountain or Fjeld cat - A poll

Now that I have started to function in my new role I am wondering if I should call myself a mountain cat or a fjeld cat? These are "my" fjelds in the pics, Iso-Syöte and Pikku-Syöte. And there is also this "magical" ridge onto which the crew seems to extend their newspaper fetching runs.

The thing is that the mountain cat sounds more international but now these my arctic hills are not technically mountains!?! Please help me by participating the poll on the right hand sidebar.

Iso-Syöte, the bigger fjeld.

Pikku-Syöte, the smaller fjeld.

Pytkynharju, the local ridge bathing in the midday Xmas sun.

Mountain training

One more post from my mountain weekend. In the pictures I demonstrate how to select terrain for training the crew's agility. 

In my next production I will move to another subject: I will start a series about the cities Exter visited last summer. Remember, keeping the crew happy is simple: a) take the vessel to interesting destinations b) feed the crew well. So I present some nice places to visit and give tips on where to feed the crew. 

Again the Sunset...

To please the first mate, who is notoriously into the sunsets, I have to post another set
of Iso-Syöte sunset pics.

But, I demand, that the next Sunset post shall be a nautical one! 

Benefits of being a Mountain Cat

I have considered our ski trip and found following points that support becoming a mountain cat, a seasonal one, in between the sailing seasons. A mountain cat lives in a ski cabin of which benefits for a cat are the following:

- a ski cabin potentially has excellent views of nature with birds and ... the squirrels...
- a ski cabin typically has a fireplace. It is enjoyable to relax in the warmth of a fireplace.
- a ski cabin has a sauna. The warmed floor combined with the water heater under the sauna benches are a winning combo for a day time napping hideaway and provide excellent vantage point for monitoring crew activity.
- a ski cabins usually have large porches or patios. They give great coverage for observing outdoors and breathing fresh air.

To conclude, it would be of course demanding to handle all three roles, the duties of a seacat, a citycat and a mountaincat, but hey we seacats are always up to a challenge!

Yet another Sunset...

... this time from the mountain...

Captain's Iso-Syöte explorations on X-country skis

Case Squirrel

There are certain ways the crew tries to entertain themselves between the seasons. Skiing weekends are one of those. This was very first one for me. I agree, a weekend in a ski cottage makes the trick. I will report in few upcoming posts about this new experience.

I start with the lovely morning moment I had. The sun rose from behind the mountain. I was enjoying the calm moment, all the snow, all the lovely views. A sea / city cat does not get to see this kind of views often. Suddenly someone was running on the patio and continuing on the roof. I could not do anything but run inside the cottage and try to follow the noise as well as I could. The object returned to the patio and I could do anything but watch that he stayed put. The squirrel. Oh, the amount of frustration... 

After this experience I was very tired, finished my morning duty and retrieved to sauna (yes, to the sauna, I explain this to you in a later post) and had a very good sleep. The crew went of skiing for few hours, I enjoyed the quietness and relaxed...